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Breaking Down True Womanhood & Black Girlhood in Media
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- Опубликовано: 19 авг 2024
- The 19th Century was not kind to the girls.
A piece long in the making! I hope you enjoy this video, which is officially the longest non-rant videos I've ever done. A true labor of love.
** Note: I've heard mixed things about the audio levels from 17:35-20:45, so just a heads up! It sounds fine in my headphones and computer but it's a YMMV situation. Anyway ... probably time for a new mic that doesn't get smothered by my boobs! xx
Article about Cuties from a CSA survivor: www.theatlanti...
Sources:
"Girlhood Interrupted" by Rebecca Epstein, Jamilia J. Blake, and Thalia González (www.law.george...)
When Chickheads Come Home to Roost by Joan Morgan
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris
Women in Chains: The Legacy of Slavery in Black Women's Fiction (SUNY series in African American Studies) by Venetria K. Patton
Giveaway Email:
theprincessweekes(@)gmail.com
Giveaway Titles:
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris
Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
Tee Noir's Video: • Video
For Harriet's Video: • The Cuties conversatio...
Social:
Twitter @WeekesPrincess
Patreon: / princessweekes
Ca$hApp: $pweekeswriter
As a shy, bookish young black girl I consumed a lot of stories that featured white girls having adventures, defying gender stereotypes, discovering magic and falling in love. I absorbed those stories and came to see those characters as my closest friends, my heroes, but I also absorbed some very ugly ideas about myself at the same time. They manifested themselves in the way I thought about my kinky hair, my body, and my worthiness as an object of romantic love, things that I am still working through in my 30s. I literally had this image of myself as a big, awkward black beast that was totally divorced from the reality I see looking back at pictures of myself from that time. I didn't discover stories that centred black girls as heroines and romantic leads until much later on. When I read those stories now, I feel really sad for the child I was who never got to have that experience.
Hello! I'm a school librarian in South Africa. Like you, I was a bookish child (extremely) and I have grown into an adult who tries through my work to ensure a new generation of children don't experience the same alienation. May I screenshot and share your comment in the course of my work, please? I often have to convey this to people who are in no position to understand it when I advocate for genuine diversity in the selection of literature that our children are exposed to.
@@siphiliselwemakhanya2937 of course!
@@TheRealHermioneW Thank you!
I’m currently 18, but I’m thankful that I’ve been able to read books about black girls who defy stereotypes. I’ve always been a bookworm and I’m happy to see more black authors emerging. I don’t rely on the media to portray us black girls and women correctly but reading books written by other black women makes up for it to me. That’s why I plan on being an author myself.
@Hermione Wilson just wanted to say how much your comment resonated with me, you really put things into words I never could before
Your point about the adultification of black children reminded me when (white) parents were pissed when Nickelodeon talked about racism. They thought their kids were too young to learn about racism but don't think that kids experience racism at that age.
Which is sad because white parents have the privilege to shelter their kids from racism. Black parents (specifically) have to teach their children about racism and how to adapt to it for survival
when did Nickelodeon talk about racism?
@Killingdance no it's not, the brain develops slowly and can't understand certain issues at such a young age, that's just common sense
@@kelvinb16 They definitely can lol, I remember being a kid. Sure, you'll probably have to simplify some things but racism as a concept exists. Not talking about it when racism is so deeply entrenched in our society (from media to institutions to individuals) means allowing this racism to subconsciously shape how children view the world unbarred.
@@percabethlumity I'm 27, I learned about racism in school as a young child, learned about black slavery and cival rights and I could never understand why racism ever occurred when everyone is the same and it's just a skin color. How is it that over 20 years later and 60 years after cival rights that racism is supposedly worse? No they shouldn't be thought about it, seems all this teaching about it has done nothing but create more victims who fuel racism in the end
This whole "adultification" topic hurts my heart so much. I first found out about it around the time of Tamir Rice, studies that show that people perceive black children as being older than they are. The whole thing seems indescribably painful from the outside looking in. I experienced the tiniest piece of it because I was always tall for my age and looked older, but I'm a white girl, so it didn't put me in danger, it merely felt unfair. What happens to black children all over the country isn't merely unfair
what is happening is fucking sinister
@clayfame I think it has a lot more to do with racism. Everyone has melanin (including in their eyes) except those with albinism.
People seem to perceive blackness and then not look any further, so they get a general impression of "black person" which they may perceive as dangerous or undesirable in a way that is at odds with their impression of youth, so they deny the child youth.
Film was created to pick up the colors of pale skin without any regard for other complexions, which is part of the racist background to film and photography. Even now, with the technology better than it was then, cameras are worse at picking up darker colors, and actors with deep skin tones get shafted when they work with directors and cinematographers who never bothered to learn how to set up lighting for someone who isn't pale. But we have cameras and lighting that can work with even the deepest skin tones, so the factor that is most limiting to black people on screen is racism, both on the part of hollywood and the perception that audiences will be less interested in a film if it includes black people in prominent roles because they may find them less "relatable," less human.
It would be really convenient if there was some physical deficiency in white people that explained away racism, but the truth is much uglier
@@b.ballooon9225 wow, you didn't understand that last sentence at all and somehow read it as me saying that white people are bad? Amazing. And my entire comment there was a reply to another comment which has since been deleted, that sentence was addressing something in the prior comment.
@@b.ballooon9225 not bothering to read this text wall because it veers into irrelevant rambling very quickly. They said that there were differences between different races that caused racism, and I was disagreeing and saying that it's not just happenstance that results in racism but instead a history of power structures and sociological factors. The reason why I said that it would be more convenient for there to be something in white people that made them racist was because I was talking about it being a more convenient and simple explanation. The truth of why, for example, Irish immigrants were second class citizens in the early days of America, is not the simple, clean, "there are natural differences" but instead the much uglier "people were deliberately exclusionary and exploitative of other people for their own personal gain." It's nicer to think that everyone's trying to be good to their fellow man but are unable to because of natural differences, it's much uglier to think of those with power as being willing to fuck over others and wield superficial variations between humans to entrench their own power at the cost of human suffering.
@@b.ballooon9225 convenient explanation does not equal convenient situation.
As a black little girl I was always treated was such harshness by my parents and by my teachers. I couldn't be talkative like my white peers, if I was I would get punished and an example would be made out of me. So, I became silent in fear of being punished for the 100th time. Other girls who were white would make fun of me and mock me. When I told the teachers that they were bullying me they saw it as me being a complainer and I would get scolded even though I was the victim of bullying.
My problems are always being brushed under the rug as if it's nothing. I would be told by my black father that my problems and hardships wouldnt nearly as bad as his. And he invalidates my experiences.
My father would tell me I needed to be more soft and nurturing so that a man would consider me marriage material. That I need to be more agreeable and not disagree with others. That I shouldnt have an opinion.
Everyone in my family always comes to me with their problems and dumping everything on me. Or if something happened that they didnt like i was the one they blamed. I was and am an easy target for them. But, if I want to discuss how much they've abused me mentally, emotionally, and verbally they dont want to take responsibility. They say that I made them treat me with such disdain and disrespect. My family says if I didnt do this or that then they wouldnt have cursed me out and talk shit about me.
