Black Women Writers AU16

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The Blogging Woman

When Ife first started her blog full-time, I was excited for her. I never ever thought it was going to take off how it did though. The fact that so many people reached out to ask her to give talks to students or at conferences. I also had no idea how much money she was actually earning off of this. I thought it was really funny how she added a way for people to give her money for her blogging. I thought it would be negatively viewed, but people actually contributed. And she even received money for posting adds on her blog, which I thought was creative because it was for things she actually talked about in her blog.

After she started her blog is when she met Blaine again, but at an event. I couldn’t believe it had been ten years since they met on the train (oh how the time in this book flies). I like how they clicked on the train together and he did not seem as intense. Blaine was a little too intellectual, as were his friends. He was very passionate about teaching and learning more and explaining whatever  he could. I cannot stand when people think whatever they say is always right, and this really affected Ife. Once she got with him, she started to become like him. Some aspects weren’t bad, like her eating organic things and working out more. The one thing that I did have a problem with his interfering on was her BLOG. A blog is an open outlet that a person can write whatever they want. Yes there can be a meaning and on a certain topic, but it does not always have to be super intellectual and that’s what Blaine wanted to add to it. She notices this as well and stop allowing him to interfere.

When she met his sister Shan, it was the funniest part to me. Shan was just extra to me and downright outspoken. Ife used to be outspoken, which was a quality that Obinze loved, but since she got with Blaine, it wasn’t as apparent. Ife wanted to really impress her. Shan seemed to almost wanted to find out her dark little secret and break her.

The argument between Blain and Ife was ridiculous. Yes Ife should have told him the truth, but he acted like she cheated on him. The fact that he didn’t talk to her after that and how she felt different about him just shows me that there really wasn’t much there.

Daisha Lindsey

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Americanah

Americanah is one of the best books I have read so far in my lifetime. I loved the somewhat organization of the book, how it gives the current situation and kind of works backwards. This is the first time, at least in my opinion, where we see a strong female lead. She has multiple relationships throughout the novel, all of which I did not really look down upon.

One scene that brought me back to the realm of the discussions in class was the scene with the tennis coach. She was desperate for money and took on the job as like a masseuse. He touched her inappropriately and she did not say anything and got paid for it. She felt disgusting and she was currently in a relationship with Obinze. She had already analyzed the man’s spiel about the job. It was obvious what the man had wanted, but she went for the job because she was desperate. She knew the speech he gave was given to many other women before and she wondered how the other women felt about it. The only thing she said she wouldn’t do was have sex with him. This goes back to our constant conversation of male dominance over women. She allowed him to touch her. I thought she had so much self respect and would not stoop so low as to take that job.

I do not think that situation affected her in the long run though. She was still confident in herself. When she dated Curt, she was a little self conscious about the way she looked. She was upset about the fact that Curt had cheated when he was emailing another women. She was jealous of what was considered ‘pretty’ in America. Long, luscious hair, fair skin, thin.... Where did that leave Ife? I think Curt tried to hard to be with her, he was almost too good to be true to me.

I do think she was wrong to keep Obinze in the dark for so long. She moved on with her life and left him behind. She had no idea what he was going through trying to get to America. I really don’t know what the reasoning behind her cutting him off like that was, but it was wrong. It was her first love and I think the distance was just too much. There was lots of opportunity in America for Ife. She found men with ease, in my opinion. I felt bad for Obinze and how he had to arrange a marriage just to get citizenship in England. Just shows how when you plan out a life with someone, you never know how that distance and those boundaries will affect the outcome.

Daisha Lindsey

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Sex in “The Bluest Eye”

Throughout three of the four books that we have read this semester, we have gotten a very interesting picture painted for us of what sex looks like in black relationships. Most of the encounters that we’ve read about have been less than pleasant with a lot of them even being constituted as rape. What does this say about black relationships? What does this say about women in general when it comes to sexual encounters? The book that is the most prevalent with this topic is “The Bluest Eye.” Throughout this book, there are multiple questionable sexual encounters. There’s the relationship between Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove, there’s the fondling that occurred between Frieda and Mr. Henry, and the most significant being the incestuous rape between Cholly and his daughter Pecola.

Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s relationship is one of mutual resentment and hatred, but provides a sense of purpose for both of them. In the third chapter of “The Bluest Eye,” we get a very interesting view of Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s sexual intimacy through Pecola’s eyes. While thinking about the topic of love, Pecola thinks about her parents having sex. She thinks about her father making a lot of noise and her mother lying there in complete silence. She thinks to herself, “Maybe that was love. Choking sounds and silence” (Morrison 57). Cholly ultimately just uses Mrs. Breedlove for sexual pleasure as she lies there wishing that it was over. There is no love between them anymore. They are just two bodies having sex.

Frieda becomes exposed to a whole new reality after her inappropriate encounter with Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry touches her breasts, but thankfully she does not feel the need to hide it. She tells her parents right away and they luckily handle it for her. However, though it is handled, one of the neighbors suggest that Frieda be taken to a doctor because she might be “ruined.” Frieda gets word of this and becomes upset because she also hears this said about the prostitutes in the community and they do not have a good reputation to say the least. Because of people saying that she could possibly be ruined, she feels as though the whole incident was her fault, narrowing in on the victim-blaming mentality.

In the spring, Cholly raped Pecola. He came home to find her washing the dishes and decided to rape his daughter to assert his dominance over her. The dominance and control that he lost years before when he came in contact with two white men who ruined his first sexual encounter by forcing him to continue while they watched. They made him feel as though he had no power, but instead of being angry with them, he decided to take his anger out on women. The only ones lower than him, weaker than him. The only ones that he can control and have dominance over.

What do all of these sexual encounters have in common? They all paint sex as a humiliating, unenjoyable, violent, male-dominated activity. These examples paint sex to be something that men and women can’t both enjoy because at the same time, it sends the message that women’s bodies are just available for use. These examples give off the impression that women have no say in whether or not they want to participate, it’s the man’s choice. However, even then, women still get all the blame for these incidents. They are no longer the pure, innocent women that they’re supposed to be and because of this, the community tends to blame the victim.

Finally, what do these encounters say about black relationships? They further fuel the stereotype that black relationships are full of violence and male-domination. That black relationships lead to broken homes and domestic abuse.

-Madison Cheyunski

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As someone who also chose to write a post on this topic, I think you did a really good job at getting the point we were aiming to make across in this post! In my post, I focused a lot on the idea of power dynamics involved in sex and how these relationships of power were viewed in this novel. I thought it was extremely interesting how even though it was not the woman who was forcing Cholly to rape her, he still ended up placing his blame and hatred on the situation upon her. I discussed how women are expected to be the ones responsible for not permitting sexual acts in which their “purity” is taken away, yet men feel that they are entitled to sex over women.

           In modern-day rape scenarios, women are often the ones blamed for “asking for it” so it was really interesting to hear how in the end, Cholly still ended up placing the blame upon her for taking his power away rather than the white men. It was also interesting to me how so much of Cholly’s perception of himself depended on how powerful he viewed himself –– he was not happy until he found women which helped him to regain this perceived power he had lost. While I approached this topic from a different angle, I think you did a really good job at analyzing this topic in the novel as well!

– Michael Swaggerty

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There is a lot to be said about the state of rape in America.  I like how you tackle the issue of Pecola’s rape and how Cholly used it to try and re-establish his dominance.  Rape in America is a really big problem, with the narrative usually being that it is somehow the woman’s fault and that the man has no control what-so-ever.  But in Pecola’s rape that is the total opposite.  It shows rape and what it actually is.  It is not a woman asking for it and a man ‘losing control’.  It is about a man who needs to feel powerful and targets a more vulnerable woman to exercise his dominance over.  And when it comes to punishment, there usually is none.  Mrs. Breedlove ends up hitting Pecola and blaming her for the rape while Cholly runs away.  This reaction also sums up what happens in rape cases.  The woman is blamed and the man is seen as the victim.  

