I Don’t Believe in Misogynoir but the World Does
The sustained suffering of the colored
The indistinct chattering of the world could not restore the lives of 17 people of color in the United States ( Tanisha Anderson, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, George Floyd, and the list goes on). The shift from San Francisco to New York was massive with subject to how the Afro-Americans behaved with their peers.
The bewilderment lasted a while not because the place was bustling but how the people of color were enormously temperamental. Now, I know the answer. They weren’t throwing attitude but being guarded.
Misogynoir
Misogynoir is a term coined by the queer black feminist, Moya Bailey who joined Misogyny (the hatred toward women) and Noir (Black in french) to explain what a black woman goes through in the faces of racism and sexism.
The simplest way of putting it — Misogynoir is anti-black misogyny towards black women. What wasn’t the race facing? — Adultification, racial bias, stereotypes and so much more.
A study from Georgetown University established that adults saw “ Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than the white girls of the same age.”
They were perceived as being stronger, needing less attention and care. The after-effects of such? — More than 20% of black women are raped. Which in turn causes these girls to fall under ‘The sex abuse to the prison pipeline’.
The Idea Behind Black Women
What could be more ridiculous than terming the race as having a higher threshold and hence the aspect of ignoring?
“ Black Women don’t feel pain and they exaggerate”
I’ve always wondered what if the roles were reversed? What if whites were being treated the same way as the colored. Would they survive a day?
These women were instrumental in the learning path of pregnancy but how’s it that 4–5 women die during childbirth, compared to the white? Could this be genetic? or biased treatment? We know the fact.
Let’s talk about the capital of racism. Trump spoke harsh words to a colored reporter saying her questions were nasty. He also mentioned that she needed to “be nice and not be threatening.”
“I’m not the first human being, woman, black person or journalist to be told that while doing a job”
tweeted the reporter. The history of such occurrences dates back to decades.
They’re prone to unfair eviction processes and are victims of double standards. Police brutality has always aimed at the black community and the world is still under perplexities.
Why’s the Black Community Victimised?
This form of treatment isn’t new to people of color. Since slavery, the silent suffering continues. It’s deeply saddening to witness the post-slavery period that portrayed black women as ‘Fat, unwitty and undesirable.’ This could lead one to think that the whites were threatened by the intellect of the afro-Americans.
You switch on the television, it’s there. You listen to the radio, there again. Talk to friends, the topic comes up. Workspace? Even worse. I couldn’t help but think that there is no place on this planet that ceases to address the issue.
Martin Luther King Jr., Sojourner Truth, Henry Highland Garnet, Barack Obama and so many others were great orators, women rights activists and gentle souls. One odd thing?— they were all black.
I have immense respect for the former president in whose leadership, the country flourished. The current situation and the causal effects are detrimental to the nation.
Why Should the World Know About Misogynoir?
The hashtags #Blacklivesmatter and #endracialdiscrimination were coined around 2013. Millions supported the cause and stood up for the community yet we still ended up with the death of George Floyd.
Bailey says it’s easy to spot misogynoir
“If you can’t replace the person being targeted with a woman of another race or someone of another gender, you know misogynoir is in play.”
These women are attacked from all walks of life. Sometimes, by their kin. The only way to end this is through media literacy, says Bailey.
“ This idea that black people, black women specifically, are just one frame, one dimensional, is something that has existed for awhile”
She also stated,
“I’m seeing more opportunities for black women to exist in all of the ways that they do.”
Longstanding Thoughts
Every day thousands of black women face resentment. They deal with the rough patches and get back up stronger, every single time. The alarming rate of racial injustice is questioning the safety of every other race.
It’s not convincing to be promised one thing today and seeing lives being taken, being ill-treated the very next day. Misogynoir is a term that speaks of women but the whole of black community is in anguish.
If you asked a black person, when was the last time they were truly happy, probably they wouldn’t have an answer. If Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors (Founders of #Blacklivesmatter) hadn’t done it, so many other blacks couldn’t have lived in peace. Every step by an individual leads to a racism free future. If Bailey believed she could end this, what do we?
