Jayde Spooner

November 19th, 2014

WGSS 2010

The Hypersexualization and Objectification of the Black Female

The movie Friday, starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, and John Witherspoon had long been
one of my favorites. The relatable, funny and edgy flick was before its time. I thought it
brilliantly written and the cast was chalked full of colorful characters. So, while on a short
vacation, I made time to watch it. Luckily for me, it happened to be playing on one of the
channels. I laughed at a lot of the scenes as usual, but when it got to one particular scene, I found
myself rather taken back by it. In this scene, the main character, Craig, and his best friend
Smokey were sitting outside Craigs house. The love interest, Debbie, had just run by, on her
way to a healthcare club. In reference to Debbies mother, Smokey says Hm, the older the
berry, the sweeter the juice. to which Craig replies, Man, its the blacker the berry, the sweeter
the juice. I found myself being more than offended by it. Did it mean the blacker I am, the
better I taste? This one line spawned a sort of Domino Effect in my mind, making think of the
times throughout my life in which guys only showed a slight interest in me because they thought
I had a nice butt, or when they have said things like , If she dark skin[ned], she GOTTA have
nice body. Why are darker skinned women seen as invaluable, unless there is a sexual purpose?
By deconstructing the age old phrase, The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice, Ive
discovered that it is indeed racist (i.e. the blacker), classist (i.e. reducing the black woman to a
mere fruit the berry), and very hypersexual (i.e. the sweeter the juice).

The black woman has long been the example of what people should not strive to be. In
what society considers to be gender, a woman comes second to a man. In terms of race, the
darker your skin, the lower you are on the totem pole. So, what happens if you are a black
woman? In reference to Andrea Smith article, Hetereopatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White
Supremacy, the stereotypes that plague black women are fueled by the logic of slavery.
Blackness is equivalent to slavery, just as Whiteness is equivalent to power. America prospered
off the institution of slavery. What people do not realize is that although Black women are no
longer on plantations picking cotton, white supremacy has made it to where the enslavement is
your skin color. This stigma does not only prove true in America, but worldwide. In Gelareh
Asayeshs article I Grew up thinking I was White, she, an Iranian woman, struggles to come to
terms with the fact that she is seen as woman of color, and realizes many of the privileges she
does not receive simply because of it. What passed for white in Iran was colored in America;
and I didnt like being demoted. She mentioned. (Asayesh, 14) All men know that, in society,
the black woman is at the bottom of the food chain, that why it is totally acceptable for us to be
used and abused without any real repercussions. This is also why it is to okay to cat-call, and
for women to think it is a compliment when a man calls her a bad bitch.
During slavery, it was not uncommon for female slaves to be raped by their white
masters. It was believe that the woman with the largest breast and the widest hips were nothing
more than baby factories. Since these masters had the privilege of being upper class, white men,
there was no one to save these victims. It was from this, I believe, that the stigma that black
women allowed this because they are natural sexual beings, grew. And this stigma is still very
prevalent today. In Andrea Ritchies Law Enforcement Violence Against Women of Color, she
argues that it is not only men of color who are the main target of police brutality; an

overwhelming percentage are women of color. But because we are at the bottom of the societal
totem pole, no one hear our cries for help. And when they are heard, more abuse follows. One of
the most popular excuses for this abuse, is the stereotype that the darker you are, the more
sexually aggressive or angry you are perceived to be. So then the rapes, shootings, and beatings
get totally justified.
As a black woman, stereotypes follow me on a daily basis. Whether Im down walking
down the street and a man feels the need to yell out to me, Mmm, chocolate! (This actually
happened), or when Im scrolling down Instagram and I see a meme that reads Dark skin[ned]
girls got the best pussy, or another that reads All dark skin[ned] got bad hair, ugly, be thick af
[Thick is referring to wide hips, a large butt, a small waist, and large breasts; af is short for
as fuck, meaning very], got bad attitudes, and can fight. Because of this hypersexualization,
when I tell people I am virgin I get crazed looks, followed by a plethora of assumptions ranging
from Well, she MUST be super religious to Well, she MUST be a lesbian. In Patricia Hill
Collins article Mammies, Matriarchs, and other Controlling Images, she explains that to be a
black woman in America, it is typical for you to be categorized as stereotypical mammies,
matriarchs, welfare recipients, and hot mommas. (Collins, 70). Whether its the Jezebel, the
Welfare Queen , or the Black Lady, a black woman can never just be a human being. We always
have to be controlled or be the property of someone, and we can never seem to benefit from
ourselves. The U.S. Black woman is societys Other. According to Collins, this form of
objectification is a result of binaries (i.e. white/black, male/female, reason/emotion, etcetera),
being treated as polar opposites. The other, when speaking in binary terms, is present solely to
be manipulated and controlled. Someone always has to take care of us. Given the perceptions
of women of color in the media, this is very easy to assume. In Marjane Satrapis satirical novel