There is even the issue of the friend-zone.  God I hate this.  Even when you deny a man, they will blame you and act as if they are owed something.  Like no, you are not owed anything.  People are allowed to not be interested in you.Not to mention the double-standard.  If a man rejects you, it is because you are ugly and he just does not like you in that way.  If a woman rejects you, she is either a bitch, put you in the friend-zone and is some kind of goal to achieve, or most times both.  It is annoying to see that men can reject women, but God forbid a woman rejects a man.  

Tommy Sodeman

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 I wrote about this topic in a slightly different way in my paper but I do agree with what you’re saying. All these examples show sex as a violent, and male-pleasing act, portrayals which only serve to perpetuate the rape culture that exists in America.

I think that we can take your argument even further though because I think it plays along into our society’s expectations of women when it comes to abortions. If men want to have sex (when it’s consensual) that’s fine because men can hardly be expected to control them selves. The women that they sleep with are whores and sluts because women should have more self respect and dignity and class. Men who don’t want to wear condoms, or forget to, can’t be held responsible because women are expected to be on birth control. There’s nothing wrong with being on birth control if you wish to do so, but there should be absolutely no expectation, especially if, as a women, you are not willing to put up with the often times painful and detrimental side effects. Why should a woman complain about headaches, bloating, cramps, lightheadedness, nausea, weight gain, moodiness, etc. if it means preventing a pregnancy? Most women will choose to endure the negative effects of birth control if it means avoiding pregnancy. But if they do happen to get pregnant, the man is in no way responsible. And if you do choose to get an abortion, now you’ve become a murderer and will be condemned to hell, or at least be criminalized. This is something that has been on my mind non-stop, especially within the last week with the Heartbeat Bill, but it is absolutely awful how many double standards that exist. And the worst part, is that they are many times also perpetuated by women who have been brainwashed by our patriarchal rape culture.

Avanti Vaidya

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Out of all of the books we read, I do agree that The Bluest Eye was the hardest for sexual encounters to read. The view of sex that Pecola has of her parents was just disturbing. The children didn’t get to see what love their parents used to have. The sex they have is just meaningless, where her mother just lies there. Was this a foreshadow for the rape of Pecola, just doing the same as her mother does?

I was shocked when people did go around saying that Freida might be ruined because of Mr. Henry. Society’s view back then was very strange to me. It was a very strict, no sex before marriage or you are a prostitute, kind of society. We see Freida very afraid that she might be ‘ruined’ but then we see Pecola admiring the way the prostitutes don't really care about what people say.

We could all agree that Cholly was just a mess and lost his dignity a long time ago. I could not believe that he raped his daughter in the manner that he did, how she looked just like her mother. Maybe the hatred that he had from Darlene when he was younger came out when he raped his daughter. I was so upset at what he did and thought that this situation would have changed him. But the fact that he attempted a second rape was absolutely crazy.

I agree that all these encounters we see with sex are male-dominating and unenjoyable. And then we see that if women are enjoying sex, they are deemed prostitutes. It’s sad that this is society’s view on sex between man and woman. And then this book des further the stereotype on the sex dynamics of a black relationship.

Daisha Lindsey

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Race as a non-black person

This class has, of course, focused very much on the struggles of being a woman, and more specifically, what it means to be a black woman. It’s understandable that this is the most discussed, not only in our class, but also on a national level, because being black has historically always been to most “inferior” place in our American society. I think as being a colored but non-black person, my experiences with race have always been a bit different and never been that harsh. Indians in America are not uncommon but have always been “under-the-radar”. Brown people weren’t a part of this country’s short history, so now their integration into the American society is filled with much less hostility and bitterness. But what does that mean? 

I was discussing Assata with an Indian friend of mine after reading the section about the description of her after she had given birth. I had been so disgusted and appalled and I just needed to tell someone and rant to them. She made a comment along the lines of “Just be thankful that you weren’t alive back then. But at least being Indian it most likely wouldn’t have been as bad for you”. I realized with that comment that that’s how lots of non-black colored people (at least those that I know) tend to think. Whatever racism we may face isn’t as bad as what black people face. And that’s generally true. But something that taking this class has really inspired me to do is take a fighting and proactive stance on issues concerning race and other social issues. Why should I be a silent supporter? Because I can’t personally relate to all of their problems? This is the stance that is taken by so many racial minorities that aren’t black. “We don’t want to speak on their behalf just because we might be able to understand a little bit about what their going through”. That’s bullshit. This class, more than anything else has made me realize that no one is expecting you to speak on someone’s behalf as if you understand it. It’s about being empathetic and fighting for the justice that all people are deserving of. We don’t have to be able to understand their experiences in order to listen to them. We don’t have to live their life in order to feel motivated to fight for it. 

As a brown person, I can tell you that the issue of race is a strange one for me. I’m not fully on either side of the fight. I’m not necessarily labeled as the oppressor, although by no means are Indians not perpetuating the problem. However, I’m not necessarily the oppressed either because more often than not, I’m simply overlooked. What this does mean, is that I become a part of the minority fighting for their rights. I don’t LET myself be overlooked. 

Avanti Vaidya

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I would consider myself a brown person, but not many people in America would. Why? Because if you look black, you’re black or if you look white, you're white. Everyone assumes race like they assume gender. I am Black, White, Mexican, and American Indian, a full quarter of each. But living in America and being so multiracial is somewhat of a confusing situation. I am very culturally confused. I have some people saying I am Black and some people thinking I am Caribbean or Hispanic. This week, I actually had to work at a different store in my franchise and all of the workers were Mexican and spoke Spanish. I did not say initially that I was Mexican as well and spoke Spanish, so I just listened to what they had to say. They were very rude and condescending towards me. They later asked me if I spoke Spanish and I said yes and how I was part Mexican as well. They were extremely shocked and even more shocked when I didn’t know where I was from in Mexico.

Race in America is just crazy. Of course there are all types of races in America, but there is an oppressive hierarchy. Discrimination is at an all time high in America, from the Japanese after Pearl Harbor to the Muslims after 9/11. But can we say that black people have always been oppressed in America from slavery to the civil rights movement, and even to the modern day movements.

I could fight for the problems that black people are facing and Mexicans are facing. For example, immigration is such a big topic that I am passionate about because I have family. I have been fighting for the equal opportunities of all people such as LGBTQ and to stop racial profiling. There are so many problems that America is facing and no matter what the color of your skin is, everyone should be seen as equal. Everyone should be allowed to fight for everyone.

Daisha Lindsey

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Who’s at the bottom?

When writing my essay, for which I used The Bluest Eye, I remembered a discussion that we had had in class one day where black women were at the very bottom of the of the American social hierarchy. While I am simply an outsider in these observations, and much of what I know has come from this class, it struck me that there seems like maybe a subconscious and almost invisible struggle between black men and black women. 

As someone looking into the black society, black men are generally much more feared. There’s skepticism around every action, questioning behind every motivation, hesitation in every circumstance, fear of their person. With black women, the stereotypes are, while also awful, are very different in nature. They are portrayed as terrible mothers, angry women, having little self respect, and a slew of other terrible stereotypes. 

This dynamic is so different because while internally, black women are being further oppressed (outside of just being women), the vast majority don’t necessarily have extremely negative reactions, like locking car doors, walking on the other side of the street, being immediately defensive, etc. Black men are “scary” in a way that other men just aren’t and in the way that we don’t generally associate with black women. 

In The Bluest Eye, when reading about the rape scene with Cholly and Darlene, it symbolizes the dynamic of America’s social hierarchy. White men come and make Cholly, the black man, feel like nothing, like he’s just a pawn that they can order around to “get on wid it. An’ make it good, nigger, make it good” (Morrison 148). Whatever power Cholly had as a man is now gone so he finds the easiest outlet and in doing so, overpowers Darlene and rapes her. 

Are black women at the very bottom of the social hierarchy? I’d agree with our class discussion and say yes but I do think the dynamic within the black community seems different. With everyone else, men have the power and women do not. Black men, for are scrutinized as they are and as powerless as they may be when compared to other non-black (and especially white) men, feel as though they have to assert their power in a way that other men don’t necessarily have to. And who to assert that power on? Black women. 

