Battling Both Racism and Sexism

Women of all ethnicities are highly sexualized in media today, but the image of the black woman is especially exploited by the white male-dominated industry. bell hooks writes about the dehumanization of black women, which originated in the slave trade hundreds of years ago. She says that today, black models and celebrities are "objectified in a manner similar to that of black female slaves who stood on auction blocks while owners and overseers described their important, salable parts..." When you look at the women that flaunt certain body parts, like their butt, it seems as though the value of African American females is still reliant on the commercial value of their sexual parts. I think this is true for white women as well, but there is an actual history of slavery and selling black women that makes this exploitation particularly intense.

There is also a unique stereotype about the "wildness", or exotic nature of black women that is evident in advertisements especially. Black models are often featured in jungle-like settings or with "untamed" physical characteristics, like the wigs of Tina Turner. bell hooks discusses Tina's relationship with Ike, who shaped her image into "...the black female as wild sexual savage emerged from the impact of a white patriarchal controlled media shaping his perceptions of reality."

When I think about the difference between exploitation of white women in media and black women, there seems to be a huge extra hurdle for black women. White females are conforming to men's perception of beauty, but the idea of beauty for black women goes through two filters: first the white man's, then the white woman's. They often have to imitate the white woman ideal (regarding hair type, lip size, etc.) which is already an artificial mold formed by white male executives. For example, black models with lighter skin are far more common in advertisements, and black female celebrities often wear wigs imitating white hair.

Why are black women conforming to these racist and sexist stereotypes? The door to success in media is very narrow for black women so only a certain image that sells will prevail in the industry. If a woman tried to have display her unconventional, and arguably more natural, beauty (naturally styled hair, facial features that aren't distorted by photoshop) then they probably just wouldn't be hired as a model, actress, or musician. Why isn't there diversity in the representations of what "black beauty" can be?