Embroideries, we get a glimpse into to the personal lives of Middle Eastern women. Much like
the black female, these women of color also get portrayed in a negative light, as helpless,
controlled, hysterical crying grandmas in the midst of chaos or women who are timid, and
tolerate abuse from their husbands. This is not true; these women are just as witty, intelligent,
and funny as their white counterparts.
Ive found it rather odd how society belittles the black woman, only to turn around and
try and emulate her. Watching the various advertisements that promote tanning sprays and
cornrows made me think: first they laugh, and then they copy and try to pass it off as their own.
When is the credit going to be given? In terms of recent events, I will refer to Dodai Stewarts
article on Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture and Accessorizing with Black people. Yes, we credit
Miley with making twerking popular, but can we PLEASE be honest? African women have
been twerking for centuries. It has been compared to the African cultural dance Mapouka.But
if we were to claim it the racist, gendered, and classist term ratchet will get tattooed to our
forehead, reaffirming our place in society. Stewart argues that Miley, being the wealthy, white
female she is, has the privilege of choosing to play at blackness without being burdened by the
reality of it. (Stewart, 2013) She also blasts Miley for the using props to play along with this
idea. For instance, the fact that she wears a backwards bandana around her head, to emulate 90s
rapper, Tupac (the son of two Black panthers, nephew of Assata Shakur and was a huge political
voice in the black community before his murder in 1996), does not mean she wants to help
empower single Black mothers, it means she wants to be thug life (Tupac was infamous for the
Thug life tattoo across his stomach). The difference being that this was Shakurs life and he
was unashamed, versus Cyrus, who looks at this a childs play. As Stewart so brilliantly stated
Blackness is not a piece of jewelry you can slip on when you want a confidence booster or a

cool look. And playing at being poor while earning a profit by doing so is just distasteful.
(Stewart, 2013).
Overcoming adversity is perhaps one of the most exalted acts any human being can
engage in. A key attribute in the process of becoming great is never forgetting that from which
you came. With that being said, it is imperative that we look to our past for inspiration when
embarking on a journey. Though we often shy away from something so uncertain such as our
future, it definitely is something that should be embraced. I have no doubt that we can rise from
ashes of oppression and become great. It will take more than just me and a few others: it has to
be a movement. The black woman will rise again.
All in all, the black woman carries so much weight on her shoulders: the weight of being
an oppressed woman, the weight of being an oppressed mother, being judged by her appearance
(hair, skin, body, you name it), and the weight of society. After being cursed out, beaten, raped,
shot, stabbed, abused, and treated like less of a human being, would we be blamed for giving up?
Black women, and all women of color, must remember that diamonds are created under pressure:
they are the hardest substance on Earth, and also the most treasured and beautiful feat discovered
by mankind. In spite of what world does to us, we still manage to prosper. Im glad to see that
women of color see these disparities and choose to speak out against them. Tupac Shakurs poem
The Rose That Grew from Concrete best signifies the not only the oppression, but also the
emergence of black women as powerful. It reads:
Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the
concrete? Proving nature's laws wrong, it learned to walk
without having feet. Funny, it seems to by keeping it's
dreams; it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose

that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.

(Shakur, 2000)

Works Cited

Asayesh, Gelareh. I Grew Up Thinking I Was White

Collins, Patricia Hill. Mammies, Matriarchs, and other Controlling Images
Ritchie, Andrea. Law Enforcement and Violence Against Women of Color
http://tinyurl.com/2u3nvzn
Satrapi, Marjane. Embroideries
Smith, Andrea. Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy
Shakur, Tupac. The Rose That Grew From Concrete
Stewart, Dodai. On Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture and Accessorizing with Black
People http://tinyurl.com/kwwtonx