Avanti Vaidya

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I do agree with there being an invisible struggle between black men and black women. I do feel as though it is more apparent to me because I do see it first hand. In class, we did talk about black women being at the bottom, something that never really occurred to me at first. After discussing the reasons, I did see why. The stereotypes between black men and black women are very socially accurate, meaning that this is how people look at black women and men. Black men are seen as ‘scary’ individuals, but maybe black women are seen as the ‘victims’ instead of ‘scary.’ When I say victims, I mean that they are seen as less vicious than black, even though there are awful stereotypes attached to black women like being angry and terrible mothers. I guess I am using the term ‘victim’ as something less than the aggressive term of being deemed ‘scary.’

In the rape scene with Darlene and Cholly, yes Cholly overpowers Darlene, but can we say how Darlene let him do so. They were both afraid of the white men and I just viewed it as Cholly seeing her as nothing as soon as he felt ridiculed. Darlene allowed him to do so, which is probably why he hated her for it afterwards too.

Yes, one can say men have the power, but what type of man has what power? White men can have all the power (generalizing), but could a gay, white man have the same? Of course, black men have the least amount of power, but how much power do they hold over the black woman? Black women are seen as being at the bottom, but is that choice of being the victim and letting it happen, or is it by socialization?

Daisha Lindsey

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Who’s at the bottom?

When writing my essay, for which I used The Bluest Eye, I remembered a discussion that we had had in class one day where black women were at the very bottom of the of the American social hierarchy. While I am simply an outsider in these observations, and much of what I know has come from this class, it struck me that there seems like maybe a subconscious and almost invisible struggle between black men and black women. 

As someone looking into the black society, black men are generally much more feared. There’s skepticism around every action, questioning behind every motivation, hesitation in every circumstance, fear of their person. With black women, the stereotypes are, while also awful, are very different in nature. They are portrayed as terrible mothers, angry women, having little self respect, and a slew of other terrible stereotypes. 

This dynamic is so different because while internally, black women are being further oppressed (outside of just being women), the vast majority don’t necessarily have extremely negative reactions, like locking car doors, walking on the other side of the street, being immediately defensive, etc. Black men are “scary” in a way that other men just aren’t and in the way that we don’t generally associate with black women. 

In The Bluest Eye, when reading about the rape scene with Cholly and Darlene, it symbolizes the dynamic of America’s social hierarchy. White men come and make Cholly, the black man, feel like nothing, like he’s just a pawn that they can order around to “get on wid it. An’ make it good, nigger, make it good” (Morrison 148). Whatever power Cholly had as a man is now gone so he finds the easiest outlet and in doing so, overpowers Darlene and rapes her. 

Are black women at the very bottom of the social hierarchy? I’d agree with our class discussion and say yes but I do think the dynamic within the black community seems different. With everyone else, men have the power and women do not. Black men, for are scrutinized as they are and as powerless as they may be when compared to other non-black (and especially white) men, feel as though they have to assert their power in a way that other men don’t necessarily have to. And who to assert that power on? Black women. 

Avanti Vaidya

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Race as a non-black person

This class has, of course, focused very much on the struggles of being a woman, and more specifically, what it means to be a black woman. It’s understandable that this is the most discussed, not only in our class, but also on a national level, because being black has historically always been to most “inferior” place in our American society. I think as being a colored but non-black person, my experiences with race have always been a bit different and never been that harsh. Indians in America are not uncommon but have always been “under-the-radar”. Brown people weren’t a part of this country’s short history, so now their integration into the American society is filled with much less hostility and bitterness. But what does that mean? 

I was discussing Assata with an Indian friend of mine after reading the section about the description of her after she had given birth. I had been so disgusted and appalled and I just needed to tell someone and rant to them. She made a comment along the lines of “Just be thankful that you weren’t alive back then. But at least being Indian it most likely wouldn't have been as bad for you”. I realized with that comment that that’s how lots of non-black colored people (at least those that I know) tend to think. Whatever racism we may face isn’t as bad as what black people face. And that’s generally true. But something that taking this class has really inspired me to do is take a fighting and proactive stance on issues concerning race and other social issues. Why should I be a silent supporter? Because I can’t personally relate to all of their problems? This is the stance that is taken by so many racial minorities that aren’t black. “We don’t want to speak on their behalf just because we might be able to understand a little bit about what their going through”. That’s bullshit. This class, more than anything else has made me realize that no one is expecting you to speak on someone’s behalf as if you understand it. It’s about being empathetic and fighting for the justice that all people are deserving of. We don’t have to be able to understand their experiences in order to listen to them. We don’t have to live their life in order to feel motivated to fight for it. 

As a brown person, I can tell you that the issue of race is a strange one for me. I’m not fully on either side of the fight. I’m not necessarily labeled as the oppressor, although by no means are Indians not perpetuating the problem. However, I’m not necessarily the oppressed either because more often than not, I’m simply overlooked. What this does mean, is that I become a part of the minority fighting for their rights. I don’t LET myself be overlooked. 

Avanti Vaidya

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Race as seen in Americanah and our world today

Race in America has always been, and unfortunately, will continue to be for a long time, a trigger for every party involved (everyone). If you are the oppressed, you will fight for freedom from stereotypes, preconceived ideas about who you should be and where you should go based on your race, hateful words and actions towards you, and everything and everyone else that will play a part in your oppression. If you are the oppressor (usually white people in America), then, unknowingly or not, you will do what you can to uphold you “superior” stance by doing and saying things that will make people of other races feel less valued, less important, and less of a person. American sheds light on the issues of race that are not only prevalent in America, but also in other countries. 

“And after you register your own company, you must find a white man. Find one of your white friends in England. Tell everybody he is your General Manager. You will see how doors will open for you because you have an oyinbo General Manager. Even chief has some white men that he brings in for show when he needs them. That is how Nigeria works. I’m telling you,” (Adichie pg. 17). 

This quote highlights how being lighter and whiter is not just something that is valued in American society. We have spent class time discussing how the entire world is Eurocentric. I believe that this mentality really took root under European imperialism but has continued to prosper because of social media and the level of connectivity countries have with each other. The sharing of ideas and people and cultures is amazing but standards of beauty and expectations for what people should be like also have a tendency to be spread. This creates a harmful  ideas of who people should be and can be seen in Americanah as Nneoma’s statement has an underlying implication that Obinze will be much more respected and valued if he is working under a white man because the white man would only have hired him if Zed was a good, respectable man. It goes right along with the idea that black people are not necessarily judged as being respectable people simply because they are people but rather need that validation from white people. These ideas of worth and respectability are ones that are not only seen in the majority white community but also within colored people. It’s not necessarily intentional, but people of color, especially black people, might reinforce these racist ideas simply because it’s easier to have a white person validate your humanity from the beginning, rather than having to prove something to others. 

Avanti Vaidya                     

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Sex in “The Bluest Eye”

Throughout three of the four books that we have read this semester, we have gotten a very interesting picture painted for us of what sex looks like in black relationships. Most of the encounters that we’ve read about have been less than pleasant with a lot of them even being constituted as rape. What does this say about black relationships? What does this say about women in general when it comes to sexual encounters? The book that is the most prevalent with this topic is “The Bluest Eye.” Throughout this book, there are multiple questionable sexual encounters. There’s the relationship between Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove, there’s the fondling that occurred between Frieda and Mr. Henry, and the most significant being the incestuous rape between Cholly and his daughter Pecola.

Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s relationship is one of mutual resentment and hatred, but provides a sense of purpose for both of them. In the third chapter of “The Bluest Eye,” we get a very interesting view of Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s sexual intimacy through Pecola’s eyes. While thinking about the topic of love, Pecola thinks about her parents having sex. She thinks about her father making a lot of noise and her mother lying there in complete silence. She thinks to herself, “Maybe that was love. Choking sounds and silence” (Morrison 57). Cholly ultimately just uses Mrs. Breedlove for sexual pleasure as she lies there wishing that it was over. There is no love between them anymore. They are just two bodies having sex.

Frieda becomes exposed to a whole new reality after her inappropriate encounter with Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry touches her breasts, but thankfully she does not feel the need to hide it. She tells her parents right away and they luckily handle it for her. However, though it is handled, one of the neighbors suggest that Frieda be taken to a doctor because she might be “ruined.” Frieda gets word of this and becomes upset because she also hears this said about the prostitutes in the community and they do not have a good reputation to say the least. Because of people saying that she could possibly be ruined, she feels as though the whole incident was her fault, narrowing in on the victim-blaming mentality.

