What Most People Think of Black Girls

So, I found this video where a guy acts and dresses like a black female and says what he thinks (or in some cases, other people think) that black girls say and do. This is a very good example to show the representation of modern black girls.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXDpfhehb6I

If Black Women Said The Stuff White Men Say

White Men's Attraction to Black Women

Here is a short clip from the documentary Dark Girls about how two particular white men feel about their marriages to black women. They also elaborate about their general attraction to black women.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkkeRFtXEBU

Representation of Black Women

I found a video on how people perceive black women today, I think the video is really good. In the video many people had a lot of things positive to say about black women but of course there was the typical negativity.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuXTM5qTb7g

Private Racism

I found a audio clip of Donald Sterling, the ex owner of the Clippers, and his ex mistress, Vanessa Stiviano. This audio clip is of an argument they are having about race and having black friends. It illustrates perfect dichotomy. She is mixed with, Black and Mexican. He shows desire towards her but still has hatred for her skin color and what is in her blood. Donald Sterling claims that she should like black people privately not publicly. Sterling was also described as treating the basketball team as if it was a slavery plantation. Start the clip at 2:00 mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhT6d5fMhzI


Joy Farmer

Blurred Lines

I'm not sure if I fully understood the prompt correctly but the first thing that came to my mind while thinking of the dichotomy between black female and white male identity today was Robin Thicke's song Blurred Lines. I'm well aware that songs and music video's are not accurate depictions of how artist are in real life but I did find the lyrics to that song and the actual video interesting. The video contains 3 females, 2 of which are white (in skin color, I have no idea about their ethnicity) and the other 1 is black (again, no idea of her ethnicity). There are also 3 males, 2 of which are black (by appearance (T.I. and Pharrell) and Robin Thicke who we identify as a white male. I feel that it is ironic that T.I. are Pharrell are mainly interacting with the white females and Robin is paired with the black female. There is a scene when Robin Thicke interacts with the other females but what was most intriguing to me was when he sung the lines,
 "OK now he was close, tried to domesticate you
But you're an animal, baby it's in your nature
Just let me liberate you
Hey, hey, hey
You don't need no papers
Hey, hey, hey
That man is not your maker"
 he was with the black girl. The lyrics aren't vulgar yet they are troubling especially when they seem to come from the white male gaze cast down upon the black woman...an animal...her nature...papers (slave ownership papers perhaps? O.K I won't start but do you catch my drift?)There's another scene when T.I. is seen brushing the white girl's blonde hair. Frantz Fanon would refer to this as the fixation of the white woman from the black man ..Now before you say, "It's not that deep," I still think it's very telling in how the "exotic other" is viewed. Like I said, these images and songs don't necessarily speak to the character of artists and/or producers but do we subconsciously perpetuate these type of things in society? Are they poisonous or awakening? Are they completely irrelevant? Am I tripping? While it is nice to see somewhat of an interracial interaction, it still puts the White male at the forefront, and the black woman (along with the others but I'm not talking about them) is nothing more than a prop. I still like the song by the way! Just thought I'd review it through my oppositional gaze. Here's a link to the video for your viewing pleasure...

http://youtu.be/yyDUC1LUXSU

Representations today

            I read a post on facebook the other day that said, "They're killing black men in the streets and they're killing black women on tv." That really made me stop and think, especially relating to this class and the topics we've recently discussed such as the representations of black women. In the beginning of "Hearts of Darkness" we see how the dichotomy of the love/hate relationship with the white man and the black woman begun, it European man went to Africa and captured the black woman and brought her over here as his sex slave. His ignorance kept him from understanding the black woman but it didn't not keep him from lusting after her and profiting off of her. This relationship started a smear campaign of the black woman's reputation and black woman have been trying to defend their reputation ever since. Today there are stereotypes of  Sapphire, Mammy and Jezebel that are easily identified today on regular daytime and night time television. As a black woman I have to carve out my identity for others to see every where I go because of these images. Those are not the only roles we operate in in our real, day to day life.
           As far as the white man goes and how he is viewed, I really don't have any thoughts on this particular subject. Only the fact that in America the white man comes in first place and he'll do whatever he can to keep his position. The relationship between the white man and the black woman  in "Hearts of Darkness" shows how he will help the black woman and her kids get a better leg up in the world. The way this is set up though is that it alienates the black man. It doesn't give him a chance to rise up. Instead it keeps him lost, forgotten and at the bottom of the barrel. I know that my focus should strictly be upon the white man and the black woman but I think the relationship between the two definitely and directly affects the black man and the white woman. You can't talk about one without talking about the other.