Because I'm a black woman I'm just supposed to talk the abuse with a smile on my face and no complaints.
It's fucked up.
You are valuable, beautiful, amazing, no matter who doesn't appreciate it. You deserve to be treated with respect and consideration. I'm sorry that so many people around you failed to uphold your value. However, that does not diminish your worthiness. You are to be celebrated. Release those who refuse to and surround yourself with those who do. Just celebrate them as well.
I'm so glad that u r seeing what they do now as unacceptable. It's so important for us to take back our esteem by understanding what we r truly responsible for and what is actually just someone else's problem projected onto us. Know that especially with family, there r a lot of things about their treatment of u that may not change even when u r clear and honest about their dismissal. I know it has been helping me to tell them how what they r doing is hurting...but now my responsibility is to how I process it, want to deal with that and react to others...that's all we have control over. So if u decide to take up more space my queen, u do u and find the people who love and applaud the healthiest version of that in ur life. All love from Trinidad.
How have you responded to that over the years? How do you feel now?
You are so brave for standing up for yourself like that to your abusers! They realise what they did was bad, they don't deny that it happened but they want to shift the blame on you. It is not your responsibility to "regulate" their behaviour! You should be allowed to just be yourself as a kid without being abused for it.
Do what is good for yourself first. Try to get all the help you can get. You don't have to be a people pleaser for anyone !
@pearly emerald •}:{• i was just about to tell her this!!! Go watch Chrissie and understand. She's helped me sort out a lot of my issues and I think she'll be able to help you as well.
I am currently writing a coming of age script and the three main females in it are going to be black. This essay has put a lot of things into perspective for me.
As a more introverted black girl growing up I’ve never had characters who I looked like for me to connect with ( except my girls from Twitches and princess Tiana)
As I find myself falling into filmmaking I hope that I’ll be able to portray black females that I wish I had to look up to. We can be strong, we can be clueless, we can be delicate we have the range
Same. I'm a 14 year old black girl and I want to become a screenwriter when I grow up. I hope you become successful one day😉💞
Me too my dude I hope both of yall are successful my dudes
I really hope you can make it. I wish there was some good way of all of us women getting together to help people like you get films and other projects made. I don't have much money, but I know I'd be willing to chip in a little to a kickstarter type thing as well as spread the word.
@@carlissiawilkins4432 I will I have faith in that🙌🏾 you too
@@aishambengue3024 thank you💙💙💙
as someone who went to a predominantly middle school, i can confirm that many middle schoolers of color act like that. people are finally coming face to face with how kids really act and instead of having a discussion about it they just wanna get angry about something they have no knowledge on because they know it will give them followers and attention. people do not know how to think for themselves no i'm not saying that cuties wasn't problematic because it is, i'm saying that people don't know how to have their own opinions. they see what is popular and run with that before even looking into themselves.
Love your channel sis :)
Hi harriyanna! I love your videos too!!
Way better than any lecture I’ve attended in college.
omg thank you
Goddamn SAME. These videos are better than every sociology class I had to take in undergrad. And she's giving them away for free bc she's amazing!
Omg, yes. I've literally learned more about the world and culture and how to analyse media from videos like these than from all my time in school...
23:19
An interesting example of "adultification" is the novel Iola Leroy by Frances E. W. Harper, which was one of the first published novels written by an African American woman.
The titular character is raised believing that she is white when in actuality she is a light skinned black woman. When Iola finds out about her heritage is the moment she loses her innocence. The realization is framed as devastating and irreparable (harkening back to the fact "mullato" children could never be accepted by society despite being able to pass off as white). Becoming a black woman was the moment Iola's childhood stopped and the book goes in length about how innocence is both a luxury and a privilege.
I LOVE IOLA LEROY! And yes, that is so right and man do I want to adapt that one day!
The notions of sexual promiscuity attached to black women makes being asexual incredibly difficult. People expect me to be easy or at least more sexually adventurous and having to explain i have no interest garners a lot of strange responses. I have white friends and sometimes they get a different response from the same person when they talk about their own asexuality. As if somehow being a black woman means you're always sexually available, regardless of actions, attire or attitude. The literal worst
Jesus bless you He loves you very much He died and rose again for you so repent and live for Him
@fawnchaer take your religion peddling elsewhere. This person just shared a painful experience, vulnerable and genuine, and you thought it was your moment to evangelize? Did Jesus give you a gold star yet?
Genuinely you are so brave. Being asexual means proving that your experience even exists so that combined with the cruelty of transmisogyny must be exhausting. I cannot imagine the frustration and pain you go through. Wishing you all the best and I hope you feel so loved and accepted wherever you are
also selah and the spades was literally a great movie about black girlhood and it had everything white film stans love but it was a dark skin black girl so no one cared
I loved that movie! I first watched it at a film festival and at the exact moment I decided how dope and complex Selah's character was, the white woman sitting next to me was literally called her a "bitch" out loud. This, probably, 40 year old white woman was calling a teenager a "bitch". Told me a lot of what I needed to know about how the film would be perceived by mainstream audiences sadly.
@@that.girl.ijeoma selah was so complex and is the exact kind of teen girl character white audiences love but as we see black girls dont get the same grace
i will be watching!
@@hasanaturner I haven’t seen the movie yet but when I seen that the main character was a dark skin black girl I made a mental check to watch it.
When you were talking about Cuties, I suddenly remember that one scene at the end of Little Miss Sunshine (you know the one) Which made me uncomfortable as a 11 year old. Little Miss Sunshine had several awards and was a box office hit. So yeah, there is some double standard.
That's what i was thinking, and it was overtly sexual, and yet I haven't seen anyone bringing that up.
Yes! Black people dont get a chance at childhood
@@janaekelis Yep...That's why I was surprised by the outrage over Cuties.
Cuties did win awards, mind you. From what I can tell, the outrage was mostly limited to the US.
@@melvv18 000
Thank you for bringing up trafficking and it's prevalence with girls!
I work with teenage girls who have been trafficked. They are 11-16 years old, most have been abused before age 11. And these kids don't know how to be children, how could they? Adults never set boundaries for them and they were always asked by adults to do things outside of their role as a child. The way that they dress, carry themselves, talk, the makeup they wear, and the way they do their hair is all a performance of adulthood, but there is no mistaking that they are kids. My favorite moments are when they are unabashedly children and they just get to be kids because that's when they really seem to be free.
You just confirmed what I want to study for my doctorate. I will make a note to cite you properly and shout you out if I get around to applying and graduating 📝 Adults truly treat Black children like trash for acting like......children! And Black girls specifically? 😷😷😷 All too often I have to point out to loved ones and coworkers that their language towards and about Black girls is concerning. I have more things to say but I’ll save it for a random doc that will hopefully be a personal statement lol
You just told my 12 year old story, too 🥴
Get Up 10 is my SHIT. It’s my “I’m late to work, let’s gooooooo!!!” song 🚙💨
SAME
@@Princess_Weekes will do 😌💕✨
As a mixed Native woman, I think it's very telling that growing up I was assumed to be 18-22 from about the time I was 12-13...and then continued to be assumed to be 18-22 into my late 20s. Simultaneously being viewed as too adult to have a childhood, but also too childlike to be respected as an adult.
