"Stop treating us like samples a grocery store" -
Sometime last week during my routine twitter procrastination sessions, I scrolled across the tag '#creepywhiteguys'. At a first glance it is understandable why many would have been taken aback by what seemed like an open hatred fest against the white male, but, after reading a few of the tweets it became clear to me that this was nothing of the sort. Through this tag numbers of women had opened up a new world to many twitter users, of all races, sharing their experiences with white men as women of colour. However this didn't stop twitter's very own pathetic parties hauling useless claims of 'reverse-racism' or 'oppression of the white male' into the trending tag (glee). Racism and sexism are two corresponding issues in our society which have, to an extent, been normalised. What many people fail to recognise is that we live in a white-male dominated society, and therefore it is non-white women, trans and non trans, who are the most oppressed.
Here's a selection of some what I thought were the most impactful tweets:
If what you're currently thinking is "Really? Another black girl complaining, again?", then you're absolutely correct. This is another article, by a person of colour, again, calling for change, again. The only difference is, well there is no difference - people (I) will continue to argue against the oppressive norms of our society again and again and again, until there's none left. Yes, I am aware that all women (and men) are affected by these issues, but I'm not talking about all people at the moment. From the early stages of their lives women of colour are forced to bear the double burden of being both female and non-white. Whether it's in the classroom, or the workplace, or even on social media; we have had to become accustomed to the constant misogyny and racism that surrounds us in our daily lives.
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| Picture tweeted by twitter user @lolitainmyarms |
Gluing both racism and misogyny together, are the stereotypes that these women are submitted to. These stereotypes are constantly being fed to women of colour, they are made to feel like 'less' of themselves if they do not conform or behave as such but then are also shamed and mocked when they do. How could they not conform, it's who they are? If this were true we wouldn't live in a world where words such as 'oreo' and 'coconut' are freely used. What people expect is for the Black woman to be trashy, uneducated, 'ratchet' ((how are these not considered slurs); the Hispanic woman is loud-mouthed, incompetent and the Asian woman? She's loyal, submissive, petite, quiet - the whole package (I mean, if you're looking for a pet). The problem is that when you really think about it, as long as these women of colour are women of colour, they will never be ideal - they will never be white (then you look at the issues white women face and you realise women in general will never be ideal, but that's a different post).
Throughout their lives women of colour undergo a series of modifications; she is straightened, bleached, fetishised, made to be 'more attractive', more Caucasian. Her self esteem is worn down until she is made to feel complimented by the, "You're so exotic looking" or "You're so pretty for a ____ girl"; compliments that aren't at all complimentary; or even the terms 'yellow fever' and 'jungle fever' (again, how). The negative image imposed on women of colour is eventually how they see themselves, they are forced into a self destructive mind-frame in which their underlying self hatred causes divides in their sense of self being and sisterhood amongst their peers. Simply put, we live in a society that doesn't value women of colour for all they're worth, they are subliminally (if they're lucky) taught that they aren't worthy and therefore believe it about themselves and women like themselves.
Unlike white women, women of colour do not have the privilege of being able to "not see colour" or ignore racial issues simply because they're "not racist" and believe it or not; their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and cousins are all probably coloured so that's no excuse (not that it ever is). I am young and I don't know lots about lots; but I do know that the way we, as a society, treat women of colour isn't at all acceptable and that we cannot overcome one social issue whilst ignoring all others.
#BlackGirlsBeLike
#LatinaGirlsBeLike
#AsianGirlsBeLike
Coloured Girls Be Like:
I'm sure it'd be easier to overlook racism and sexism if it wasn't preceded by centuries of oppression.
Posted by Melissa
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