In the spring, Cholly raped Pecola. He came home to find her washing the dishes and decided to rape his daughter to assert his dominance over her. The dominance and control that he lost years before when he came in contact with two white men who ruined his first sexual encounter by forcing him to continue while they watched. They made him feel as though he had no power, but instead of being angry with them, he decided to take his anger out on women. The only ones lower than him, weaker than him. The only ones that he can control and have dominance over.

What do all of these sexual encounters have in common? They all paint sex as a humiliating, unenjoyable, violent, male-dominated activity. These examples paint sex to be something that men and women can’t both enjoy because at the same time, it sends the message that women’s bodies are just available for use. These examples give off the impression that women have no say in whether or not they want to participate, it’s the man’s choice. However, even then, women still get all the blame for these incidents. They are no longer the pure, innocent women that they’re supposed to be and because of this, the community tends to blame the victim.

Finally, what do these encounters say about black relationships? They further fuel the stereotype that black relationships are full of violence and male-domination. That black relationships lead to broken homes and domestic abuse.

-Madison Cheyunski

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As someone who also chose to write a post on this topic, I think you did a really good job at getting the point we were aiming to make across in this post! In my post, I focused a lot on the idea of power dynamics involved in sex and how these relationships of power were viewed in this novel. I thought it was extremely interesting how even though it was not the woman who was forcing Cholly to rape her, he still ended up placing his blame and hatred on the situation upon her. I discussed how women are expected to be the ones responsible for not permitting sexual acts in which their “purity” is taken away, yet men feel that they are entitled to sex over women.

           In modern-day rape scenarios, women are often the ones blamed for “asking for it” so it was really interesting to hear how in the end, Cholly still ended up placing the blame upon her for taking his power away rather than the white men. It was also interesting to me how so much of Cholly’s perception of himself depended on how powerful he viewed himself –– he was not happy until he found women which helped him to regain this perceived power he had lost. While I approached this topic from a different angle, I think you did a really good job at analyzing this topic in the novel as well!

– Michael Swaggerty

[bww-au16]

There is a lot to be said about the state of rape in America.  I like how you tackle the issue of Pecola’s rape and how Cholly used it to try and re-establish his dominance.  Rape in America is a really big problem, with the narrative usually being that it is somehow the woman’s fault and that the man has no control what-so-ever.  But in Pecola’s rape that is the total opposite.  It shows rape and what it actually is.  It is not a woman asking for it and a man ‘losing control’.  It is about a man who needs to feel powerful and targets a more vulnerable woman to exercise his dominance over.  And when it comes to punishment, there usually is none.  Mrs. Breedlove ends up hitting Pecola and blaming her for the rape while Cholly runs away.  This reaction also sums up what happens in rape cases.  The woman is blamed and the man is seen as the victim.  

There is even the issue of the friend-zone.  God I hate this.  Even when you deny a man, they will blame you and act as if they are owed something.  Like no, you are not owed anything.  People are allowed to not be interested in you.Not to mention the double-standard.  If a man rejects you, it is because you are ugly and he just does not like you in that way.  If a woman rejects you, she is either a bitch, put you in the friend-zone and is some kind of goal to achieve, or most times both.  It is annoying to see that men can reject women, but God forbid a woman rejects a man.  

Tommy Sodeman

[bww-au16]

 I wrote about this topic in a slightly different way in my paper but I do agree with what you’re saying. All these examples show sex as a violent, and male-pleasing act, portrayals which only serve to perpetuate the rape culture that exists in America.

I think that we can take your argument even further though because I think it plays along into our society’s expectations of women when it comes to abortions. If men want to have sex (when it’s consensual) that’s fine because men can hardly be expected to control them selves. The women that they sleep with are whores and sluts because women should have more self respect and dignity and class. Men who don’t want to wear condoms, or forget to, can’t be held responsible because women are expected to be on birth control. There’s nothing wrong with being on birth control if you wish to do so, but there should be absolutely no expectation, especially if, as a women, you are not willing to put up with the often times painful and detrimental side effects. Why should a woman complain about headaches, bloating, cramps, lightheadedness, nausea, weight gain, moodiness, etc. if it means preventing a pregnancy? Most women will choose to endure the negative effects of birth control if it means avoiding pregnancy. But if they do happen to get pregnant, the man is in no way responsible. And if you do choose to get an abortion, now you’ve become a murderer and will be condemned to hell, or at least be criminalized. This is something that has been on my mind non-stop, especially within the last week with the Heartbeat Bill, but it is absolutely awful how many double standards that exist. And the worst part, is that they are many times also perpetuated by women who have been brainwashed by our patriarchal rape culture.

Avanti Vaidya

[bww-au16]

The failure of American education/the ”Post-racial America”myth

Something that realized while reading Assata is how false the “post-racial America” myth really is. Assata criticizes the fact that she received a revisionist history while in elementary, middle, and even high school. Since that was at least 50 years ago it blows my mind how I who was just in high school a few years ago received the same revisionist history. You would think if we were in such a “post racial America” the same concealment of black struggle and true black history would not still be going on. But it is, not too long ago McGraw-Hill published textbooks that called slaves “workers”. This total denial of black struggle and not only black struggle but black achievements and excellence has been going for too long. These are important but yet overlooked examples of white supremacy and racism that still exists today. I think that it is important to realize that schools in America are apart of keeping systemic racism alive. 

By leaving out important parts of history and dumbing down important events is a way to keep black people in their place and white people superior. Assata Shakur sums this up best by saying “Schools in amerika are interested in brainwashing people with amerikanism, giving them a little bit of education, and training them in skills needed to fill the positions the capitalist system requires. As long as we expect amerika’s schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant.” I think it is important to realize how much influence schools and education have on us. I think it even more important to give people the right education. I think that Assata touching on her experience with education growing up was one of the most important topics in her book. She uses her educational experience as a way to show how systemic racism operates within society. Especially when it comes to “brainwashing” children. 

           Not all children are as fortunate to be able to learn through the outside world or their families that the history they learned in grade school, middle school, and high school is not always true. Since they do not get the proper education this can easily affect how they understand life. Assata however was able to learn her true history and how the world operated by the streets of New York. Learning just how hard it was for black people to make a living.

           I think that the only way for us to make a step in the right direction when it comes to this form of systemic racism is to have black teachers or black people on boards of education. To have black people making the textbooks and having the power to change how our school system is ran. Without this we will continue to have the same type of history that Assata and many others have had. Though it great to be able to come to college and take courses that open your eyes to these type of things. I understand that not all people have the privilege of coming to college, therefore they never learn about their true history.-Alyssa McIntyre 

[bww-au16]

I agree with the points that you brought up in this post. I do believe that schools do brainwash children to make them believe in this “amerikanism”. They white wash or simplify everything that black people and other people of color have been through. They basically tell children that yeah these people of color went through a hard time but everything is fine now. Which is not the case at all. They make it seem like everyone is treated equally now after going through their oppression. For instance, when we learn about Native Americans, they tell us that they taught pilgrims how to grow crops and then there was dinner and then they were all friends. It doesn’t show children the truth of what really happened and I understand that it may be hard for children but it’s something they need to learn. Just like when we learn about all the terrible things other countries did like Jewish internment camps, we need to learn all of the terrible things about the United States like the Japanese internment camps I also agree with your statement that we need to have more black people in the system to give them the power to make an impact to change the system. Without having people of color in top positions, the system will never change. We can’t continue to have white people speak on our oppression because they do not fully understand it because they have never been through it. They will never truly grasp the exclusion and systematic racism and oppression.

-Kaitlyn Francis

[bww-au16]

I think you bring up a very good and important point in this post here! I touched upon this same idea in my final paper, which I believe is what drew me to this post. I remember when I first began my studies in college in this field and I began to learn about the importance of seeing the perspective of all groups in regard to historical events rather than just one group’s view of history. In our history books we often have a very nationalistic narration throughout which is set up to address historical events in America that should be viewed as negative in a more minute and subtle manner.

