By Sarah Aduke Ohiomah
The Black Women. She comes in so many beautiful, radiant hues and so many shapes and sizes. It’s a blessing to be a black woman. I feel so grateful to wake up every day and look in the mirror to see my tightly coiled hair, my big, round nose, my full, dark lips, my dark brown skin and all the other distinctive traits that make me an unapologetic black woman. We are not just beautiful on the outside though; the qualities that we possess on the inside are just as badass. For centuries, black women have proven their tenacity, their drive, their strength and their endless love and care for others. With all these outstanding traits that black women possess, we still manage to be one of the most exploited and overly sexualized demographics in America. Why is this the case? Since the start of colonization and slavery, black women have been viewed as “sex symbols;” they have been the victims of standards for unrealistic beauty, dependency, and physical pleasure, that are maintained through the media. These standards perpetuate the dehumanization and exploitation of black women’s bodies that make it extremely difficult to rise to the top.
The over-sexualization of black women’s bodies can be traced back to the times of colonization and slavery. For centuries, Europeans have colonized black female bodies with intense imperialistic aggression that arose in Africa in the 1870s. To European settlers, black women were “exotic” and “alluring,” which led to the sexual exploitation of these women. Once enslaved, black women were dehumanized not only through labor but through sex. They were raped immensely and used as a reproductive property to make more of “their kind.” Consequences of physical resistance led to severe beatings which caused black women to become a place where a slave master can fulfill all of his “ungodly” desires. This was the catalyst for the endless cycle of oppression and hatred towards the black women.
One example of the oversexualization—as well as the objectification—of black women was Sara “Saartiji” Baartman. Sara was a South African woman who unknowingly signed a contract made by Dutch colonists to capitalize on her body due to her enormous buttocks. Sara Baartman’s body was displayed innumerable times in London, where she stood beside other “peculiarities” such as “the greatest deformity in the world” and “the ne plus ultra of hideousness.” Most of the time, she was displayed naked and “Hottentot Venus” became a stage name, “Hottentot” being a derogative term given to a South African tribe by the Dutch.
People all over Europe would “rent” her body for them to touch freely. Sara’s body was also studied as a science specimen by zoologists and anatomists; they compared her to animals. Sara is a prime example of how black women’s bodies were used for others to profit. Due to all the toxins she was exposed to, Sara developed smallpox and pneumonia and died at the young age of 26. Sara shows us the difficulty that black women still face when claiming ownership of our bodies. But more importantly, she shows us the pain of allowing others to respectfully acknowledge that we are so much more than just our bodies.
Sara was a black woman who was solely recognized for her physical features. When searched online, the first thing that pops up is articles about the exploitation of her body. That is what she was best known for, and that is a big problem. Colonization and slavery have made this a repeated pattern. This pattern has made it hard for black women to be taken seriously as intellectuals, students, professors, lawyers, and just about every other profession. We can’t progress in life if we are always looked at sexually, and the media—particularly modern day music videos— have definitely instilled this type of degradation.
Hip-hop and rap music change immensely throughout each decade. For me, hip hop and rap were at its prime during the 90’s-00’s era. In the 90’s era, you have rappers like Tupac preaching “time to heal our women, be real to our women” in his famous song, “Keep Ya Head Up.” While in the 2000s, you have Ludacris praising women all across the globe but stating that “ain’t no need of even askin’ brah, the best women all reside in Africa” in his song “Pimpin’ All Over the World.” These were the times where it was cool to speak about women in a beautiful, poetic way. However, the time has passed, and things have drastically changed. Video vixens, who are predominantly black women, have taken over hip hop and rap culture.
A video vixen also referred to as hip-hop honey, is a female model who appears on hip hop and rap music videos. They have become the image of hip-hop and rap. With this mainstream music, it is rare to find an artist who hasn’t had any of these types of black women in their music videos. This is one of the core reasons why the over-sexualization of black women still occurs today. Because when we “get turnt” to all these songs that include lyrics that degrade a women’s body, the image that follows is of a black woman. She is usually clad in skippy attire dancing provocatively on an artist who parades his/her money around. This is the image that we have in our head. It is the role that society believes we have in life. And as time goes by, those black video vixens become more and more seductive which causes our minds to shift more and more towards that image when we think of a black woman.
Having black women in these music videos do not only promote the strength of the patriarchy, but it also requires black women to try our hardest not to be viewed sexually, which is often not in our complete control. But the questions is: Can black women be sexually liberated individuals—that have the choice to be a video girl or wear revealing clothing—and be respected at the same time? Nowadays, these inappropriate views of us can lead to fetishes, where some people assume black women will fulfill all their sexual desires (sounds familiar?), or that black women are a rarity that if you finally get the chance to be with one, it’s “an experience” (as if you can try us out and be done).
Black women who travel to countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece and other countries where there is a scarcity of our demographic, have turned into exotic creatures. Travel blogger Gloria Atanmo wrote an article for The Huffington Post called “Why More African-Americans Need to Travel Around Europe,” she discusses the unique privileges that come with being a black traveler in these numerous European countries. In the article, she stated that many people mistook her for Serena Williams as several people asked for pictures. Due to her status as a black female, she was also able to obtain free drinks in a bar due to her “exoticism.” However, in another article, the author discusses how within minutes of meeting a Spanish man, she was asked for a kiss on the lips. Later, a friend of hers (a Spanish man himself), informed her that “it was rather common for some Spanish men to assume that a brown-skinned girl equals easy prey.” He went on to explain that this was because many dark-skinned women who traveled to Spain aren’t financially stable or are looking for a way to permanently stay in this country. Knowing this, Spanish men use these vulnerabilities to make sexual advances because they know that black women are already at a disadvantage and cannot adequately defend ourselves in a society that already looks down on us. Black women are only looked at for our bodies because men (and many others) think that we don’t have anything better to offer. The majority are fully aware of the fact that black women are in an everlasting war between patriarchism, racism, classism, Eurocentric beauty standards, etc., but choose to ignore it entirely as they add another battle to our list by demeaning and objectifying us any chance they can get.
But through all the nonsense and misconceptions that she is presented, the black woman still prospers. She continues to manage to survive all the shit that this harsh life throws at her. Every day, black women still surprise me with their ability to rise above all of the bullshit; to swallow everyday experiences’ like a magical vitamin that makes us stronger once society attacks us constantly. And I love how once one black woman has shown how that vitamin has positively affected her life, they inspired and encouraged others to take it as well. That’s what I call Black Girl Magic.