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Girl Power! (part of the "What Strange Beauty" series)
Written by Danielle Eliska Lyle
“Mommy, I am going to be a lawyer when I grow up” I said as I sat on the edge of my mommy’s bed, swinging my legs. For my birthday she bought me a Barbie dressed in a suit with stiletto heels. Her accessories included a briefcase and a pink sports car.
That same year I changed my future profession to a medical doctor. I had seen the commercials on television for a Doctor Barbie with a transforming life-size doctor’s bag and stethoscope. The case transformed into a hospital room with all the medical instruments for future Doctor Barbie surgeries. I knew what I wanted for Christmas.
On December 25th, one of my gifts was the Doctor Barbie with the life-size case and accessories. It wasn’t until I was older my mommy revealed the secret. “I visited various toy stores looking for Doctor Barbie and lawyer Barbie but I couldn’t find one black doctor or lawyer Barbie. I stood in the store and swapped clothes and boxes of a white Barbie with a black cheerleading Barbie. They had a lot of black cheerleading Barbies.”
My mommy was empowering my sister and I at a young age. She wanted us to know we could be anything we chose—doctor, lawyer, engineer, chemist, musician, dancer or writer.
Patricia Hill Collins talks about the controlling images of black women. “Portraying African-American women as stereotypical mammies, matriarchs, welfare recipients and hot mommas has been essential to the political economy of domination fostering Black women’s oppression” (1990, 67).
Racism and sexism are two of the most common “isms” in society. Both of these “isms” have only been camouflaged by pushing diversity and feminist programs to satisfactory standards to silence the cries of minorities and women alike. In corporate America, women are faced with the “old boys network” and sexual harassment. But there is still one element exceeding beyond manhood versus womanhood—race.
Black women not only have to deal with workplace restrictions and dirty advances, but the color of their skin makes them even more inferior than the white woman.
I know a Caucasian young lady who could not see racism until she experience sexism. When she saw how she was treated in comparison to a white young man, she was able to reflect on what I had mentioned to her the previous year. She was treated with intelligence and respect in comparison to a black young woman. Her eyes were opened to the reality of the real world.
“During the nineteenth century…most white male students received their higher education at one institution, and the women and Blacks fortunate enough even to go to college got their education at another” (1996, 148).
Times have changed. Today men and women of any ethnic groups can attend just about any private or public college or university in the country. There are women who attend male-driven seminaries and whites that attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Where separatism, sexism and class reigned, a melting pot is accepted and the national slogan is “we are all equal.” Blue-collar positions are no longer for males alone. Women are have transitioned into fields where they get their hands dirty. Women are prominent in all sports. From tennis, golf and track to basketball and football, women have passion for the game and are winning trophies.
African-American women make a huge contribution to the development of the female functioning as “equal” in society. The black woman has exhibited strength as "Mother Earth.” She has given birth to much more than what has been documented in vague history books.
Does this strong representation mean that women are accepted as equal?
No.
The proclamation of womanhood exists, but the acceptance is treated as conditional and noteworthy as a Lazy Susan. Situations and circumstances of equality are picked according to gender.
Corporate America puts limitations on the woman by giving her just enough power to satisfy her ambition in a predominantly male atmosphere. The film industry stunts the talented women from reaching their full potential as a producer and/or director. There are women who still write behind a pen alias in order to be published or recognized as credible. Women feel they must expose flesh in the music industry in order to be heard. WNBA has restrictions and politics claim women are too emotional to be great leaders.
Imagine the ever-reaching hand of a woman attempting to achieve a successful position or gain respect in her chosen profession, but never really grasp hold of it because it is presented as an illusion.
Now imagine that same hand that of a black woman.
Wilson, Midge and Russell, Kathy. Bridging the Gap Between Black Women and White Women: Divided Sisters. New York: Anchor Books, 1996.
Hill Collins, Patricia. Black Feminist Though: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment. London: Routledge, 1991.
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