Author

Kamea Taylor

CultureLifestyleOpinion

Offended By My Sex Appeal

by Kamea Taylor
written by Kamea Taylor

For generations, the conversation of sex within the Black community has become uncomfortable or overwhelmed with misconceptions and misinformation. The most sensitive subject within such dialogue is often the sexual experiences and sexual health of Black women. From sex work to romantic partners, Black women’s bodies are seen as commodities to be consumed yet are simultaneously devalued and shamed for hypersexuality and sexual expressiveness. The perspective of Black sexuality is seen through the lens of heterosexual cis-gendered men, explaining the over-sexualization and deprivation of Black women for having the same sexual desires that they are excused for. 

Research also contributes to the portrayal of Black women as sexually available or engaging in sexual risk-taking behaviors rather than sexually autonomous or sexually responsible. Instead of educating women about their bodies, Black women are overwhelmed with the emphasis on prevention instead of pleasure. An example of this is the plethora of sexual research about Black women and their sexual health. These statistics that often show consistently high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancy, yet not enough conversation about the healthy aspects of sex, let alone sex health concerning the female genitalia. Such dedication to this kind of research discourages Black women. It makes them more sexually conscious of those risks, health disparities between Black and white women, and the types of sexual behaviors they engage in. Because of this, Black women do not have a healthy relationship with sex or healthy sexual relationships. The constant exposure to the negative consequences of sex overflows with stigma, stereotypes, and bias towards sex health that follows Black women throughout their lives. Such an approach not only makes Black women more closed off to sexual promiscuity but also affects how they view themselves and relationships, causing many to feel ashamed of their natural sexual identity and behaviors. 

Even in their youth, peers constantly monitor the sexual maturity of Black women. From parents to complete strangers, they are overwhelmed with preventative measures or encouraged to practice celibacy. Yet, when compared to the sexual maturity of men, Black men are commonly sexually active by the age of fifteen, showing the lowest median within Dawn Upchurch’s research article. In their adolescence, they are encouraged to partake in sex at a very young age, yet women are suppressed from exploring their sexual urges. Within these findings, there are blatant contradictions between the opinions of Black men concerning promiscuity and the slut-shaming of Black women versus their actions. This sex-negative culture that projects the unwritten rules and expectations on how a Black woman should behave sexually, of course, affects sexual freedoms but alienates them as well. The more aggravating aspect of this is the awfully high rates of Black women that are sexually abused by the age of eighteen (one in four), as seen in the Ujima Community’s research, as well as the common adult-ification and grooming of young Black girls, as well as the entitlement to their bodies, that excuses those perverted behaviors (they do not in any situation). Black women are hypervisible when they exude the same sex appeal that men forbade but are somehow invisible when they are physically or verbally assaulted for simply existing. 

As Black women grow more progressive and embrace their sex appeal with the aid of artists like Megan Thee Stallion and other public figures, they gradually redefine the terms “slut,” “whore,” and other terminology that is used to demean their sexual provocation. Such sex positivity and sexual autonomy through their quote-on-quote “oversexualized” music only further proves the double standard that men enforced within society. Regardless of what women wear, what they listen to, or how many sexual partners they have, there is no justification for the policing of Black women’s sexual expression. Yet despite these barriers, Black women continue to embody the enviable power over the compiling opinions of the patriarchy. Instead of allowing themselves to be defined by the stereotypical images projected by men, Black women are viewed through their own lens.

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Arts & EntertainmentBlack HistoryCulture

Black Literature: Author & Activist Gloria Watkins

by Kamea Taylor
written by Kamea Taylor

Gloria Jean Watkins was born on September 25th, 1952 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. As an American author, activist, teacher, and scholar, her work has explored a variety of themes and the connections between race, gender, and social class from the perspective of a Black woman. She centered her work on challenging such discriminations and systems of oppression, making her an intellectual ahead of her time. 

In her acknowledgment to her female ancestry, Watkins adopted her pen name “bell hooks”’ from her great grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. In changing her pen name to bell hooks, she not only paid homage to her great-grandmother, but also forced her audience to focus on the message of her words. In having a pen name in all lowercase letters, it simply diverted the attention to her work rather than who she was.

Despite facing many challenges and hindrances during her high school career during the integration of races and the pinnacle of the Civil Rights Movement, Watkins continued her studies at Stanford University, where she earned a B.A in English Literature in 1973. She then gained her M.A from the University of Wisconsin in 1976 and finally her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1983.

During her academic post, Watkins’s writing career began with her most major work Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, published in 1981. Her groundbreaking work opened up the floor for conversation about feminism and the Civil Rights Movement, becoming a vital part of feminine literature. Such a controversial novel argued that the divergence of racism and sexism that began with slavery made Black women the most oppressed and marginalized group in American society. 

As a feminist theorist, she was very progressive and analytical to the future of the women’s movement. She centered her work and was inspired to write about women of color as many were in a double-bind when it came to the support of the Suffrage Movement, which erased the racial aspect of womanhood, and the support of the Civil Rights Movement that was being ruled by the patriarchy. This was also seen in many of her other works; Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black (1989), Black Looks: Race & Representation (1992), and Where We Stand: Class Matters (2000). 

