Author: Nasheem webster

Post 14: Final Project

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Over thousands of years, the music industry has evolved into a big playing field. Thanks to modern-day technology, the music industry is growing every single day. So many are taking the leap of faith to follow their dream and pursue music. However, one problem. The music industry is sexist. For my topic, I chose to explore racial and gender inequality as it pertains to black women in the music industry. See for Women in this industry and especially women of color, face a wide variety of problems in this male-dominated sport.  From misogyny to sexual exploitation to stereotypical roles, women of color are always being told who and what they should be in order to win in this industry. Men are high-end titles awarded titles like producer, composer, record label owners/partner as well as a musician, while women have to settle with the lower end of the stick. 

Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, all black women in this industry have and still are victims of systematic oppression. I think a great example is Lizzo. One of my favorite artists. Not just because of her obvious musical talent and megawatt personality, but her efforts to bring light to the constant body shaming women have to endure to be part of this business. Since rising to fame Lizzo has dealt with a lot of backlash in regards to her weight and her choice to embrace and celebrate not only her body but so many other women who have been deemed “too big” in the eyes of society. See the music industry has a certain criterion of what women should look like, especially black women. She should be curvy, have a small waist, and possessed big hips and butt. For decades, black women have been looked at as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. The sad part about it is people actually capitalize and profit off of the bodies of black women seeing that sex sells. It’s bad enough black women have a hard time in this business due to their race, but adding on that extra layer makes it clear that unless you fit society’s beauty standard it’s harder to establish a concrete place in the music industry. And while Lizzo has done a phenomenal job at advocating on behalf of bigger women, she has also made it clear just how mentally draining and lonely working in this industry can be when you don’t fit into society’s box. 

Another example is Willow smith. Risen to fame quickly at a young age, willow smith has endured a vast amount of societal norms and expectations as to who she should be. At only 20 years old, Willow recalls the time in her life where individualism peeked as she opened up about cutting herself as a way of coping with her problems. “I had just stopped doing singing lessons and I was kind of just in this gray area of ‘Who am I? Do I have a purpose? Is there anything I can do besides this?” This was during the time she had just released her 2010 single hit, Whip My Hair. It a song that went on to be very influential to little black girls all across America. But what many did know was the behind-the-scenes life willow had to live in order to have the success she had. From being forced to live a lie to constantly being questioned about her identity, Willow was constantly walked over and mentally abused as a way of making her into someone she isn’t. In the end, went into this gray hole of depression, and over the past few years, she has struggled to be present on social media due to society’s incapable to aid and assist black women. 

In the end, it’s time that we start acknowledging the music industry’s inability to care for black women. From social norms to sexual exploitation, these various problems play a vital role in the black woman’s experience and in the end can be detrimental to how women of color are perceived in society. It is imperative that artists stop hyper-sexualizing women of color and normalize different bodies but also stop reinforcing social norms as a way to understand them. Something that has been going on convectively for over hundred years. Because, while we may be in a different time, it thinks it’s only right to say that when it comes down to black women they are at the bottom of the barrel.

Post 12: Presentation

Over thousands of years, the music industry has evolved into a big playing field. Thanks to modern-day technology, the music industry is evolving every single day. So many are taking the leap of faith to follow their dream and pursue music. However, one problem. The music industry is sexist. For my topic, I chose to explore racial and gender inequality as it pertains to black women in the music industry. See for Women in this industry, and especially women of color face a wide variety of problems in this male-dominated sport. Men are mostly awarded titles like musician, producer, composer, or record label owners while women have to settle with the lower end of the stick. From misogyny to sexual exploitation to stereotypical roles, women of color are always being told who and what they should be in order to win in this industry.

Black-Woman-In-MusicDownload

Post 8: Annotated Bibliography

Christina Estes-Wynne (2019)

A Failure of the Music Industry. The Frustration of  Women of color https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=backstage-pass

Throughout the history of the music industry, women of color have not received the same recognition as their male because the music industry is a male dominated sport. However, Women of color are often oversexualized, often manipulated and often dont receive the reconicion they deserve. This article shines light on the various different obstacles black woman face in the music industry. 

Brittney Cooper

A Black Feminist

Black Feminist focuses on the problem of gender and race that black woman faced. The movie also singles in on the experiences of black woman and how the “Feminist” is not the same as black feminism. It also talk about intersectionality and how our identities shape our experiences and place in society. 

 Tyra Wooten

PORTRAYALS OF BLACK WOMEN ON TELEVISION & THE SHIFT IN THEIR REPRESENTATION: AN ANALYSIS OF SCANDAL & INSECURE

https://opensiuc.lib.shttps://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2220&context=gs_rp

This article talks about what it means to be a black woman in media and the different obstacles faced. It singles in on the stereotypical roles and misrepresentation that constantly happens in the entertainment business. However, this article also explains the importance of representation and breaking down societal stereotypes specifically affecting black women.