And as a supernerd who is like...way too into learning things, my breadth of knowledge/intelligence is always surprising to folks, likely influenced by some of these factors. I have to hyper overachieve to prove my worth and that's kinda shit if I stop and think about it.
Obviously a Native experience and a Black experience aren't going to be 1:1 or anything, but these elements especially rang true for my experience
Tess of the D'urbervilles is actually a book I really appreciate, which is weird because I don't generally like tragedies and the male characters are by and large really shitty. But Thomas Hardy (the author) is very clearly on Tess's side, and the book stands as a criticism of those who condemn her, with a compassionate tone towards Tess throughout, even down to the subtitle in many editions: A Pure Woman. It's very moving and startlingly progressive.
Yeah, a lot of Thomas Hardy's work is surprisingly progressive both in terms of class and gender.
Far From the Madding Crowd is, for the most part, less depressing though.
I'm glad Sex Education is getting more diverse and realized that it's characters of colour shouldn't just have been sidekicks, one dimensional rude minor antagonists or the "obstacle choice" in love triangles but it's frustrating that it happened in the first place. Hope Viv gets more attention in the next series.
Omgosh the fact that show only had a dark skin gay black guy as representation of femininity irritated me in the first season. I remember also in one scene in the first season where the swimmer guy finished his race and came out the pool to look for Maisie and she wasn’t there but conveniently the camera panned directly to a dark skin black girl. Signalling that she should naturally support him even though he gives her no reception. As if it’s dark skin women’s jobs to be black men’s invisible cheerleaders. I’m thinking no ma’am
Same I really hope they do more with Viv's character in season 3
@@XQN-R Sounds like you're making a lot of assumptions and jumps just to be offended, but whatever. Camera panning to that girl could have been for 100s of reasons, but you're choosing the one that allows you to be angry at a specific race. Scapegoating is what it's called.
"Sweet Summer Child, with your Summertime sadness"! I need to work this into a general conversation. This is my goal for fall.
Props for fearlessly wearing that outfit
Same, and with confidence
Okay but she looks so. Freaking. Good. 😍🔥
YES I saw this and was so happy. I love harnesses but ya girl is a member of the committee, so I can't fill them out as nicely.
Right, she's wise AND gorgeous!!
Same. My country is hell for women and if you go out dressing like that you'll encounter endless sexual harassment, or worse, being kidnapped and raped.
As a white cis man, damn. I thought everyone was sick and tired of "coming of age" stories.
You gave me a lot to think about. Time to read some more books, eh?
The movie discussion at the end, it became clear quite early on that a big part of the backlash was exaggerated bad faith criticism to weaponize the discourse against a black woman.
One movie from my childhood that I still love is "Akeelah and the Bee". I'd love to know your thoughts on that movie, and if there are any issues around that movie I should learn about. For me (as a non-black POC not from North America) that was my first exposure to a story about black girlhood.
There's a great essay called "The Future is Pale: Race in Contemporary Young Adult Dystopian Novels". It's in a book called Contemporary Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults. It's really interesting. It discusses the way that black and BIPOC identities are erased in works of Dystopian Fiction and Science Fiction for YA audiences, and racism itself is treated as a symptom of a barbaric past born of ignorance and stupidity while ignoring the fact that the society and many of the MCs operate under the assumption that beauty and their own privilege is inherently white. It allows authors to skirt the issue of how it affects modern society and the systemic structures in place that reinforce implicit assumptions about race and racial violence.
I recommend the essay. Not sure if you've read it.
This video was excellent! I was so happy when you discussed how femininity excludes black women and emphasized lower class women too. The dynamics of economic class and gender roles is usually left out of conversations about femininity and sexism. Also I appreciate your openness and honesty about your body and self worth. I don't have any thing else to add but sing praises cuz YOU DID THAT lol.
⁰
First, I appreciate the commentary on Cuties. I've found it so frustrating to see the focus being hijacked from a story of girlhood to a focus on predators.
I remember the first time I saw pictures of Emmett Till, I was about 7 when my grandmother sat me down for a history lesson.
Abbie Mills from Sleepy hollow was written as being a workaholic who wasn't really attracted to anyone and who was not viewed as attractive. Icabod had every woman within a 20 mile radius flirting with him, but guys didn't flirt with Abbie.
Bonnie Bennett was never allowed to grieve on camera. Elana was allowed to mourn her parents and Caroline was allowed to grieve her mother, but Bonnie couldn't mourn her grandmother, mother or father on screen, she always had to do it off screen. Elana always said that she didn't have anyone, but she had 2 guys willing to do anything for her, her brother, her 2 friends and other people, while Bonnie didn't really have anyone. She died multiple times, at one point she was dead for months and no one noticed until they needed something. She had PTSD for a couple of episodes before she had to get over it and -get back to work- help her friends.
Riverdale broke up Josie and the Pussycats quickly, never gave black characters story lines, had Josie pop up to sing, then vanish again, then finally got rid of just about every black character. Josie was poisoned at one point and no one checked on her.
This is the reason I didn’t watch both Vampire Diaries and Sleepy Hollow. I saw some articles about how badly the black/mixed female characters were treated. I heard that Abbie died. I remember doing hours of research into how mistreated Bonnies character was in the show and that turned me off completely. Apparently Bonnies white counterpart in the book got more relevance. I absolutely hate when shows try to be “diverse” by having a black character, only to never developed in the way they do the other white characters. I’d rather be no black characters at all, if that’s the case.
i literally have never had an interest in little woman cause it's only white women. i'm tired of it it's 2020 why we still having all white casts.
Especially since it's been made 40 times.
@Harriyanna. Im one of your subscribers. Theres actually a great graphic novel adaptation/modern retelling of Little Women with a mainly black girl cast. It’s called “Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy” by Rex Ogle
@Northern Light Do you really think people of color just didn’t exist back then? Unless you’re shooting a movie about a time before boats were invented there’s pretty much no excuse.
@@arosenthal3318 plus, directors take creative licenses all the time diverting from the actual point in history, to simply have people of color playing characters, specially fictional ones, is not a big deal and I don't think anyone watching the movie would be confused
Northern Light you sound extremely white supremacist
Crooklyn is my favorite movie because its one of the only movies I saw growing up that explored Black girlhood. It was released in the 90s and it was so important for me to see as a young Black girl. Up until that point all I saw was white girlhood like The Olson Twins, The Babysitters Club, etc. But even that movie can be critiqued because at the end there is some adultification that is placed upon Troy (the main character).
Yes it’s like in the end she has to pick up being the woman of the house now that her mom has passed away like the last minutes when they are switching the memory when her mom was doing her hair when she was younger VS Troy doing her younger brother hair and acting just like their mom
I love crooklyn soooo much. I’m a black afab with two older brothers and seeing that movie as a child made me feel seen.