With a career that has been spread over four decades and has become influential in the stream of cultural analysis and ethnic studies in her ideas of intersectionality, it has forced theorists after her to think more carefully and critically about these often-overlooked groups’ issues and form solutions for this such discrimination. To this day, she continues to write and persists to spread her beliefs in obtaining self-empowerment and overthrowing such systems of domination and inequities that are birthed from them. The legacy within her writing will go and continue to influence future generations.

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CampusLifestyleOpinion

Evolution of Party Culture (Post-COVID)

by Kamea Taylor
written by Kamea Taylor

Picture this: It’s a Thirsty Thursday, nearing ten o’clock at night, and you and your friends are making your way through Westwood looking for the location of the party invitation sent out that afternoon. Dressed in biker shorts, crop tops, and party sneakers, you and your crew are prepared for what the night brings.

Before the pandemic, I wouldn’t think twice about attending a party of fifty to seventy people in such a small space, but now with COVID and the recent disapproval of the traditions of party culture, let us rethink some of these decisions, as follows: 

1.If you wish to dance with someone, ask.

I wish subjects like this did not require an explanation, but here we are. I have experienced my fair share of unexpected and unwelcome advances from desperate men that wish to “catch ass,” but these actions are so normalized that it is not thought to be rude and intrusive. But now as I reflect, I understand how problematic and uncomfortable that can be for women who only want to enjoy the company of friends. The same goes for men as well. Though many assume that forcing men to dance with them is harmless, some do not come to parties to be harassed or provoked to dance.

2.No more sharing drinks. 

We should refrain from sharing drinks amongst a group of people, or rather, strangers. For one, that is truly a health hazard to share a drink with people you do not know, and two, in considering the pandemic and how these practices were generally distasteful, I can only hope that many of us do not partake in this once we are back on campus. This, unfortunately, includes the puff-puff-pass processes as well. If you do not know them or their whereabouts, please refrain from doing so. 

3.Larger venues 

 To all my fellow students that throw parties, please consider having a function at a larger venue, or outside. Thinking of all the clothes I sweat out (and not just my sweat), this would be great for better air quality but also a way to avoid the clustering of bodies and the unwanted exchange of fluids or deadly odors that unfortunately flourish in those spaces.  

This shift in party culture and etiquette will undoubtedly be safer but also improve the overall willingness to go to these functions with more certainty that there will be more space and less sharing of DNA. A good start to practicing these alternatives to safe parties would be to make a habit of having parties with smaller groups. Oftentimes you barely know half of the people going to these parties, let alone their recent whereabouts, and I am sure that only gathering with friends in a less cramped setting would make for a good time as well. Another custom I may suggest would be to bring your own drinks. This simple yet effective tip for one could save you money, but also would allow you to enjoy the drink of your preference. There are, of course, many other ways to practice safe partying but generally these suggestions are only for the safety and well being of you and your friends. 

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CultureOpinion

Thick Thighs Kills Confidence

by Kamea Taylor
written by Kamea Taylor

Society’s body ideals have critiqued Black women of all body types for generations. Ever since I was a young Black girl, I struggled for years with my weight, obsessed over thick thighs and a flat belly, and always thought of ways that I could lose weight. And though society’s projections have shifted to more of a fascination and appraisals for thicker thighs, I still find myself doing these things to fit those expectations. 

Such obsessions with the thick thigh movement have ultimately oversexualized Black women, denied and scrutinized the “fat upper pubic area” (FUPA), and belittled women who are genetically incapable of satisfying these social norms. And while on this quest to be Instagram thick, including these overwhelming factors, Black women have habitually fallen victim to body dysmorphia. 

Based on this educational article by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by the obsessive idea or distorted view that one’s appearance or specific body part is severely flawed and thus warrants great measures to fix or hide it. This, of course, is no help to the standard of beauty that has morphed into this hypersexualized caricature only depicting the tiny waist, big hips, and huge thighs that are often assumed as natural. So Black women, the cause for such uprising fixation on curvy and voluptuous bodies, partake in the waist trainers, appetite suppression, weight gain pills, and even plastic surgery to fit such expectations. 

Besides, the image of how Black women perceive themselves is an important part of their identity, and they tend to be more questioning of self-worth. If you have thick thighs but not a tiny waist, you do not fit these standards. And if you have a tiny waist but not thick thighs, you also do not fit this standard. In many more cases, these standards perpetuate unfeasible expectations for women of all shapes and sizes. And since 2010, Black women have increasingly been seeking plastic surgery to mimic the hourglass silhouette of very famous celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who single-handedly represents the modern-day apex of plastic surgery normalization while using the black body as the muse.

While it may be difficult to succumb to the pressures of these popularized figures, we as Black women must remind ourselves that they are the staple. The blueprint. From the hips, the bust, and the curves of a Black woman, we are beyond glorified and the pinnacle of beauty. 

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