In learning about events such as White Flight we are often only presented with the perspective of the hegemonic white people, setting them up as the protagonists of the event. For example, the expeditions of Christopher Columbus are continuously celebrated as a significantly great moment for our world. While there was a little good that came indirectly from these expeditions, there was much, much more bad that came out of them. We do not hear of the pain and suffering faced by the natives of the land because in their acts of genocide, the white men sought to eliminate their significance from history. It’s really sad.

– Michael Swaggerty

[bww-au16]

Education in America is problematic to say the least.  First, there is a frequent denial that slavery was not that bad.  The narrative of the nice slave master is just not correct.  Like owning another person is still wrong.  The system teaches slavery this way as a method of trying to forgive itself.  Like yeah America had a lot of slaves and some were hunted and beaten and whipped but most of the slaves were treated nicely by the nice slave owners.  Like no that is not how it happened.  Teach it where it is said that we treated African slaves like shit because of their skin color and we believed that we were superior to them.  Teach it like that and emphasize that we are far from perfect.  

Secondly, American education is really bad at nurturing artistic and creative talent.  It is so focused on methodical things like science and math.  These are important but it is necessary to nurture talents like drawing and music.  If you make kids feel like they are stupid because they continuously do poorly on science tests, then that will make them feel like they are not worth anything and they will feel like their ability to draw amazingly will feel like more of a burden.  Being able to draw or play an instrument is amazing.  Making kids feel like crap because they cannot balance a chem equation or take a derivative is awful.  If the education system treated artistic talent like talent with science, this problem would disappear.

Tommy Sodeman 

[bww-au16]

I definitely agree with what you were saying here. Pretending like we don’t have the history that we do only perpetuates the problem because people think that they can ignore it. I especially see comments like this all the time on Facebook where people think that pointing out problems of race and race-related oppression is another form of racism. It’s become especially prevalent now that Trump is the president-elect and people who had been less vocal before are now feeling like they have some sort of permission to openly and often aggressively make it seem like people that are fighting for social justice issues like BLM, are only being racist towards white people. I read and hear a lot of comments about how what happened in the past is no longer relevant to the lives of colored, and especially black, people so to get offended by small, joking comments and call people out on their racism, however passive and minor it may seem, is in fact racism against the white community. It’s not. 

Our education system should play a huge role in changing this mindset because that’s where kids get exposure to new people and different environments. It’s easy to accept your parents’ views as your own but it’s the responsibility of educators to actively counteract racism remarks and actions. I had a teacher in high school, who I am still close to today, and she was telling me, in light of the events this year, that she asked her AP Gov class what it meant to be born with white privilege. She said her class was, for the most part, defensive and angry at her. My old teacher is white. She was born and raised in New York and is now in Columbus and she has openly admitted to living a very privileged life in most ways. She doesn't have firsthand accounts of being oppressed because of being colored but she was telling her class about things that she has seen and read. I think, whether or not this is able to change even a single mind, it’s important that educators take such roles in their classroom because even if you can’t rewrite the history textbooks, it’s important to at least make kids question what our students and youth think about our country and its history.

Avanti Vaidya

[bww-au16]

The failure of American education/the ”Post-racial America”myth

Something that realized while reading Assata is how false the “post-racial America” myth really is. Assata criticizes the fact that she received a revisionist history while in elementary, middle, and even high school. Since that was at least 50 years ago it blows my mind how I who was just in high school a few years ago received the same revisionist history. You would think if we were in such a “post racial America” the same concealment of black struggle and true black history would not still be going on. But it is, not too long ago McGraw-Hill published textbooks that called slaves “workers”. This total denial of black struggle and not only black struggle but black achievements and excellence has been going for too long. These are important but yet overlooked examples of white supremacy and racism that still exists today. I think that it is important to realize that schools in America are apart of keeping systemic racism alive. 

By leaving out important parts of history and dumbing down important events is a way to keep black people in their place and white people superior. Assata Shakur sums this up best by saying “Schools in amerika are interested in brainwashing people with amerikanism, giving them a little bit of education, and training them in skills needed to fill the positions the capitalist system requires. As long as we expect amerika’s schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant.” I think it is important to realize how much influence schools and education have on us. I think it even more important to give people the right education. I think that Assata touching on her experience with education growing up was one of the most important topics in her book. She uses her educational experience as a way to show how systemic racism operates within society. Especially when it comes to “brainwashing” children. 

           Not all children are as fortunate to be able to learn through the outside world or their families that the history they learned in grade school, middle school, and high school is not always true. Since they do not get the proper education this can easily affect how they understand life. Assata however was able to learn her true history and how the world operated by the streets of New York. Learning just how hard it was for black people to make a living.

           I think that the only way for us to make a step in the right direction when it comes to this form of systemic racism is to have black teachers or black people on boards of education. To have black people making the textbooks and having the power to change how our school system is ran. Without this we will continue to have the same type of history that Assata and many others have had. Though it great to be able to come to college and take courses that open your eyes to these type of things. I understand that not all people have the privilege of coming to college, therefore they never learn about their true history.-Alyssa McIntyre 

[bww-au16]

I agree with the points that you brought up in this post. I do believe that schools do brainwash children to make them believe in this “amerikanism”. They white wash or simplify everything that black people and other people of color have been through. They basically tell children that yeah these people of color went through a hard time but everything is fine now. Which is not the case at all. They make it seem like everyone is treated equally now after going through their oppression. For instance, when we learn about Native Americans, they tell us that they taught pilgrims how to grow crops and then there was dinner and then they were all friends. It doesn’t show children the truth of what really happened and I understand that it may be hard for children but it’s something they need to learn. Just like when we learn about all the terrible things other countries did like Jewish internment camps, we need to learn all of the terrible things about the United States like the Japanese internment camps I also agree with your statement that we need to have more black people in the system to give them the power to make an impact to change the system. Without having people of color in top positions, the system will never change. We can’t continue to have white people speak on our oppression because they do not fully understand it because they have never been through it. They will never truly grasp the exclusion and systematic racism and oppression.

-Kaitlyn Francis

[bww-au16]

I think you bring up a very good and important point in this post here! I touched upon this same idea in my final paper, which I believe is what drew me to this post. I remember when I first began my studies in college in this field and I began to learn about the importance of seeing the perspective of all groups in regard to historical events rather than just one group’s view of history. In our history books we often have a very nationalistic narration throughout which is set up to address historical events in America that should be viewed as negative in a more minute and subtle manner.

In learning about events such as White Flight we are often only presented with the perspective of the hegemonic white people, setting them up as the protagonists of the event. For example, the expeditions of Christopher Columbus are continuously celebrated as a significantly great moment for our world. While there was a little good that came indirectly from these expeditions, there was much, much more bad that came out of them. We do not hear of the pain and suffering faced by the natives of the land because in their acts of genocide, the white men sought to eliminate their significance from history. It’s really sad.

– Michael Swaggerty

[bww-au16]

Education in America is problematic to say the least.  First, there is a frequent denial that slavery was not that bad.  The narrative of the nice slave master is just not correct.  Like owning another person is still wrong.  The system teaches slavery this way as a method of trying to forgive itself.  Like yeah America had a lot of slaves and some were hunted and beaten and whipped but most of the slaves were treated nicely by the nice slave owners.  Like no that is not how it happened.  Teach it where it is said that we treated African slaves like shit because of their skin color and we believed that we were superior to them.  Teach it like that and emphasize that we are far from perfect.  

Secondly, American education is really bad at nurturing artistic and creative talent.  It is so focused on methodical things like science and math.  These are important but it is necessary to nurture talents like drawing and music.  If you make kids feel like they are stupid because they continuously do poorly on science tests, then that will make them feel like they are not worth anything and they will feel like their ability to draw amazingly will feel like more of a burden.  Being able to draw or play an instrument is amazing.  Making kids feel like crap because they cannot balance a chem equation or take a derivative is awful.  If the education system treated artistic talent like talent with science, this problem would disappear.