This one and Eve’s Bayou despite the other tones ;I enjoyed seeing Journey Smollets character being a child and even exploring Meagan Goods fictional drama around womanhood were examples of black girls being young/teen black girls to me
Maybe this has been suggested to you before but I would love to hear your thoughts on the Netflix series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. It has an entirely non-white main cast and some really charming characters. Loved this video!
I would love to see a video on Kipo too!
Me too! Wolf deserves so much gentleness
Midway, I had to stop watching it. From the beginning Wolf is portrayed as a literal savage, mean, unfriendly, voice so deep I wasn't sure if she was male or female etc. I stopped in the episode where Wolf decided to put her life on the line and die to 'protect' the other two characters (biracial girl, black boy). She measures her worth on how much she can sacrifice for her friends. A modern mammy. Feel so bad for the little black girls who watch it and consume such destructive brainwashing.
When The Pinkprint was talked about a tear was brought to my eye, she has so many soft, deeply emotional songs that she never gets praised for; it's just a damn shame. Thanks for the video!
I don't know why this happened now, but when you said you were an eleven year black girl, it brought me back to when I was a seven or eight year old black girl. I rode the special ed bus to school and the district I went to school in did not seporate kids by what disabillity we had. So, I ended up on a bus full of...spirited boys that would sing "you're a slut, you know you're a slut. you got 24 crabbies up your but" How ,uch room would I have getting mad about Cuties when I had that life experience?
Are there audiobook versions or the books you highlighted in this video?
Exactly. I don't know where the people who got angry with Cuties live, but it is definetly vey far away from here, where the stuff portrayed in that movie, the oversexualization of children, is the norm, not a foreign agenda.
@drosera I don't think the audience of Cuties is dumb.(self hate isn't a good look) I think we all need to look at our childhoods with an honest light beofre we run around in circles with are butts on fire.
I've recently been learning more about purity culture and I started to realize that only privileged (often upper middle class and white) women can meet the standards. I'm a hispanic woman and I realize that I didn't have the luxury of putting purity and innocence on such a pedestal. As the daughter of lower class immigrants, putting food on the table was a priority and, as a result, my parents treated me more like an adult at an early age. Thanks for your video! It was really insightful and helped me understand all the issues at play around woman and girlhood.
Princess you can see by my avatar that I'm indeed ~~alabaster white~~~ lmao
But, I'm also Brazilian, and a poor one, raised by poor women of colour (grandma was a native child slave and the man who abandoned her with seven small children was black) so black narratives resonate with me in a sense of being treated like an adult from young age, the complete alienation from all the "domestic angel stuff" because my mother and my aunts never had that kind of treatment either.
I'm not trying to pull a Halsey shit here, I know my whiteness give me countless privileges that my poc cousins will never have (I am writing in English after all), but I feel so detached from this whole white female tears discourse because that never worked for me at all.
What I mean is that I totally agree that coming of age stories about black girls should be seen in a more universal lens because in my experience they are more universal than the coming of age of a white rich girl whose trauma though very valid was to be put in a gilded cage, most of us had to fend for ourselves. But a gilded cage would have sound very nice for 9 years old me that had to cook my own meals after school ya know? I think we need to stop pretending that having to be responsible and not being able to rely on anyone because you are a "strong woman/girl" is the same as having agency. I had no choice then, I have no choice now, if I had choice I'd not chose to work three jobs to pay my bills. Where's my chance to be the feminine girly girl with flowers in my hair baking cookies?
"I had no choice then, I have no choice now, if I had choice I'd not chose to work three jobs to pay my bills."
Whoop, there it is. It's not a privilege to be a ~strong Black woman~; it's either be strong, or die.
“Not dark skinned ones, or fat ones, or non New York or LA accents”! Such a great observation. Totally agree. This was a very well edited and thought out video. Thank you for your time, knowledge and sharing your personal experience. I loved that bralette and top!
I’m still waiting for a well done film adaption to the coldest winter ever and the blacker the berry, two amazing novels of coming of age black girlhood.
Or bluest eye! Such beautiful books
I remember reading this YA book called "Zahara the windseeker" in middle school, that just floored me with how new and exciting the worldbuilding was. It had this eco-scifi/fantasy vibe, with like vines and mirror shards and fragrant oil baths that were important for magic reasons. The world was so rich, I wanted to phase through the book and be in it. And years later I realized what made it so unique was that the setting was based in West Africa. So it had cultural elements that (to me) were knew and interesting, and also... it treated blackness as default. I'm not even sure "black" is accurate, bc I don't think our constructions of race exist in that world. It wasn't a "black issue" book. Just a (to us) black girl going on an adventure.
Anyway, I would love to see that story on screen.
@@tangent94 thank you for mentioning that book i would love to read it
At-least, in my friend group the opinions about the movie are just reiterated by people who have very limited concept of the movie and have only heard things second or third hand. I think there is pressure to be so unproblematic and "woke" and so there is an immediate labeling a movie as support or condemn, with no in between. People are so ready to believe and pass on the popular assessment of a piece of media, so if its been "proven" good by popular sources people stan the hell out of it and get mean to people who criticize it, on the other side (what has happened with cuties) is that people say oh this bad, and to makes sure EVERYONE knows and being critical becomes a symbol of whether you know what your talking about.
Oh my god yes! When people go on the internet we can be so toxic. I loved it when she said it’s ok to like and criticize media. I forget that sometimes and I realize we can be very close-minded, and it’s exactly what’s happening with Cuties.
I feel like some people act like that because they're afraid of losing their "ally badge". Which is too bad because I despise people like that, they annoy me to no end.
I had never really thought about it that way before. I knew that historically, BIPOC women were left out of Feminism, but you put it into a great summarizing concept. Black women were not seen as women in this country, therefor, soft, delicate, submissive, purity culture wasn't even an option for them, they could not even participate in the culture of being an ideal woman. Thank you for this video!
Girl you are killing it lately, your vulnerability when discussing these topics shows mad courage and is super powerful. As a white gay man this was super educational and also has empowered me to think about my own relationship with boyhood.
Have my engagement this vid deserves to pop awf. But regardless you should be super proud of this top quality content.
You know what? You're my favorite youtuber now. As someone who grew up and still lives in a South American country with bullshit culture about not being racist and homophobic at all while calling someone black or f*g can still be seen as an insult, this type of conversations are incredibly useful to realize what parts of our culture are so harmful, of course taking in consideration that black experiences in Venezuela have differences with respect to other countries even in the same region.
Thank you so much for this.
Miley Cyrus naked in a video age 19: everyone loses their shit. Rihanna naked in a video age 19: no one bats an eye.
It breaks my heart when people share their vulnerability and are ignored or made fun of. I love hearing your thoughts and perspectives. Great work on this video.
That was a really great point about people consuming black girlhood and trauma as a "learning" moment or a niche, as opposed to just recognizing what they're seeing as one of the many nuances of black girlhood.
