Black women are not ‘typical’

“I am Black but comely, O ye daughter of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am Black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own I have not kept.”
– Song of Solomon 1:5-6 KJV

By Amber E. Robinson
Contributing Writer
Columbus Post

The image of the black woman in Song of Solomon mirrors origins of sexual hypocrisy that have existed within society for ages. Her reflections match the stereotypical exploitations of black women today. The scriptural verses foreshadow history because they use a black woman and people’s judgment toward her based on the color of her skin. Today, many black women are portrayed with negative imagery due to the color of their skin. They are abandoned and left alone by members of the black community and viewed as promiscuous because of accepted images within the entertainment industries.
Many young African-American women view current television offerings such as “Flavor of Love” and “I Love New York” as the current “IT” show in today’s popular culture. In these shows, many women are selling their bodies for fame and fortune. Unfortunately, the entertainment industries tend to misrepresent everything that African-American women stand for.
“ The [Flavor of Love and I Love New York] are horrible depictions of women that are focused more on their physical attributes. The young women should use their brains and their passion for work, whatever their chosen field is and to be the best at what they do as opposed to being portrayed as a physical, and more so, a sexual being,” said Columbus City Councilwoman Charleta Tavares.
“ The media opens up a door inside your house and inside your private life and if you’re not very careful you can begin to absorb it. The challenge with young girls is how much do they consume and how does it translate into their own self-image, self-confidence, beliefs and their own value of their beauty and unique characteristics,” said Shawna Gibbs, public relations manager of the Girl Scouts Council of Ohio.
Many young women do not realize that the shows’ content causes more harm to their image. An African-American woman’s image is a lot more important than a quick laugh in the entertainment industry. Younger generations of African-American females view shows and believe that they must act the same way in order to receive the benefits of the rich and “Ghetto Fabulous” – a group that has a pseudo-rich look or lifestyle without having real wealth to sustain a rich lifestyle. This group is defined according to The Slang Dictionary, a publication of The Source Youth Ministries.
“ If you know who you are and where you are going to go, you can watch ‘Flavor of Love’ all day long. But can an eight-year-old or 13-year-old look at that and say ‘I am not pretty enough.’ We don’t want to do that,” said Gibbs.
These shows have the ability to leave people in society with false impressions. “I feel that seeing women like this [up on the tables shaking their behinds] on the television screen makes people think that this is how a typical African-American woman acts, talks and carries herself. In a sense it affects me because I don’t want people to think this is the way a typical African-American wo-man acts,” said 21-year-old Chinelo Washington.
However, what women do not know is that it dates all the way back to the days of slavery’s era. In Anti-Miscegenation Laws and the Negro Woman, a publication of Georgetown University, it is recorded that the first groups of African Americans were brought over to Virginia in 1619. The real demands of slavery, a male-dominated labor force, reduced the relative support for African-American women and often made it difficult for women to tend to their children.
Georgetown Law, a publication of Georgetown University, states, “Slavery depended on a growing slave population, which also led masters to ignore or participate in sexual exploitation of slave women... Their high birth rates and skimpy clothing-both consequences of their status as property were used to justify the creation of negative imagery.”
This gave the women zero respect and as a result the theory that African-American women were promiscuous was brought about.
“ Coat of Many Colors,” a publication by Evangelists and former Pastors Kevin and Beverly Robinson, presents fodder for this perspective: “When African slave men and women became families, they were frequently split and sold off, or they would sell offspring and split the parents also. So, the only relationship that Black women and men had from the beginning in this country was a relationship based on reproductability.”
An image that has been rooted within the minds of black women was “brought about as a result of slave masters silently creeping down to the slave quarters by night to have their way with many of the slave women,” noted Beverly and Kevin Robinson.
This was reiterated by Tavares, when she stated, “Many times, the women were used as sexual objects for the slave owner, and they were forbidden to have a relationship with or to marry an African American or African slave. That’s why families were split and women were used as sex objects for the slave owner.”
Often times African-American wo-men in the workforce are perceived as mad, excited or aggressive. Conversely, most are not, they are hardworking women that are assertive.
“ Today, any time a black woman is career-driven, she cannot afford to fail. She has no back-up plan. She is the back-up plan. She knows her family is depending on her. With a black woman, she knows that tears are a luxury that she can’t afford. If she must cry she must continue to work with silent tears in corporate America. She plays by the rules and she plays to win. “In history, Underground Railroad conductor Harriett Tubman said to the slaves she helped flee to the north ‘move on or die,’” stated Beverly Robinson.
Now days, women have opportunities to make a decent living. We have opportunities to go to college, get a job and to do so much more if we take advantage of them. Best of all there are no laws stopping women from being and doing what they want to be and do.
Entertainment, inclu-ding shows like Flavor of Love and I Love New York, bring up controversial questions such as “Are we really displaying the best in 21st-century entertainment?” Or are we just once again digging up skeletons from America’s tainted past? Through it all, we are empowered to know that it is our choice.

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