Tommy Sodeman 

[bww-au16]

Sex in “The Bluest Eye”

Throughout three of the four books that we have read this semester, we have gotten a very interesting picture painted for us of what sex looks like in black relationships. Most of the encounters that we’ve read about have been less than pleasant with a lot of them even being constituted as rape. What does this say about black relationships? What does this say about women in general when it comes to sexual encounters? The book that is the most prevalent with this topic is “The Bluest Eye.” Throughout this book, there are multiple questionable sexual encounters. There’s the relationship between Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove, there’s the fondling that occurred between Frieda and Mr. Henry, and the most significant being the incestuous rape between Cholly and his daughter Pecola.

Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s relationship is one of mutual resentment and hatred, but provides a sense of purpose for both of them. In the third chapter of “The Bluest Eye,” we get a very interesting view of Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s sexual intimacy through Pecola’s eyes. While thinking about the topic of love, Pecola thinks about her parents having sex. She thinks about her father making a lot of noise and her mother lying there in complete silence. She thinks to herself, “Maybe that was love. Choking sounds and silence” (Morrison 57). Cholly ultimately just uses Mrs. Breedlove for sexual pleasure as she lies there wishing that it was over. There is no love between them anymore. They are just two bodies having sex.

Frieda becomes exposed to a whole new reality after her inappropriate encounter with Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry touches her breasts, but thankfully she does not feel the need to hide it. She tells her parents right away and they luckily handle it for her. However, though it is handled, one of the neighbors suggest that Frieda be taken to a doctor because she might be “ruined.” Frieda gets word of this and becomes upset because she also hears this said about the prostitutes in the community and they do not have a good reputation to say the least. Because of people saying that she could possibly be ruined, she feels as though the whole incident was her fault, narrowing in on the victim-blaming mentality.

In the spring, Cholly raped Pecola. He came home to find her washing the dishes and decided to rape his daughter to assert his dominance over her. The dominance and control that he lost years before when he came in contact with two white men who ruined his first sexual encounter by forcing him to continue while they watched. They made him feel as though he had no power, but instead of being angry with them, he decided to take his anger out on women. The only ones lower than him, weaker than him. The only ones that he can control and have dominance over.

What do all of these sexual encounters have in common? They all paint sex as a humiliating, unenjoyable, violent, male-dominated activity. These examples paint sex to be something that men and women can’t both enjoy because at the same time, it sends the message that women’s bodies are just available for use. These examples give off the impression that women have no say in whether or not they want to participate, it’s the man’s choice. However, even then, women still get all the blame for these incidents. They are no longer the pure, innocent women that they’re supposed to be and because of this, the community tends to blame the victim.

Finally, what do these encounters say about black relationships? They further fuel the stereotype that black relationships are full of violence and male-domination. That black relationships lead to broken homes and domestic abuse.

-Madison Cheyunski

[bww-au16]

As someone who also chose to write a post on this topic, I think you did a really good job at getting the point we were aiming to make across in this post! In my post, I focused a lot on the idea of power dynamics involved in sex and how these relationships of power were viewed in this novel. I thought it was extremely interesting how even though it was not the woman who was forcing Cholly to rape her, he still ended up placing his blame and hatred on the situation upon her. I discussed how women are expected to be the ones responsible for not permitting sexual acts in which their “purity” is taken away, yet men feel that they are entitled to sex over women.

           In modern-day rape scenarios, women are often the ones blamed for “asking for it” so it was really interesting to hear how in the end, Cholly still ended up placing the blame upon her for taking his power away rather than the white men. It was also interesting to me how so much of Cholly’s perception of himself depended on how powerful he viewed himself –– he was not happy until he found women which helped him to regain this perceived power he had lost. While I approached this topic from a different angle, I think you did a really good job at analyzing this topic in the novel as well!

– Michael Swaggerty

[bww-au16]

I liked how you questioned what the sexual encounters say about black relationships. When I read the book, that is not something that I had thought of. I do agree that it fuels the stereotype that black relationship are violent, aggressive, and male dominated. I don’t believe that black women and men are violent towards one another in relationships. I do believe that black women are mistreated within the black community by black men. Black women who explore their sexuality and embrace it are seen as promiscuous and are frowned upon for being “too fast” or a “hoe.” Black women who speak on how Black men tear down black women are seen as too loud, angry, and bitter, especially if they are single. Also women who enjoy sex, are said to be dirty and not “wife material.” I used to believe these things up until this year when I learned how those views and thoughts were problematic and misogynistic. It is problematic to restrain what women can do with their own bodies. Especially when men are allowed to do whatever they want sexually and do not have to worry about whether or not they are “husband material.”

-ShaKoya James

[bww-au16]

Sex in “The Bluest Eye”

Throughout three of the four books that we have read this semester, we have gotten a very interesting picture painted for us of what sex looks like in black relationships. Most of the encounters that we’ve read about have been less than pleasant with a lot of them even being constituted as rape. What does this say about black relationships? What does this say about women in general when it comes to sexual encounters? The book that is the most prevalent with this topic is “The Bluest Eye.” Throughout this book, there are multiple questionable sexual encounters. There’s the relationship between Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove, there’s the fondling that occurred between Frieda and Mr. Henry, and the most significant being the incestuous rape between Cholly and his daughter Pecola.

Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s relationship is one of mutual resentment and hatred, but provides a sense of purpose for both of them. In the third chapter of “The Bluest Eye,” we get a very interesting view of Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s sexual intimacy through Pecola’s eyes. While thinking about the topic of love, Pecola thinks about her parents having sex. She thinks about her father making a lot of noise and her mother lying there in complete silence. She thinks to herself, “Maybe that was love. Choking sounds and silence” (Morrison 57). Cholly ultimately just uses Mrs. Breedlove for sexual pleasure as she lies there wishing that it was over. There is no love between them anymore. They are just two bodies having sex.

Frieda becomes exposed to a whole new reality after her inappropriate encounter with Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry touches her breasts, but thankfully she does not feel the need to hide it. She tells her parents right away and they luckily handle it for her. However, though it is handled, one of the neighbors suggest that Frieda be taken to a doctor because she might be “ruined.” Frieda gets word of this and becomes upset because she also hears this said about the prostitutes in the community and they do not have a good reputation to say the least. Because of people saying that she could possibly be ruined, she feels as though the whole incident was her fault, narrowing in on the victim-blaming mentality.

In the spring, Cholly raped Pecola. He came home to find her washing the dishes and decided to rape his daughter to assert his dominance over her. The dominance and control that he lost years before when he came in contact with two white men who ruined his first sexual encounter by forcing him to continue while they watched. They made him feel as though he had no power, but instead of being angry with them, he decided to take his anger out on women. The only ones lower than him, weaker than him. The only ones that he can control and have dominance over.

What do all of these sexual encounters have in common? They all paint sex as a humiliating, unenjoyable, violent, male-dominated activity. These examples paint sex to be something that men and women can’t both enjoy because at the same time, it sends the message that women’s bodies are just available for use. These examples give off the impression that women have no say in whether or not they want to participate, it’s the man’s choice. However, even then, women still get all the blame for these incidents. They are no longer the pure, innocent women that they’re supposed to be and because of this, the community tends to blame the victim.

Finally, what do these encounters say about black relationships? They further fuel the stereotype that black relationships are full of violence and male-domination. That black relationships lead to broken homes and domestic abuse.

-Madison Cheyunski

[bww-au16]

As someone who also chose to write a post on this topic, I think you did a really good job at getting the point we were aiming to make across in this post! In my post, I focused a lot on the idea of power dynamics involved in sex and how these relationships of power were viewed in this novel. I thought it was extremely interesting how even though it was not the woman who was forcing Cholly to rape her, he still ended up placing his blame and hatred on the situation upon her. I discussed how women are expected to be the ones responsible for not permitting sexual acts in which their “purity” is taken away, yet men feel that they are entitled to sex over women.

           In modern-day rape scenarios, women are often the ones blamed for “asking for it” so it was really interesting to hear how in the end, Cholly still ended up placing the blame upon her for taking his power away rather than the white men. It was also interesting to me how so much of Cholly’s perception of himself depended on how powerful he viewed himself –– he was not happy until he found women which helped him to regain this perceived power he had lost. While I approached this topic from a different angle, I think you did a really good job at analyzing this topic in the novel as well!

