The Policing of Black Women’s Bodies

 

Last Friday I was on the bus on my way home when I sat next to a lovely, lovely elderly white lady and we started chatting. We ended up talking about shoes- winter boots to be specific. She had bought two pairs and had actually changed into one of the pairs. They were very nice and I told her I always struggle with getting a perfect fit as my legs are a bit thin.

Quickly she said, ‘Oh black women have thin legs’. I was left speechless and froze. There are times when saying nothing helps but I am still laughing at the level of ignorance around.

Now I am sure you have all heard or are familiar with the phrases, ‘She doesn’t have a body like a normal black girl’, ‘why don’t you have a big bum?’ or even, ‘where is your bum?!’ These are just a few examples of typical everyday comments and questions that are casually thrown into the mix when addressing and policing what is perceived to be the average body of a black woman.

Now before I begin, I am in no way discrediting any one type of body, and this entire article hopes to shed light on the fact that the way we look does not articulate who we are in any way, shape or form. There is a common association with what I like to coin, ‘the African physique’, and the way many view that black women’s bodies should be built.

Like many things of African origin, favourable parts of this physique have been borrowed and merged into popular Western culture for the purposes of exploitation and reinvention. But before I draw off track, allow me to elaborate on what this has to do with the way that we police black women’s bodies.

In addition, with the integration of hip hop culture into popular culture, all of a sudden we are seeing the African physique along with its appraisal being thrust into the lime light, and hurled into our faces, and on to our screens at a thousand miles per hour , what with the Kim Kardashian etc!  All of a sudden the whole world has once again gone absolutely mad for women with large derrieres!

Now where does this leave my argument? Well being constantly bombarded with images in the media of what a certain type of black woman looks like, only propels the notion that there is a standardized look that all black women should aspire to measure up to. If we are viewing this from a purely biological standpoint, the African physique no longer encapsulates the frame of black women on a larger scale.

Considering the variation of the Diaspora, centuries of multi-culturalism, migration, slavery and colonization, the genetic make-up of black women’s bodies has changed. In other terms, the women that we perceive to be black women, are not necessarily restricted to women of African origin alone.

This does not mean that every woman of African origin automatically inherits this physique, but you can imagine how the scale of inheritance is ever fluctuating and complex. There has existed a long standing stereotype and association among the way that society views black women and the certain behavioural, or physical attributes that they should possess.

Get it.