Tag Archives: black women

“Only Decent People”: The Dutch Film About Black Women’s Asses That Looks Pretty Racist

Jessica WakemanSeptember 6, 2012 //
Fat And White?
Is "fat and white" the new "sassy and black" in Hollywood? Read More »
Casting Nina Simone
Is Hollywood still colorstruck? The search for Nina Simone is skin deep. Read More »
Tokenism?
Erica says lay off "Girls" for being all-white and give black girls a show. Read More »
controversial film
Only Decent People
Booty Popping

Anyone out there in the Frisky-verse speak Dutch? Because I would really love to understand what is going on in the trailer for “Only Decent People” (“Alleen Maar Nette Mensen”), a new film in The Netherlands that many people are decrying as racist. The film is about a white Jewish guy who dumps his white girlfriend when he realizes that he really loves a woman with a big booty, so he starts dating black women. Clutch Magazine reports that the black community in The Netherlands is cricizing the film and the novel it is based on, for portraying black women as “hyper-sexual” and most valued by society for the size of (some of) their asses.  And watching the trailer, even in Dutch, it’s not hard to see how they came to that conclusion. Keep reading »

The Soapbox: Is Hollywood Still Colorstruck? The Search For Nina Simone Is Skin Deep

Erica WatsonAugust 20, 2012 //
Tokenism?
Erica says lay off "Girls" for being all-white and give black girls a show. Read More »
Race On Mad Men
Dawn on "Mad Men" photo
Teyonah Parris on playing "Mad Men"'s first black employee. Read More »
Racists Upset
Some racist "Hunger Games" fans are mad about its black actors. Read More »

When the big news was announced last week that Zoe Saldana would be playing singer Nina Simone in a biopic, black cyberspace (yes, there is a “black Twitter” and a “black Facebook”) let out a collective “Oh, hell to the naw”!

For some it was because they did not believe that Zoe had enough acting talent to pull it off. Nina Simone was an extremely complex woman in real life, and the actress assigned to do this would be embarking upon the role of a lifetime. For others, the statements ranged from “Can Zoe even sing?” to “Wait, I thought she said she was a Latina?” to “Zoe is too skinny to play Nina Simone anyway!”

As the debate continued, it became clear to me that the issues surrounding the casting of Zoe ran much deeper than her acting ability. It was “skin deep.” Once again we were seeing an example of how Hollywood just doesn’t understand black women. To mainstream America, Black is “one color fits all.” But to African-American women, the color of our skin is much more than a random hue. In many ways, it uniquely shapes who we are and how we are treated in the world. For us, body image and self-esteem does not only involve loving your womanly body for the shape of it, but also embracing your complexion, hair texture and other features in a culture that constantly reminds you that thin white women are the standard of beauty. Keep reading »

The Soapbox: Black Men, Is Chad Ochocinco Your Hero?

Erica WatsonAugust 16, 2012 //
Domestic Violence Arrest
Chad Ochocinco and Evelyn Lozada photo
Chad Ochocinco was arrested for domestic violence this weekend. Read More »
Ocho Apologizes
Ochocinco and Evelyn Lozada
Ochocino issues a public apology for his alleged domestic violence. Read More »
Ocho's Race Criticism
Ochocinqo criticized for not choosing black women on VH1 dating show. Read More »

Chadvelyn, LosOcho and OchoSado: those were the three hybrid names that I came up with for my favorite reality TV couple, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Evelyn Lozada. But after only six weeks of marriage, the beautiful sounds of wedded bliss and the hoopla surrounding their much anticipated reality show have been silenced by the head-butt that was heard around the world.

By now, everyone knows about the drama surrounding Chadvelyn. The Internet has been all aflutter with updates. She-said this, he-said that and we-said “WTF?” He loses his job, she files for divorce, and we all sit back to make judgments and assumptions about everything. Keep reading »

The Soapbox: Why Aren’t Black Girls Allowed To Be Girls?

Helena AndrewsAugust 8, 2012 //
The Soapbox
On the lack of color on TV. Read More »
Black Marriage
New book asks, "Is Marriage For White People?" Read More »
Black Women Stereotypes
Stephen Colbert gets schooled on stereotypes of black women. Read More »

This piece was originally published on xoJane.com.

When I was a senior in high school [above left], I attended this college prep program held in the sanctuary of a Baptist church across the street from my grandmother’s $1 Soul Food restaurant in south central Los Angeles. High-achieving nerds from all over the city would meet up every Thursday to talk personal essays, financial aid and application fees well past 11 o’clock.

One night the guy I was crushing on gave me a ride home in his mom’s new-but-used white BMW. I think we were debating the merits of the Common app versus the UC app and listening to Tupac at a medium volume when those angry telltale lights began to flash behind us. Jay looked at me and laughed. Those couldn’t be for us.

Of course they were.  Keep reading »

Did The U.S. Gymnasts Do Their Hair In Solidarity With Gabby Douglas?

