Black Looks

[seeingred]

I've just read a terrific essay called "Black Looks", by Jacqui Roach and Petal Felix, from the 1989 collection The Female Gaze (cite below). They ask: "Is there a black female gaze?" In an overwhelmingly White population, non-White people tend to be excluded, marginalised, stereotyped, and generally treated as "the other" or a "problem". When

Comments

[jvowles]

I suppose the "black voices tend not to be female" thing skips right over the USA?

Because there's this little phenomenon called Oprah that they might want to factor in.

Being a strong voice of your own is the most important thing, and that's why Oprah, Maya Angelou, Terry McMillan, Queen Latifah, Whoopi Goldberg, and a host of other strong black females are heard -- not because they've changed their voice or their message, but because they *haven't* (other than perhaps the normal tempering of experience and maturity).

I think television -- whose goal (in the US, at least) is to sell advertising space and draw viewers -- is a poor gauge for measuring cultural value. It's always going to appeal to the lowest common denominator, on average.

If you haven't seen the show, Kate, I recommend a healthy dose of The Boondocks (whose creator, it turns out, grew up not too far from where I live now). I realize you're looking at British culture primarily for these contextual touchstones, but IIRC some of the commentary you're reacting against is from the US.

[seeingred]

Surely it's not a shock that a 1989 essay about British culture doesn't mention Oprah. :-) The authors' point is that female Black voices are beginning to be heard in the UK; with Oprah's show debuting in 1986, I guess the same was true for the US.

I've read the Boondocks comic strip on US visits, and it's a hoot! I'd love to see the series.