I was working on an indie film that I wrote with a black female producer several years ago. The main character was a black woman, as they are in almost all the stories I write, and hers and one other woman had their races stated. Race wasn't necessary for the story but I like to represent black women just being women. The producer says to me that she wanted to change the race of the main character to be more "relatable". I nearly fell off my chair. That was something I would have expected from a white person not a black woman. We are made to relate to white people all the time and if I can relate to them they can find a way to relate to me. That's basically what I told her. The character stayed black.
On the subject of slaves and Christianity, some who came over here were already Christians like the ones who started the Stono Rebellion in 1739. Others were Muslims and yes others practiced various religions popular in West Africa. Sadly, as we all know, the white slavers stripped them of their religions or attempted to and then shoved a very truncated version of Christianity onto them
Thank you for this!! It’s a topic that not a lot of ppl talk about, how some west Africans were already Christmas, some Muslims. Europeans have tried to use the excuse that they were “saving us” into Christianity by colonizing us 😒.
@@umwha damn I didn’t know that ( I’m not Islam I’m Christian). I’ll def be doing more research on Islam sounds like an interesting topic. Your point also reminds me of those who say, “why are many black ppl Christian, since it is a fact that Christianity was forced onto many black ppl. Through colonization and slavery as well.” Some white ppl even used the Bible to justify slavery. Although there were Christians in Africa before colonization and the slave trade, there were a small minority. And to anw your question? It’s a cultural thing, everyday ppl don’t really think about questions like that, since I was born into a Christian family I’m Christian, if I were born into a Muslim family I’d probably be Muslim too. The ppl that defy tradition, or break the cycle of things are a very small minority.
@@umwha Yeah you definitely have a point, the Bible is slavery friendly, there’s no getting around that. But pls understand there is a different between chattel slavery (treating human beings like cattle, which was the primary form of slavery in the America’s) and slavery during Jesus time, which was more similar to indentured servitude (an imployee within a system of free labor who is bound by a signed or forced contract). this type of servitude is usually done when someone owns the other person something, but can’t pay it with money, so they become their slave for a certain amount of time.
@@umwha that's bullshit, mohamed pbuh never did anything like that. Seriously where did you get that from?
@@iqqyhassan2339 Islam used to be a lot like Christians during the 1500s-1800s but during their Golden Age of the 700-1500s. That meant lots of scientific and societal progress, just like the Europeans during their recent golden Age, but it also meant lots of Conquests and Slavery. The Arab Slave Trade was believe it or not, actually larger than the Atlantic Slave Trade, yet barely anybody knows about it (Anti-Western racism?). Islam definitely colonized and imperialized just as much as the European Christians, giving proof to the idea that with great power comes great responsibility. Funny how people think Europeans are the only to conquer or colonize other lands, when the reality is others have been conquering by land especially for millennia and by sea to less success than the Europeans, but still by sea for a long time as well.
The incomparbable Alicia Keys said in an interview [talking about her first ablum] that growing up she wouldnt dress in girly clothes and that she perfered walkingout the house in blue jeans and a sweater to avoid being sexualized.
One of the first movies I saw on black girlhood was Just Another Girl on the I.R.T and to this day is one of my favorites. The way black girls are thrust into adulthood and then rise to accommodate that notion and become penalized is a trip I’ll never understand but was beautifully told to me in this movie.
I loved that movie!
Yes that is such a great movie!
one of your best videos so far and one i've been happily anticipating.
brooey deschanel recently did a video about sofia coppola (which also referenced lana's pity party, though far too kindly). and in the comment section there was a lot of conversation about the desire to see black girlhood given the same dreamy, introspective, pastel-hued (and broadly nonjudgemental) treatment that coppola gives her young white protagonists. it's just one of many lenses that isn't even considered for stories about black, indigenous girls of color.
but the audience and desire for it is there, the stories and ideas are there, but the gatekeeping is real. and when actors, directors, etc. receive critique about the unbearable whiteness of their work, they back the conversation into this corner of "what am I supposed to do, NOT direct/act/write? I should be allowed to play any tree, etc." when what's needed is just for them to use a tiny spark of their wealth and influence to help other directors, writers, and actors get their stuff made and out into the world.
like... rapunzel, sweetie, when someone asks you to let a rope down so they can come save you from your isolated and myopic existence, the answer is not to throw yourself on the floor wailing that you're being attacked for being a princess.
OMG. The last half of your comment is ironclad logic. It's so being copied into a text file.
Underrated comment.
i love this comment - the last little paragraph is pure gold
You really outdid yourself with this video! I really appreciate how you contextualized how womanhood, girlhood, and the history of slavery have influenced how black women in film and the entertainment industry have beeb portrayed. I understand that some of the scenes from Cuties were not necessary, but the fact that some people are criticizing something that they haven't even seen is crazy to me.
I’m so glad that you brought up cuties in this conversation about black girlhood and womanhood. Even though I haven’t seen the film (I have watched the trailer and read some articles about it) I really appreciate the story the filmmaker is trying to tell about the hypersexualization of young girls especially BIPOC girls. As a black woman I completely relate to the struggle that the black girl in the film is going through, the struggle between innocence and hyper sexuality. I understand that maybe certain aspects didn’t need to be so explicit because it runs the risk of going to far and endangering these young actresses, but I think people really wanted to ride the bandwagon and drag this movie rather than talk about the important social and cultural issues that necessitate this movie’s existence. People want to talk about how bad this movie is rather than talk about the fact that child marriage still exists in part of the us. Or the fact that BIPOC young women and girls are more likely to be victims of sex trafficking due to the socio-economic landscape of our society. No one really wants to fix anything. They just want to bash a movie.
I am grateful for your understanding of both the pros and cons of the movie. I wish that people could talk on this issues without othering women that have experience this issues in the life. The discussion begins to feel like the shaming of women that at a very young age experienced and acted on stupid things. I love the portrayal of the mom in the movie very much and i love the message that though the child acted in a stupid ways, she is still a child. She has the right to be treated as one, no matter how she acts or dresses. i also love the portrayal of religion and patriarchy how it affects both the mother and child negatively. I also find some scene heartwarming and funny even when i am not supposed to, like how she was dancing while her mom poured holy water on her. It felt nostalgic. Sorry for the long winded discussion i just have some much analysis and themes popping in my mind.
Also the African culture and clothing i so adore
Yeah. I’m really disappointed with the discourse because people against the movie (in general) don’t want to listen to the other side, and it’s unproductive because we talk more about the lingering dance scenes than the purpose of the film.
@@sana-qx1pr The purpose yessss or the staggering resonance. I really would like a discussion of the concept. I really bad in conveying what discussion that I would like to see more of.