Jessica WakemanAugust 7, 2012 //
Olympics 2012
All our coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London! Read More »
Get It, Girls!
Watch Team USA Gymnastics win gold! 24 Photos »
Meet Team USA Gymnasts!
These amazing women will represent the US in London! Read More »
  • Gymnast Gabby Douglas was (preposterously!) criticized for her laid-back hairstyle while competing in the Olympics and it appears that three of her fellow U.S. gymnasts — Ali Reisman, Jordyn Wieber, and McKayla Maroney — all did their hair in a similar way last night in solidarity. Cute! [BuzzFeed]
  • Medical groups in Texas are pushing back against a proposed rule that would forbid doctors from even discussing the option of abortion with patients. [Think Progress]
  • Newsweek illustrated their most recent issue about the 101 best places to eat in the world with … uh … a picture of a woman about to perform fellatio on some asparagus. [Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting]
  • Three must-read women’s perspectives on the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting. [Glamour] Keep reading »

Kickstarter Campaign To Raise Money For “Miss Zee” Coloring Book Depicting Black Girls

Jessica WakemanJuly 20, 2012 //
Racist Cartoon
Kevin Hart's cartoon msg to black women is offensive and not funny. Read More »
Tantrum Arrest
Salecia Johnson photo
A six-year-old girl was arrested for a temper tantrum. Read More »
WIC Report
Today's Lady News photo
An analysis was released on the status of women of color in the U.S. Read More »
Miss Zee coloring book
  • Designer Miss Gee of Louisville, Kentucky, is trying to raise $5,000 via Kickstarter for a line of coloring books for young black girls. Also a mama, she wanted to find coloring books for her daughter, Zee, and was unable to find ones that depicted characters that looked like her daughter. It’s a worthy project and certainly one I hope Frisky readers will support! [Clutch Magazine]
  • Gregory Peterson, a Republican fundraiser who co-chaired an event for Mitt Romney, has been arrested for kidnapping and raping multiple women. Peterson, of Utah, was charged with nine counts of forcible sexual abuse, seven counts of rape, three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, forcible sodomy, assault, burglary and sexual battery. Peterson harmed at least four women, whom he met both at church and via an online dating website. [Raw Story]
  • The Creole art gallery in Lansing, Michigan, is looking for vagina-themed artwork for an exhibit called “The Vagina Show,” coordinated in response to the recent foolishness over the word “vagina” being used in the state’s House of Representatives. [Detroit News] Keep reading »

Analysis Released On Status Of Women Of Color In The U.S.

Jessica WakemanJuly 18, 2012 //
Today's Lady News photo
  • The Center For American Progress has released an analysis on the status of women of color in the United States, which had some disconcerting findings, such as that WOC are more likely to occupy lower-paying jobs than women of other races, which leads to $434,000 in lost wages over a lifetime. Also, WOC make up 53 percent of the medically uninsured. [Madame Noire]
  • Female troops who were sexually assaulted at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, have taken the stand this week. [Washington Post]
  • The Mississippi Department of Health has inspected the state’s lone operating abortion clinic. It now has 10 days to issue findings that will determine if the clinic is allowed to stay open. [CBS News] Keep reading »

The Soapbox: Can TV Spare Some Change? A Token Negro, Perhaps?

Erica WatsonMay 3, 2012 //
Erica Watson Controversy
Erica Watson Love That Girl
TV show should be ashamed of their fat-shaming. Read More »
Give Dunham A Break
She's not the voice of a generation -- and that's okay! Read More »
Erica Watson Q&A
The actress talks about her on woman show and "Precious." Read More »

I have never watched HBO’s new show “Girls.”  Not because I don’t want to — I’m actually excited to see a new female-centered TV show that allows actresses to play rich and diverse characters.  But unfortunately, the current role I play in real life, that of a struggling comic/actress, does not afford me the opportunity to indulge in the many simple pleasures of life such as HBO. Although I have not seen the show, I have seen and heard much of the praise and criticism the show has garnered — especially around the all-white cast. Keep reading »

Comedian Kevin Hart’s Cartoon Message To Black Women Is Offensive

Tiffanie DraytonApril 11, 2012 //
Black Marriage
New book asks, "Is Marriage For White People?" Read More »
My Interracial Marriage
What it's like being in an interracial marriage. Read More »
Black Women Stereotypes
Stephen Colbert gets schooled on stereotypes of black women. Read More »
On the rise?
Are interracial marriages on the rise? Read More »

A few months ago, I picked up a book called Is Marriage For White People? In it, author Ralph Richard Banks addressed the decline of successful black marriages in America. He attributed this to two factors: 1) African-American women attaining a higher level of education than their male counterparts, and 2) successful black men marrying outside of their race twice as much as within. So for simplicity’s sake, let’s just say that as soon as black men find success, they often marry outside their race, leaving behind a very small and mediocre dating pool to choose from. This lack of suitable, stable men in the black community forces women to either “marry down” or stay single, which limits opportunities for successful marriages.

With that being said, why has comedian Kevin Hart taken it upon himself to misrepresent the current and dyer situation by negatively and wrongfully stereotyping black women in this cartoon? Keep reading »

Wendy Williams Says Viola Davis’s Natural Hair Made Her Look Like A Man

Jessica WakemanFebruary 29, 2012 //
Viola Goes Natural
Viola Davis natural hair photo
Viola Davis rocked her natural hair on the Oscars red carpet. Read More »
Viola On "The Help"
red carpet premieres young adult and extremely loud and incredibly close
Viola Davis addresses black actresses and racism in "The Help." Read More »
Dear Wendy
Husband hates his wife's natural hair. What should she do? Read More »
"Good Hair" Review
Chris Rock photo
A review of Chris Rock's documentary, "Good Hair." Read More »
Wendy Williams and Viola Davis photo

Move your nasty self over, Kelly Osbourne: there’s a new girl-on-girl hater in town. Talk show host Wendy Williams had some crap to say about Viola Davis’s decision to go natural at the Oscars  and it was not nice. According to the blog Madame Noire, Wendy Williams said no one wanted to see a “‘Room 222′ look on the red carpet.” I didn’t know what that obscure reference meant, but Madame Noire explained that “Room 222″ was a TV show from the ’60s and ’70s about a black man with a short Afro who taught a history class. In other words, Wendy Williams was implying no one wanted to see Viola Davis with her short, natural hair because it made her look mannish.  Keep reading »

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