Black Female Student Speaks to Peers on Misogynoir
ATHENS, Ga. - Late Wednesday afternoon, several students gathered in the Intersection at the Tate Center for Julia Idaewor’s presentation “The Miseducation of the Black Woman: A Discussion on Misogynoir” as a part of the Tea Talks series presented by International Student Life at UGA.
Julia Idaewor is a third-year student studying Computer Science at the University of Georgia. "This is an issue that faces so many black women, yet so few people know about the phenomenon," said Idaewor. "A lot of people do not understand the specific intersectionality of racism and sexism that black women face, so I wanted to highlight this issue."
Misogynoir? What's that?
Misogynoir is a term coined by Moya Bailey in 2010 to more accurately describe the type of misogyny black women face. Misogynoir is defined as the specific hatred, dislike, distrust and prejudice directed toward black women.
Idaewor explained ways that black women experience misogynoir in their day to day life, especially through media stereotypes, asking the students in attendance whether they were familiar with the three most common black female stereotypes, using the video below to introduce them.
Stereotypes effect us all
Oxford dictionary defines stereotypes as "A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing."
For black women, the three main stereotypes they face is the Jezebel, the Nanny, and the sassy black woman. According to each of these stereotypes affects black women of all ages and backgrounds on a day to day basis. To bring to light the issue of oversexualizing black women, the hashtag #BlackWomenTalkSex developed on twitter giving black women the opportunity to share their stories.
Idaewor encouraged discussion during her presentation, and students shared their experiences as well as their thoughts on the effects of stereotypes on not only black women but other people as well.
"Seeing those tweets, especially the tweet about DSL's, showed me that it wasn't just me, it wasn't just at my school," said third year management major Lavette Leflore.
Are you aware of blind spots?
"Just like there are blind spots when you drive a car, we each have our own blind spots that we may or may not be aware of," said Idaewor.
Blind spots are similar to stereotypes but vary more from person to person as opposed to being a standard view on something. Blind spots are an individual's own preconceived notions and biases affecting their thoughts and actions towards someone or something.
"Especially at a PWI [Public White Institution], people literally think you got into this school because of affirmative action or that they had to meet some type of quote or something like that," said first year biology major Uzoamaka Chukka. "I can tell you that I worked really hard to get into this school, but people don't see that."
Once the floor was open for discussion, students shared personal experiences, thoughts, revelations, and questions with the group and Idaewor. Students discussed the growing diversity in the media, especially tv and film, as well as ways what they learned could be incorporated into their own personal lives.
"Even though it was a small group, I think there’s definite positive impact because from it we learn and we can go out and educate people and those people will educate other people so it has that ripple effect," said Chukka.
Idaewor encouraged students to be aware to utilize this new information. "Keep thinking about your blind spots," said Idaewor to her program attendees. "The way we can make a change is by confronting ourselves."
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