I didn't watch Cuties and never will, but I do appreciate your perspective on it. I remember being an 11 year old and going into middle school I switch to a school far away so I didn't have to be around my old classmates. Unfortunately I was with one of them who bullied me but the worst it of it was feeling more and more isolated. Speaking about my issues the rare chance I got people would shut me down. My home life was in turmoil and my mother was always withdrawing herself from me and my siblings. I would act out only on the bus, because that was the only attention I got. Eventually my bus driver asked what was wrong with me and it was very triggering. I stopped talking for a while at school. I don't remember anything at home besides yelling, screaming, crying and a brooding dread that was felt throughout. I wanted to be understood, but I felt rejected at every attempt. It was so tired and lonely, I just switched schools the next year. I never talked to my mother about this until I was 24 and she was surprised. She didn't know anything and wanted to know why I didn't tell her about it. I learned that a lot of adults don't want to hear about your issues, they want you to stay silent and docile. To only speak up to make them look good, but otherwise stay out of the way. So many adults overlooked, demeaned and punished me for being a scared little kid. I never thought it was because I was a black girl at the time. It's still so hard to accept that's a lot of what it was. I was black girl, in the south, in poorer black schools and that was it for a lot of adults to not validate my experiences. It was so frustrating being a kid and I felt like I missed so much of what is great about being that young.
Out of interest, have you seen “Girlhood” (Bande de Filles in French) by celine sciamma? It’s about a dark skinned black girl navigating girlhood in modern Paris, I think it came out in 2014 or 15? I thought it was really good from a gender stand point as a trans person, but I’m sure I missed loads as a white person (and it’s directed by a white woman so there may be flaws in representation there idk)
Many black women from France and in Francophone world did not like "Girlhood." I remember Céline Sciamma getting highly criticized by them, but she was praised by white critics in the U.S., who were of course, the large majority of folks who saw it when it was initially released.
@@elonevora that’s interesting, I’ll have to look up the response!
I personally loved that movie. But I understand why Black Francophone women would have a problem with it. I, as an American, probably lack the perspective to have any criticism of the movie. I just related to a lot of things about it.
What's ironic is that Ben Shapiro believed that Cuties was overhated. Ben the super conservative, thinks that there's a value for the existence of Cuties as a discussion of the standard of how to portray subjects that Cuties presents.
Mara Brock Akil has done an amazing job of showing complex Black women. Since rewatching Moesha and Girlfriends on Netflix,I've been amazed. Watching non racially ambiguous, complex Black women and girls who evolve and grow has been a blessing during quarantine. I've laughed, I've cried, and reflected on my personal choices I made in my 20s and beginning of my 30s.
It saddens me that I wouldn't expect fo see a Black girl who looks like Brandy starring on a show in 2020...the show was genius and I hope in the near future racially unambiguous Black girls coming of age.
And shout out to Issa Rae, I read that she wants to create a coming of age show about Black girls 🙌🏿
The only representation of black girls that I’ve seen that actually allowed black girls to be teens and wasn’t stereotypical was Moesha. That’s it, that’s the only show.
I have to this was a great video. I've been making my way through Sofia Coppola's films and hearing your perspective on the whitewashing in The Beguiled was really insightful. Personally I think the actual story Cuties had to tell certainly had validity in being told, I just think there could have been a less exploitative way of doing so. And I have to also say thanks for the recommendations of Hood Feminism and Pushout. I really enjoy your work.
"And also my boobs look great, so you're welcome." -- Thank you for recognizing and validating my feelings! Also thanks for the awesome education, as always.
I loved this video!! I think that the experience of girlhood and its relation to sexuality is very complex because race and class are important factors on what girls see and understand about women’s role in society. I think we need more and more stories from different points of view but that’s hard to achieve when all nuance is lost (like what happened with Cuties). In any case we stan lady Sybil
I think race and class are also super important in how young girls are seen; relating to Princess's point about children being expected to act like tiny adults, poor and BIPOC girls are frequently treated as if their innocence and childhood is not something worth defending.
Like, I think this hyperawareness of how you are seen is universal to girlhood (I, a white-passing middle class woman have certainly felt it), but how much restraint you get to expect from other people, and how much you can expect other people to believe you and defend you is heavily affected by race and class.
All of this in all of these movies/ shows. I couldn't get into Enola Holmes for the same reasons. There was a token black woman character who was strong and used as emotional labour to tell Sherlock off and help the white female characters- hopefully they give character more depth if second film approved by netflix. At the end Enola talks directly to camera and tells us we can do anything- couldn't help but find it condescending abd myopic. She was of a wealthy class and well known family with ties to government, during a time in England were classes were really distinct and obvious, she has a male friend in parliament so friends in power and living alone in London, an expensive and dangerous city for a 16 year old girl- a POC, working class and or migrant woman would've been stopped by the police and made to put hair up and or wear a hat, get off her bike and get back to work hehe. It just took me out of the film. Anne with an E was a better period piece that did exploration of feminism and feminity quite well. The PoC, indigenous characters had depth and back story, non binary issues explored in a time relevant manner and class issues were not ignored...despite it being geared to children. Such a shame it was cancelled.
Loved the video! It's great, awesome work. Look forward to the next vid :)
As a Barb, I do feel like her singing is about as good as other Disney ex acts who have so much more exposure before starting their careers. Not a straight up vocalist but for pop she's on par with a lot of girls out there.
This video is great, is very educational and well done! I agree with your points about Cuties, I grew up in Brazil, and the experience showed in the movie remind a lot about my and my friends childhoods, I don't agree how the dance scenes are done (maybe the director could have done in another way) but I understood why she did like that. I was very disappointed with some youtubers that I follow that just called everyone involved in the project pedophiles and praised the very racist politicians that were against the movie. Cuties could have open a lot conversation, it's is a very complex topic, but most people just bashed the movie a product to pedophiles.
I really love the video! Truly amazing! 💜
I’ve been on a Sofia Coppola/Kirsten Dunst movie marathon for a little while now, and when I watched The Beguiled, I hadn’t heard of the story (or other movie) that it was based off of. When I learned about the POC erasure in Coppola’s version, it definitely changed my perspective on the movie and on Coppola herself. I thought her depictions of female struggles were very accurate, not only in this movie but in a few others as well, without considering that she was only displaying one side of the coin. I suppose she was trying to write only what she knows, but in doing so, she inadvertently erased the struggles that a lot of women face, which is especially damaging because those women tend to be less privileged than the ones she writes about. I’ve enjoyed all of her movies that I’ve watched so far, but this video definitely gave me something to think about going forward. Thank you for taking the time to make it.
I really enjoyed this! My only constructive criticism is that whenever you put text up with a background for quotes and whatnot it was really hard to read? The white on the light pink just kind of hurt my eyes. Again, really enjoyed it and love the longer video!
