Black Women : A White Male Patriarchal World

n 1619 a Dutch ship brought 20 slaves to America and it took nearly 240 years for slavery to end in 1865. In the absence of rights or freedom, my ancestors were put to work growing anything from cotton to tobacco. For centuries, my people fought for equality. Although we are “free” the fight has still remain. As a black women raised in America, I was hit with some harsh realities at a very young age.

In this film, She’s the Man Olivia Hastings revolves around gender portrayal and her objection to join a men’s soccer team. She’s the Man demonstrates gender representation of femininity and masculinity through a number of characters. Olivia gets rejected and unable to join the men’s soccer team which shows how empowering it can be to be a female. Oliva’s brother Sebastian Hastings goes to London as his band got a spot to perform at a music festival for 2 weeks, so Olivia disguises to be Sebastian to be able to join the male soccer team. Both power and gender are big roles in the film as Viola continuously switches from being female to male and shows how much power both genders get.

From past to present there’s not much of a difference. The idea is that all men are equal, but in reality there are boundaries and hardships that prevent other races from being included in equality, next to the white man. The absence of diversity in the United States, interferes with the ability for black men to transition into manhood. Thus, continues this interminable cycle of a black man fighting for his identity, power, respect, and trying to understand who he is as an individual. Black men are portrayed to be lazy,

“No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have Black women… when Black people are talked about the focus tends to be on Black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.” - Bell Hooks

The United States prides itself on being a land of opportunities, and in many ways it is. We look at countries like South Africa, which not long ago was segregated through the laws of Apartheid, and we are glad that we are so much further along than the land of Mandela. However, every now and then we need to stop and ask ourselves just how far along we really are, and we have to wonder if many of the once oppressed countries we helped free are not passing us up in the area of civil rights and opportunity.

I'm so tired of black men making it seem as they can disrespect black women , but they have a BLACK mother that'll love them till the end . Black men these days sicken me by their videos of how black women act , smart comments , and mistreating black girls just because they're black. This generation of black men are just scared that a black women can be independent by herself and do what she needs to . No black women is going to let someone disrespect her in any kind of way , because we know that we're goddesses that deserve way more then to deal with BS from a little boy that knows he doesn't have the balls to handle that women

Greeting, I did learn many things while reading chapter 2. However, the most interesting thing I found was the concept that expressing about race and gender oppression simultaneously. On page 51, based on the 1996 welfare reforms "welfare queen" deserve state assistance due to race and gender idea. However, the word "welfare queen" stereotypical represent black woman. Does any one knows white receives more state assistance than non-white. Indeed, based on U.S Department of Agriculture data white are more state assistance recipients than non-white.

Even though women of color are still facing stigmas and discrimination, the future prospects for women of color could get better over time. According to Lien, “women as a whole and minorities of all races are all severely underrepresented in the U.S. political system, women of color seem to face lower barriers in gaining access to elective offices compared with their male counterparts and White women” (2015 p.1) which is something that has lacked noticeably for many years. The rise of women of color in office could eventually lead to the possibility of not only someone of color being elected as President but a women nonetheless. This could lead to more young women of color to take more of an interest in politics and to have more of a drive

it was noted that fewer women (90%; 25 missing responses) responded to item 3, “In your opinion, what does it means to be a Black woman (or woman of your Black ethnic group?” This response pattern may be due in part to participant fatigue, considering these items were posed at the end of the survey.

It also does not center always on Hillary, it also centers on his husband and his infidelity to her. It was mentioned in the book that Bill Clinton had a lot of girlfriends even though she was married Hillary Clinton. The author also talked about Monica Lewinsky, who was alleged of having affair with Bill Clinton. The book also contains pictures of the former president hooking up with other girls, and Klein defining Mr. Clinton as a sex

In Patricia Hill Collins’ “Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images,” she illustrates four main stereotypes that Black women face. The first controlling image applied to African American women is “The Mammy.” The mammy is the faithful, obedient servant to the white family and the stereotype attempts to hide the fact that black women who work for white families are being exploited. By loving and caring for her white “children” more than her own, the mammy symbolizes the dominant group’s perceptions of the ideal black female relationship to elite white male power. The smiling mammy signals her agreement with the situation, seemingly accepting her subordination (Collins, 71). Next is the image of the Black matriarch (Collins, 73). According to the stereotype, they spend too much time away from home, are overly aggressive and unfeminine, and allegedly emasculate their lovers and husbands. This stereotype attempts to control conduct by punishing black women for assertiveness and hides the oppression by making it seem that black women are naturally this way (Collins, 74-75).

Scandal is a political drama series that revolves around its main character Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington. The show focuses on Olivia’s team solving cases for people with issues such as rape, murder, and other scandalous problems. The show is also about the relationship between Olivia and the President of the United States, Fitzgerald Grant III, played by Tony Goldwyn. Olivia used to work for the President as a White House Communications Director. Though, their interrelationship goes beyond the normal employer-employee relationship. Olivia and President Grant are secretly having an affair. As the only African American woman to play the protagonist role, Washington portrays a strong, powerful character that is complex yet identifiable for postmodern audiences. Olivia has many admirable traits that make her a popular role model, yet she is also viewed as an antihero for her lack of morals and manipulative ways. As the female antihero, “Olivia embodies many of the key aspects of an archetypal antihero and exemplifies this character type to great success” (Gallagher, n.d.). She has become an example of our society’s view of gender relations and sexuality in American popular culture.

All of these black characters and black actresses on television can thank Olivia Pope for paving way for the entry of female black-led series. The success of the Scandal will live on the lives of the black actresses on television even as the show has ended this year. Everyone will remember how the D.C. fixer has created more opportunities and opened doors for black actresses to show their black girl magic on

This showcases just a few of the many characteristics African American women possess. The affair illustrates the negative views of African American women and how they get twice the punishment for the same crime. Mellie Grant did the same exact thing as Olivia yet was pitted for it. Looking closely enough, one can see how this illustrates the unequal and unjustified treatment African-American women have received throughout history. Rhimes’ portrayal of Olivia Pope will leave a positive mark about black women in society. Historically, black women are mothers or the girlfriend/wife of some gang member in movies or TV Shows. Scandal does not fall into any of those stereotypes. Olivia Pope is not a baby momma, she is an independent and powerful woman. African American women are arguably the greatest force to be reckoned with on the Earth. They are independent, nurturers, powerful, and the most disadvantaged group of people because of their race and sex. It is amazing how far black woman have come despite that. Women such as Oprah, Michelle Obama, and Shonda Rhimes have risen to the occasion and demand respect. It is honestly amazing once one thinks about how much African-American women have achieved despite the

To begin with, there are lies, pranks, disguises, cross dressing, people falling in love with characters they shouldn't be falling in love with, and mistaken identities. This alone makes for a bad situation. In Malvolio's case, he isn't really in love with Olivia. He's in love with the idea because he only loves himself. She is a countess, and he is a steward who wants the good life of having fortune, power, control, status, and wealth, so he attempts to woo her. As he states, "The lady of the