– Michael Swaggerty

[bww-au16]

Sex in “The Bluest Eye”

Throughout three of the four books that we have read this semester, we have gotten a very interesting picture painted for us of what sex looks like in black relationships. Most of the encounters that we’ve read about have been less than pleasant with a lot of them even being constituted as rape. What does this say about black relationships? What does this say about women in general when it comes to sexual encounters? The book that is the most prevalent with this topic is “The Bluest Eye.” Throughout this book, there are multiple questionable sexual encounters. There’s the relationship between Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove, there’s the fondling that occurred between Frieda and Mr. Henry, and the most significant being the incestuous rape between Cholly and his daughter Pecola.

Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s relationship is one of mutual resentment and hatred, but provides a sense of purpose for both of them. In the third chapter of “The Bluest Eye,” we get a very interesting view of Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove’s sexual intimacy through Pecola’s eyes. While thinking about the topic of love, Pecola thinks about her parents having sex. She thinks about her father making a lot of noise and her mother lying there in complete silence. She thinks to herself, “Maybe that was love. Choking sounds and silence” (Morrison 57). Cholly ultimately just uses Mrs. Breedlove for sexual pleasure as she lies there wishing that it was over. There is no love between them anymore. They are just two bodies having sex.

Frieda becomes exposed to a whole new reality after her inappropriate encounter with Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry touches her breasts, but thankfully she does not feel the need to hide it. She tells her parents right away and they luckily handle it for her. However, though it is handled, one of the neighbors suggest that Frieda be taken to a doctor because she might be “ruined.” Frieda gets word of this and becomes upset because she also hears this said about the prostitutes in the community and they do not have a good reputation to say the least. Because of people saying that she could possibly be ruined, she feels as though the whole incident was her fault, narrowing in on the victim-blaming mentality.

In the spring, Cholly raped Pecola. He came home to find her washing the dishes and decided to rape his daughter to assert his dominance over her. The dominance and control that he lost years before when he came in contact with two white men who ruined his first sexual encounter by forcing him to continue while they watched. They made him feel as though he had no power, but instead of being angry with them, he decided to take his anger out on women. The only ones lower than him, weaker than him. The only ones that he can control and have dominance over.

What do all of these sexual encounters have in common? They all paint sex as a humiliating, unenjoyable, violent, male-dominated activity. These examples paint sex to be something that men and women can’t both enjoy because at the same time, it sends the message that women’s bodies are just available for use. These examples give off the impression that women have no say in whether or not they want to participate, it’s the man’s choice. However, even then, women still get all the blame for these incidents. They are no longer the pure, innocent women that they’re supposed to be and because of this, the community tends to blame the victim.

Finally, what do these encounters say about black relationships? They further fuel the stereotype that black relationships are full of violence and male-domination. That black relationships lead to broken homes and domestic abuse.

-Madison Cheyunski

[bww-au16]

As someone who also chose to write a post on this topic, I think you did a really good job at getting the point we were aiming to make across in this post! In my post, I focused a lot on the idea of power dynamics involved in sex and how these relationships of power were viewed in this novel. I thought it was extremely interesting how even though it was not the woman who was forcing Cholly to rape her, he still ended up placing his blame and hatred on the situation upon her. I discussed how women are expected to be the ones responsible for not permitting sexual acts in which their “purity” is taken away, yet men feel that they are entitled to sex over women.

           In modern-day rape scenarios, women are often the ones blamed for “asking for it” so it was really interesting to hear how in the end, Cholly still ended up placing the blame upon her for taking his power away rather than the white men. It was also interesting to me how so much of Cholly’s perception of himself depended on how powerful he viewed himself –– he was not happy until he found women which helped him to regain this perceived power he had lost. While I approached this topic from a different angle, I think you did a really good job at analyzing this topic in the novel as well!

– Michael Swaggerty

[bww-au16]

There is a lot to be said about the state of rape in America.  I like how you tackle the issue of Pecola’s rape and how Cholly used it to try and re-establish his dominance.  Rape in America is a really big problem, with the narrative usually being that it is somehow the woman’s fault and that the man has no control what-so-ever.  But in Pecola’s rape that is the total opposite.  It shows rape and what it actually is.  It is not a woman asking for it and a man ‘losing control’.  It is about a man who needs to feel powerful and targets a more vulnerable woman to exercise his dominance over.  And when it comes to punishment, there usually is none.  Mrs. Breedlove ends up hitting Pecola and blaming her for the rape while Cholly runs away.  This reaction also sums up what happens in rape cases.  The woman is blamed and the man is seen as the victim.  

There is even the issue of the friend-zone.  God I hate this.  Even when you deny a man, they will blame you and act as if they are owed something.  Like no, you are not owed anything.  People are allowed to not be interested in you.Not to mention the double-standard.  If a man rejects you, it is because you are ugly and he just does not like you in that way.  If a woman rejects you, she is either a bitch, put you in the friend-zone and is some kind of goal to achieve, or most times both.  It is annoying to see that men can reject women, but God forbid a woman rejects a man.  

Tommy Sodeman

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. “If you don't understand, ask questions. If you're uncomfortable about asking questions, say you are uncomfortable about asking questions and then ask anyway. It's easy to tell when a question is coming from a good place. Then listen some more. Sometimes people just want to feel heard. Here's to possibilities of friendship and connection and understanding.”  ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

                 I think this is a big part of creating any change. We are so afraid of asking questions sometimes, so afraid of saying the wrong thing, that often we never ask and we never discover anything new. I know, going into this class, I was afraid I would say the wrong thing. I was afraid I’d somehow say something complete ignorant and I would be so wrong, or misinterpret something so badly it couldn’t possible make sense. That’s why those first two weeks, when we were talking about Black Feminist Theory by Patricia Hill Collins, I was hesitant to speak, reluctant to. Because, I knew the material was a little dense, and what if I had interpreted it horribly wrong?                However, if I’ve learned anything from this class, it’s that the environment is conducive to learning, and we all have so much to share and learn from one another. I think that was one of my favorite aspects of this course – that it allowed me the opportunity to learn from my classmates. So many courses, you don’t get to discuss and unravel new facts about the people in your class. But this, it felt more like a community, and we were all open to discussion.

               I know that when the election rolled around, and I started going to protests after that horrendous outcome, I could tell that this would be a good tool for creating coalitions and unity among diverse groups. We all had so much to share, and such varied experiences of simply existing, but also a hesitancy. I think so many people are afraid of asking things the wrong way, but if you’re sincere in what you’re asking, it can’t be butchered too bad in the delivery, in the asking.                We all have so much to learn from one another, and we’ll never be able to truly understand one another if we don’t ask questions, even the difficult ones. I know there are things that are hard to talk about, to discuss. Things that people consider it rude to mention, but those are often the things that make us different, and that we should learn from the most.

               I’m trying to be less hesitant about my curiosity. Growing up, I was naturally curious. But not curious about the things I am now. I want to know what affects people, and I want to do what I can to make the world more accepting, but I can’t do that if I don’t learn from the experiences of others, if I don’t take the time to truly know someone. That’s what I think I’ll be working on – trying to learn more about the world, about people, and doing what I can.

Emily Glassmeyer

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“Non-black perspective on blacks in Ameica.”