+
Girl the stones you must have had to share your smut fics with your classmates 👏 👏 👏
this video could not have come at the right time because lately i just have not been seeing Black womanhood and girlhood explored at all in tv and movies and just even with the exclusion of our existence in the world of said media. i was watching a bunch of new trailers for movies and one after another lacked a black woman in them im tired. and the ONLY time we get to enjoy black womanhood/girlhood is when it is written by black women and again its even rare for black women to be given budgets to make amazing content like this. im very angry/frustrated and idk all over the place the way we are just n0n-existence in media unless we a sidekick or caricatures.
as a black girl(she/they) i just want to see my experiences of girlhood/womanhood on screen w/out trauma. yes i had some issues with selah and the spades(the storyline), i had fun viewing her character, an a-sexual(from what i understood her to be) girl who, yes is thriving and boss but folds when it comes to her relationship with her mother(which i wish they could've explored more) because i somewhat relate to that. that was amazing to see. and also seeing a black girl, like visibly black, that isnt mixed race or light skinned be the main character cause if you do see a black woma in a show best believe she WILL be mixed/light skinned europeans features etc. i'm sick and tired of it truly we come in all shapes and sizes & we experince the world in cool and different was and why cant i able to see us shown in that way in the media.
whewwww needed a space to vent and thank you for this video. i love your content. 💗💗
Facts, thank you! I'm tired of getting into internet arguments about Cuties. You, Harriet, and Tee have said it all.
this video is excellent and you had me hanging on every word. i especially love that you brought up cuties. the whole discourse around it freaked me out initially but after i watched For Harriet and tee noir's videos about it, i decided to watch it. and honestly i realted to it a lot. it reminded me of when i was 11 and 12, watching all sorts of things online and hanging around teens and 20 year olds at the mall to feel cool and trying to be sexy when i didn't even know what i was doing or what it really meant. it made me seriously think about how people just ignore the reality of how the world treats young girls and oversexualizes them to the point where they do it to themselves. the majority of discourse atound the movie is just insane and much bigger then what is shown in it deserves, while STILL ignoring the truth in it
5:04 one of the reasons I've heard hypothesized on how virgin until marriage started was as a sort of paternity test in ancient times. If you were a virgin until marriage then you could use that as proof that your husband is the father to any and all of your children, therefore guarranteeing he'll stick around to help you take care of them. And while that seems logical, to someone who sees marriage as marrying into a family, I think it's a little redundant and we all know it's been taken WAY too far. Like yeah back in the day virginity and faithfulness was te only way to keep away from most STDs but like that sentiment has no place in modern times and has historically been used to control women.
Once more, gotta voice my appreciation for your content. Your style makes everything super easy to understand.
That's a really good way of putting it: "I stan white excellence."
That's...not what she said.
@@acobster autocorrect, sorry
This video was extremely eye opening for me, being someone who has no experience with either blackness or girlhood. Thank you💕
Amazing video! If you're not sick of the topic yet, I read a great book in college called "Girl Groups, Girl Culture" by Jacqueline Warwick. It's about 60s girl groups like the Shirelles and the Ronettes, but it dealt a lot with Black girlhood. It was pretty pricy last time I looked at buying a copy, but I hope you can find it because it was such an insightful read! This is my favorite quote, which is nominally about how boys and girls consume media and the differences of how they're catered to by society at large, but I think it's also indicative of white audiences vs BIPOC:
"Terms such as ‘child,’ 'youth,’ and 'teenager,’ while nominally gender-neutral, are generally assumed to be male, and female experiences of youth must always be distinguished as such with gender-specific pronouns. Entertainments and experiences created for children invariably assume male experience as the norm, so that little girls watching a film such as Bambi must perform a cross-gender identification in order to sympathize with the fawn and his forest friends. From an early age, girls become adept at this kind of flexible identification with role models, while boys are rarely presented with an opportunity to do so. Thus, girls read Hardy Boys mysteries as well as Nancy Drew, and learn to enjoy action movies as well as the 'chick flicks’ that make their boyfriends squirm."
P.S. Your boobs look incredible but they only highlight your incredible brain!!!
Fantastic video. This video has changed my mind on alot of my understanding about black female identity as a black guy. Once again your analysis very indepth and informative. 👍
As a parent, my son's mom demands I not involve my 9 year old in what she considers adult conversation. One day she wanted a night off and I said your mom works hard and wants a day off. She was deeply offended. Your video helps me understand.
When you started discribing your expirience at the end I felt like I got a epiphany. I am latin woman and live in Latin America and thought that some things didn't apply to us since we are all from the same place very mixed and stuff but when you look at the reality is like that even here. They teach us to behave and dress very covered be prepared to be hurt and harassed by everyone. And that trust should never be given because you are by the media and other people liable because of what you wear and how you behave.
Grammar and spelling DO matter. They do. They just do. In the US, we are taught Standard American English; not everyone learns it well, many do learn it well. But when I see poor grammar and misspelling, I do not put additional energy into trying to translate sloppiness of thought and writing. And this is NOT a race issue, or a gender issue. It's simply putting pen to paper so that what is meant is what is said.
@@dianeridley9804 there was a nice way to say this; you could have even chosen to help. You chose to be condescending to someone sharing something very important to them. Piss off, Diane. Don't worry, my grammar and punctuation are perfect.
Thanks for the excellent video!
Que surpresa agradável, Mikannn, quem poderia imaginar.
I'm so glad I watched this video. When you say that even though you don't necessarily want white women to tell black women's stories, but that black women can (and should) still be included the stories being told...ooooomg. Holy shit. The wave of relief and clarity I felt. I have been briain building a historical-ish fantasy novel for going on 6 years now and one of my major hangups was how to write (and even if I should be writing) one of my lead characters as a mixed race (black/white) woman. Even in a pretty out-there fantasy world it still felt wierd to be trying to write from that perspective because I am just about as white as you can get. I constantly go back and forth with myself about wanting my characters to be diverse, but also feeling like it's not my place to write characters that I might mess up (yes even in a fantasy context completely outside of our universe). This might be the encouragement in need to just go for it.
I felt the same with my novel, which is set in our modern time. It’s hard to feel confident you’re doing justice to a POC experience when you not only don’t have that experience, but everything in the culture that surrounds you insulates you from that experience (or caricaturizes it). To be brutally honest, there’s also an not-insignificant amount of anxiety over a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” paradox. If I write a POC character to the best of my ability, but can’t convince my POC readers of their authenticity or my sincerity, am I going to get in trouble? So, copious amounts of research and /yes/ so many interviews of POC, I think I need to give them coauthorship when I’m done.
@@Jessamineann Absolutely! I think when I get to a certain point (after researching on my own) I will definitely have to find some folks of different backgrounds to get feedback from.
Honestly, just write the character the way you would as your white ones. Race does not have to be a driving force in your character's life unless that's the subject matter you wish to discuss (& trust, the market is already oversaturated with enough black trauma stories in the media already). Not every story has to be about racial hardship, I guarantee you black people are sick & tired of being thrust into that spotlight we never asked for. I think that's part of the point she's trying to make in this video, black girls want fully fleshed out stories were they can be youthful, make mistakes, while being soft, quirky, bad/good girl, the whole nine yards, etc. Don't overthink it. No one truly wants to live their life burdened everyday with thoughts about race bc it is a constant source of struggle/pain. Don't put so much pressure on yourself, at the end of the day people have more in common than you think. Write what comes from the heart.
You said you're proud of yourself and you really really really should be! I enjoyed this immensely and it was incredibly educational and well written and thought out and it does show. It may have taken me twice as long to watch it (kids yo) but it was more than worth it. :)
10 seconds in and gotta say: the FIT. amazing
This is a great video. My sister and I have fought over whether Cuties should have been made or not and you made me not sound crazy. Thank you!
