Deconstructing the Myth of the Strong Black Woman AS/HUMA 1300 Faculty of Arts

Challenging the Myth of the Strong Black Woman 1. Black women’s strength 2. Black female sexuality 3. Saartjie Baartman and the Sexualization of the Black Female Body 4. Understanding contemporary constructions of black women’s strength and sexuality

Constructions of Black Women in Slavery Physical Differences Strength - Justified their exploitation as labourers - Denied black women’s beauty and femininity Sexual Differences Innate Sexuality - Justified their exploitation as sexual objects - Marked them as traitors to black men

Moynihan Report 1. Report argues that black families in the US are matriarchal based on high rates of male desertion, illegitimate births and female-headed households; 2. Matriarchy “seriously retards the progress of blacks” because “it is so out of line with the rest of American society.” 3. Even though black women are the most economically powerless in US society, they are a culturally dominant force that hinders the progress of black men.

Eldridge Cleaver “That’s why, all way down through history, he has propped her up economically above you and me, to strengthen her hand against us.”

Saartjie Baartman and the Sexualization of the Black Female Body “The Hottentot Venus” Black Female Body in Pop Culture

bell hooks “As a group, black women are in an unusual place in this society, for not only are we collectively at the bottom of the occupational ladder, but our overall social status is lower than that of any other group. Occupying such a position, we bear the brunt of sexist, racist, and classist oppression. At the same time, we are the group that has not been socialized to assume the role of exploiter/oppressor in that we are allowed no institutionalized “other” that we can exploit or oppress” (Black Women 144)

Black Women’s Health 1. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for black women in the U.S. 2. In 2005, AIDS diagnoses for black women was nearly 23 times the rate for white women. (The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black men was 8 times the rate for white men) 3. African-American women have an 85% higher rate of ambulatory medical care visits for high blood pressure than Caucasian women. 4. African-American women have the highest death rate from breast cancer and are more likely to be diagnosed with a later stage of breast cancer than white women.