By L’lerrét Jazelle Ailith
In her latest stream of shock-and-awe attempts, Miley Cyrus made it known that she’s fine with you calling her a lesbian as long as you don’t call her ugly. On Sunday, she tweeted about how she gets “called an ugly lesbian a lot more than one would think. Or maybe not.” She then explained that people could at least call her “an interesting lesbian” because she “hate(s) the U word.” While we’d love nothing more for Miley to finally fall off the list of trending topics in 2014, as the New Year rolled in, she sent out what is probably her most fascinating tweet ever. She stated that her 2014 wish is to live in a world where men’s breasts are censored on television along with women.
The “Wrecking Ball” singer shed light on an issue that women regularly deal with on a public platform; where their bodies are deemed explicit. Girls are born into this world and their bodies just do not belong to themselves. They are taught to cover up, for their parts are only for sexual exploration by men in this patriarchal, heteronormative world.
Cyrus may have called attention to the misogynistic nature of institutionalized gender norms, but where do women of color fit in?
Many mainstream feminists do not understand why women of color have their own separate views of feminism and woman identity. We’re constantly expected to act in unity with all women and ignore intersectionality, but what dominant culture fails to realize is that our lived history is so much different than theirs.
Saartjie Baartman became well-documented as the African slave glorified for her large behind. She was made a spectacle of and truly objectified. From this moment on, women of color became consistently hypersexualized in media and demeaned by their portrayal. Their bodies were no longer their own but put on display for the world to “marvel” over. From the hair flowing from our scalps to the curves riddling our figures, our bodies became objects of sex and desire. We were seen not for the people that we are but for the bodies that we inhabit.
So, Beyoncé releases her self-titled fifth studio album and she gets flack from many of her black sisters. She proclaims feminism and longs to aid in the movement, but many see her sexual liberation sprinkled in the album as off putting and a setback for black feminism. Here you have white artists like Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga praised for their liberation and reclaiming of their own bodies, but one such Beyoncé or Rihanna criticized for it. Why is this?
While watching a HuffPost Live segment, “Beyoncé’s Black Feminism Backlash,” Joan Morgan, the author of Cultural Critic, noted that black feminism is limited because it has yet to adopt a pleasure politic. This hit home for me.
We’re stuck in a subjugating cycle of limitation, because if a black woman liberates herself sexually like her male counterparts, we’re confused as to whether or not she is being progressive and benefiting women, or just adding insult to the injury of our objectification and adversity. If we can’t let go of our oppression and take back and define our own bodies, we will never move forward and never be truly liberated.
There is an emergence of the new age of feminism in which Beyoncé follows, where sexual liberation is the key to self-autonomy. There is a subjugated understanding of what is “acceptable” surrounding freedom of sexuality in women.
We need to destroy this construct and take back what is ours.
L’lerrét Jazelle Ailith is a 20-year-old queer woman of trans* experience. She attends Xavier University of Louisiana and is majoring in Biology with a minor in Women’s Studies. Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, L’lerrét has grown to appreciate the importance of fostering community and now dedicates herself to movements that eliminate barriers for marginalized people.
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