White dude here seeing my ugly privilege, in my past where I'm excused, clear through my mid 20s, for "immaturity" when doing dumb stuff (like getting caught by a cop trespassing while "urban exploring" a shuttered factory).
I'm angry others didn't get the grace I did. I don't really know how to help make this better for the future. I don't want another Child of Color to get disadvantaged or discarded for the same kind of dumb mistakes where I was just dusted off.
Thank you so much for this thorough and professional dig into childhoods and teenager years so different from my own. Your channel is rad! Sharing this video.
I hope this comment is relevant. I know everyone watching this video knows things aren't fair. I really want you to know that you're reaching me, though, that I'm gonna look for a PoC-focused anti-child-trafficking nonprofit to make a donation to, and that someone out there is gonna keep thinking about what else they can do.
Oh yeah and hopping into your patreon next month, ofc
Thanks for the video! You started wrapping up and I had to check the time. Fifty minutes just flew by. Thanks, too, for your insight into Cuties. I’m not into dance movies or Toddlers and Tiaras type shows, so it wasn’t even on my radar until I saw some headlines dragging it. And the reviews hit some buttons of mine so I’m afraid I didn’t dig much deeper than that. I’m glad you pushed back on that. I trust and (usually) agree with your taste in entertainment, so I’ll give it a try.
I LOVE that you brought up that in media our lives are basically showing nothing but struggles and we all can’t relate to that. Our lives have struggles but we can be and are capable of being happy and having good things. We just remember our history and where we come from. I don’t want other races of people to see me as a downtrodden black woman in America that always needs a hug. I’m up and down in my life like everybody is and want to be treated as such. I’m not this magical mystical being either that can take traumas over and over and just somehow be okay after it all. I’m human and that’s how I want to be treated.
just started, and you look AMAZING
Honestly tho 😅
This video was everything and thanks for the book recommendations at the end. I'll definitely buy those at the local black owned bookstore as soon as I can.
this is incredible work, seriously. it’s a talent to be able to communicate these ideas with nuance and ease and you hit it out of the park. hope you’re doing well and take care after this project!!
i was so interested in watching ladybird after hearing all the praise for it and how unbelievably relatable it was for everyone. i watched it and i didnt get it, and i asked my friend, did i miss something?? and she was like, no, i think it's just that that we're not white. and i should've known that my south asian immigrant parent having self wouldn't have seen myself in that movie. but i was told that it was this universal coming of age movie for girls and their moms, when really it was much narrower
I'm a cis, het, white, middle class male who only found you because you did a video about MtG (thank the algorithm for that recommendation).
I watched and felt challenged and will almost certainly rewatch again to challenge myself further. This was incredibly insightful and informative and thank you for making it.
I hated the reaction to Be Careful! It's my fav track. It almost caused a guy to crash his bike when I rolled into the parking lot blasting it. I guess he wasn't expecting to hear about revenge fellatio that day 🤣🤣🤣
I think cuties was misunderstood. The majority of the people who hated it only saw the US poster and description. The moral shows that at that weird age, you start to copy the grown ups, you wanna grow up quick. No one batted eye at Dance Moms or Toddlers & Tiaras this way. Is it racism? (Genuinely asking you all!)
Yes, if you definitely look at this in comparison to dance mom's (which i think is why people even started to pay attention to young girl dancers anyways) and the stark difference of how they are treated.
really? people HATE dance moms/toddlers & tiaras
This is a complicated race thing because I watched Bring It! three years People weren't all in their feelings about that show like they are with Cuties. The cast of Bring It! is 95% black girls and women. Hip-Hop majorette dancing can look just as sexual as the dancing in Cuties. I've been asking myself why people care now.
@@hinasakukimi it’s never had the strong reaction Cuties has had. There’s never been a giant effort to cancel and ban it. It was simply a dislike on the same level as the Kardashians.
@@hinasakukimi it was loved until we had a cultural shift towards the end of its run in 2016
MelinaPendulum's 50 min take on womanhood? This is the best!
As a Black woman, I must say that this is an excellent video. Thank you! I'm also loving the coming together of black female youtubers assembling together like Voltron (it's the first thing that came to my mind!) to amplify each others voices by giving credit to each other, (I came here from Harriana Hook) and consistently using sound scholarship to intelligently discuss the meaning of Black Girlhood / Womanhood. My mother integrated a school in the deep south when she was a child and no one thought of surrounding her with a team of therapists, doctors or mental health professionals to make sure she maintained her childhood. It's so sad. She's in her 60's and says it affected her mentally.
OMG thanks for the “Anne with an E” shout out. I’m right there with you. Great video.
I was just thinking about how my recommended videos section was looking dry... and then I refreshed and saw this. SO EXCITED!!! Love your videos
You made me cry 😢. This video is a masterpiece about BiPOC girlshood and it’s politics and why I am so attached to Cuties.
When I saw how long this video was I was a bit taken aback. The reality is that, it went by way too fast.
This was a really well put together and passionate video. I had honestly been really excited for Cuties when I saw the trailer and read how the director based it off of her own life experiences because I feel like we don't have conversations in media about how the world we live in is sexualizing young girls (esp young girls of color) and having them sexualize themselves for attention and validation at what seems like increasingly younger ages. While there are some issues with the film & I agree with you that a discussion about what should we ask child actors to depict can be had but after the Netflix marketing snafu seeing everyone completely write off the film as pedophilic and anyone advocating for it as pedophile apologists was really disheartening.
im not gonna lie pecolas story rocked me to my core i couldnt even finish the story bc i cried
as someone who was exposed to sexual and nsfw content when i was literally 10 because i got a tablet and my parents didn't watch what i looked at online i found cuties to be really relatable and interesting and i've also been being called a pedo for that and i really truly don't see why
i felt really seen by the movie... the young girls behaved so much like i did when i was that age alone in my room
i started watching and didn't know that it was going to end with cuties and im so so happy that it did, because I hated that not a lot of people were meaningfully engaging with that movie and talking about how it's a childhood movie, particularly black working class movie. as soon as you mentioned adultification i thought "oh, cuties", because that movie really left that impression on me - and not just because of the sexual angle, but very much also in how the main character was taking care of her siblings and grocery shopping, etc... going to watch the videos you mentioned, because i want more nuanced conversations about it, thanks for the recs!
I’m only 4 minutes in but I’m so excited for this video. 50mins? Is it Christmas, we’ve been blessed. Also, you look gorgeous.
21:28 i remember a few years after Chris beat Rihanna, she released a song called S&M and people wouldn't stop making these weird victim blaming jokes about her because of it. Like, we've seen a lot when porn actors or kinksters get assaulted people use their careers or behaivours to try to jusityf the violence done against them and they went HARD on it with Rihanna. Like everyone was doing it and it was dissgusting. It never sat rigt=ht with me as a child that people were using a song she made about being kinda kinky to justify her ex putting his hands in her in a way that was most definitely not consensual.