Throughout the “To My Fellow Non-American Blacks: In America, You Are Black, Baby” blog, Ifemelu is listing out things Black Americans do. One of them that catch my eye was when she said “When a crime is reported, pray that it was not committed by a black person…” This made me think of the recent event that happened on campus here. When people heard that a student drove into a crowd of other students and then got out the car and started stabbing people, a lot of people I know assumed that it was a white person who did it. And because of the recent elections, a lot of people in the black community was hoping that it wasn’t a black person that did it. When the students found out that a Somali student did it, white people began to it was a ISIS or terrorist attack, Muslims from the middle east and Africa were disappointed that a muslim would go and do something that would aid in the fear against Muslims that Trump has started in America, and black people disappointed that it was someone of color committing a terrorist act. Another one that stood out to me was “In America, being a strong-minded black woman is scary.” I agree with this statement because black women in America, by their own people are feared in America. A lot of black women now are getting bold and comfortable in their sexuality. I see this a lot on social media, TV, and in music. Black women are now more openly talking about sex. Black women are also being bolder in fighting and advocating for racial equality and in demonstrating their support for feminism. The women in the black community are starting to wear their hair in its natural state or in Afrocentric and authentic ethnic hair styles. Black women take pride in their hair. A woman’s hair is considered to be her crown and glory. Solange’s song “Don’t Touch My Hair” from A Seat at The Table, brings awareness to this and demands non-Blacks to stop treating Black people’s hair like exhibits. I remember growing up my mom used to braid my hair in these beautiful style and put beads and berrets in my hair. White people everywhere would want to touch my hair and most would do it without asking. It is offensive when white people do that because no one does that to them and when they do it without asking, it is invading personal space and showing complete disregard to how much time that person may have put into their hair, what their hair means to them, and complete lack in knowledge of consent. And then black people are expected to “Be forgiving. And Most of all, do not be angry.” In America when a black person is angry, they are seen as aggressive and a possible threat or danger. When they are angry about their mistreatment as a race, they are called “the real racist.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

-ShaKoya James

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Beauty in Our Society

What does our society tell us about beauty? Though society might not tell us in words what it takes to be considered beautiful, the examples we are given through the media speak a thousand words. We are shown that to be considered beautiful we need to be stick-thin, blonde, and have a multitude of striking features. While these standards of beauty are often unattainable and can prove to be detrimental to the mental and emotional health of many young girls, these standards are especially problematic when it comes to minority groups, specifically African American women because along with all the traits previously listed, our society also tells us that being beautiful means being white. When you take a look at the media and the beauty industry as a whole, there are multiple ways that that statement is implied to the whole population of black women. One of the most obvious being the lack of representation. If you search the internet or look in any fashion magazine, more often than not, you will find mainly, if not all, pictures depicting white women. An article on everydayfeminism.com talked about a report about New York’s Fashion Week in which it revealed that 82.7% of the models particpating in the fashion week were white. This is a huge problem especially when you consider that one third of the U.S. population is made up of minority groups. This lack of representation can have a very negative impact on women and young girls of color and lead to poor self-esteem because everywhere that they look, society reminds them that beauty is ultimately unattainable because they will never be white. Another way that society implies the concept that white equals beauty is that even when they do portray women of color in the media, they tend to only value lighter-skinned women. This reiterates the idea that the closer to being white you are, the more beautiful you are as well as the idea that the darker you are, the uglier you are.

These implied ideas about beauty are brought to attention in Toni Morrison’s book, “The Bluest Eye.” Throughout the book, sisters Claudia and Frieda as well as their friend Pecola, learn from a very young age what society considers beautiful and they come to the realization that they don’t fit the description and that they never will. The narrator or the story, Claudia, ends up developing a very deep bitterness and hatred toward white people after she came to the realization that white meant beautiful. When encountering Maureen Peal, the young white girl who seemed to have it all and who everyone loved, Claudia decided that it wasn’t Maureen that deserved the intense hatred that she she felt, it was society and the values and standards that have been developed over time that told her she was less than. When speaking of Maureen, Claudia states, “The Thing to fear was the Thing that made her beautiful, and not us” (Morrison 74). The standards that society sets for beauty can be incredibly damaging for women as a whole, but especially young women of color. When they are constantly told by society that they are not beautiful, they end up internalizing these thoughts and standards which is detrimental to their self-worth and level of self-esteem. Ultimately, “the Thing to fear” is this unattainable beauty standard of our superficial society.

-Madison Cheyunski

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Madison, I think you brought up a great point and observation. These beauty standards of society do force this self-hatred onto women of color. Because of this, a lot of women try to change themselves to fit these particular beauty standards. For example, Lil Kim has changed herself so much to fit these standards. She’s lightened her skin, changed the color of her hair, and has gotten a lot of plastic surgery to try and look like white women. She was put down so much that she was forced to hate her blackness and change the way she looked to try and please other people. Even though she went through all of these changes she still gets ridiculed and it’s sad. But she is an example of how even if women of color try to change to fit these standards they will still get talked down upon because they will never fit society’s beauty standards. The reason why they will never fit these standards is because they will always be black. Underneath all of the makeup, blond hair, and plastic surgery they will still be black. That is all society sees them as no matter how they change. They try to make us hate our blackness, but if we try to fit they’re standards nothing changes. We will still be criticized and ridiculed.  Our blackness is something that we can’t control. Something that we were born as.  These beauty standards are unachievable and (this is easier said than done) we have to find a way to start loving ourselves for us and our blackness and stop trying to conform to these idiotic ideals that society has about beauty. -Kaitlyn Francis

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These beauty standards explored in The Bluest Eye are one of the many destructive forces that chip away at Pecola’s self-esteem. Morrison explains in the foreword that she wanted to create a story centered around “Not resistance to the contempt of others, ways to deflect it, but the far more tragic and disabling consequences of accepting rejection as legitimate, as self-evident.” The internalization of hatred can have devastating effects, especially when this contempt is rooted in facts about yourself (such as eye color and race) that you cannot change. I found it very interesting that the author’s inspiration for this tale came from speaking with a friend who wanted to have blue eyes. Morrison realized that “Implicit in her desire was racial self-loathing.” Pecola allowed this loathing to become a part of identity, poisoning her perceptions of self. In the foreward Morrison goes on to explain, “there are some who collapse, silently, anonymously, with no voice to express or acknowledge it.” This preface for the novel is echoed ever so hauntingly by the final words Morrison writes:

This soil is bad for certain kinds of flowers. Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear, and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live. We are wrong, of course, but it doesn’t matter. It’s too late. At least on the edge of my town, among the garbage and the sunflowers of my town, it’s much, much, much too late. (206)

This heart-wrenching ending solidifies the tragedy that Morrison warns of before the story even begins- “She broke.” The soil is representative of society, her environment, her home, everything surrounding Pecola that crushed her when it should have nourished, hurt her when it should have protected, abused her when it should have loved.

-Anna Voelker

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There’s something so antiquated about eurocentric beauty standards, and yet they still permeate society today in abundance.  We can’t help it, society just tells us in twisted ways to believe certain things are beautiful. Art museums are full of this “traditional beauty”, with depiction upon depiction of white women with with flowing hair and soft pink lips and blue eyes. Society trains us to find beauty in this. We are meant to find it to be conventionally beautiful, like flowers or the first snow or something. It’s supposed to be beautiful in an almost “natural” way. Fair complexion, slim forms, blonde locks – we see these, and consider them to be loveliness, even to be innocence. However, things can’t be beautiful, without something else to be considered unappealing.                   Society makes the unappealing thing to be women of color. I mean, luckily we are living in a time where we are getting some representation of black women as beautiful in mainstream media, but we are still getting hordes upon hordes of white actresses and actors, in roles that could just have fittingly gone to people of color, or even more fittingly gone to people of color. We’re still operating on the belief that white media is the best media to sell – but we’re only getting that because not enough filmmakers have taken the risk to show society otherwise. It’s a bit of a mess.

Emily Glassmeyer

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You bring up many great points here.  Beauty is a fickle thing in America.  There are so many double-standards it is ridiculous.  And when it comes to women of color, it is even harder.  Most representations of women of color when it comes to beauty are those who have lighter skin.  There are so little amounts of representation of women of color in beauty standards.  Even products that have been advertised for women of color are usually for women who have lighter skin.  Even with the little representation there is, it is very difficult to see ads or products that cater to women who do not have lighter skin.  

A focus on white and lighter skin is leaving out a part of the population.  This lack of representation is damaging to so many people, more specifically young girls and women who look on TV and see that there is no one there who looks like them.  Then they see so many light skinned and white people being represented and they feel alone and isolated.  

The idea that white is beautiful is really stupid.  There are so many people who are not white that are beautiful, but because media does not focus on these individuals, it seems like there is no one who looks like them.  There are a few companies like Dove who did their beauty campaign that showcased many different women of varying size and color that was very impressive.  They managed to showcase a truly diverse group of women who were very pretty.  If more companies focused on that, showcasing different body sizes and different skin colors, than the standard idea of beauty would crumble under the weight of people going like nope.  

Tommy Sodeman