Post 9: This Bridge Called My Back

For my assignment, I choose to focus on wonder woman by Genny Lim. While the whole poem is very moving a quote that really stood out to me was

Women who must shell shrimps for pennies a day 

Women who must sew other women’s clothes 

Who must cook. 

Who must die In childbirth.

 In dreams

In this part of the poem, Lin shines a light on society’s habit of giving women the short end of the stick. She shines a light on whats it’s like to not only be a woman but be a working woman. ultimately, she makes it clear that women play a very vital role in our society, not to mention the reason behind our existence. They work just as hard, and the majority of the time 10xs, have to endure pregnacy for months and all the different characteristics and personalities that come with it all while still having the possibility of the baby or the mother dying. And yet still have to experience backlash and years’ worth of patriarchy that has pushed them to the bottom of the barrel. And Let’s not mention black women, who experience far more systematic oppression and backlash than white women. 

Post 7: Black Feminism

Audrey Lorde described herself as a Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet. These were her intersectionalities. For Lorde, the majority of her work stemmed from fighting for social justice for women of color. In Audre Lorde’s “Who Said It Was Simple”, Lorde discusses the racial injustice within the feminist movement. For me, the part that really stood out to me was “I who am bound by my mirror as well as my bed see causes in color as well as sex and sit here wondering which me will survive all these liberations.” Lorde’s experiences are shaped by the intersection of all of her social identities. And for someone who has many identities, she makes it apparent that for black women a lot of the time the conversation is often how can you isolate or reject parts of yourself for the approval of society. 


Similarly, the movie Black Feminist also focused on intersectionality as it proteins to black women and their status in society. The movie goes into dept about not only racial issues but how gender plays an important role as well when it comes to social inequality. This movie’s goal was to bring light to the experiences of a black woman and how it differs from other gender and races. It’s different from Mainstream feminism because mainstream feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights but is typically focused towards white, upper-class women, whereas Black feminism singles in on the struggles of being black and a woman. In the end, both of these pieces do a great job at making it clear that feminism and black feminism is not a thing and It’s time we start to realize not only the racial inequalities but the gender inequalities and how they intercept when it comes down to being a black woman.

Independent Project

For my independent project, I will be making a creative piece that focuses on gender inequality as it proteins to black women in the entertainment industry. I will highlight issues like gender binaries, double standards, normativity, expression, etc. In order to fully indulge in this topic, I will need to research not only the different roles between men and women in the entertainment world but the history behind women and their involvement in the entertainment business and what that has been like for the past few decades. I will also need to research race and how it intercepts with women being part of the business.

Billy Porter

Billy Porter is a black American actor, writer, singer, LGBTQ+, and human rights activist. Most recently, he’s best known for his Emmy-winning performance as Pray Tell on FX’s Pose. While he does a great job at showing just how perfect life can be, his life has been far from perfect. See Billy isn’t just a successful black artist, he’s an openly gay black artist, who also happens to be a man. Being black is already hard as it is simply because of systematic inequality, but when we add the next layer of him identifying as a queer man, acceptance poses an even greater challenge. See the black community has always had a rocky relationship with the LGBT community. Part of this is because religion is embedded into the community. But even outside religion, there’s high teaching of homosexuality as wrong, especially for a black man. So when we look at power and privilege, it’s clear that Billy porters power is limited to a sense seeing that he doesn’t exactly embody the societal ideal image of what a black man should be. However, as an LGBT and human rights activist, he has inspired thousands and has given a voice to those who’ve felt like they’ve been marginalised. One could only imagine the amount of pressure it takes to navigate in a hyper-masculine homophobic world. Billy’s motto, he takes it one day at a time. Every day he wakes up and faces the world. Being black first, then queer. Eyes are constantly on him as there is a lot of pressure on him not to “slip up” and disappoint not only the black community but let down the LGBTQ. But while his basic human rights are up for legislation every day, that hasn’t stopped him from being his authentic self and educating people about celebrating differences. Billy Porter is here to stay and nothing is stopping him from taking over the world.

What is Gender?

When looking up gender on the internet the definition provided is “either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones.” I think the biggest thing we must take in consideration when looking at this definition is the idea of gender being more a social and cultural construct. 

where do we see it? I think the real question is where don’t we see it. Gender is everywhere. From clothings to colors, society has pressed the idea of everything having a specific categoric place of either male of female. Lets look at colors for example, before you’re even born depending on if you’re a boy of girl there are certain colors society has deemed worthy of you wearing. For example, if you are a boy the color blue is already associated with your gender seeing as it Is deemed a more “masculine” color rather than pink of purple. Another example we can look at is emotions and how it’s associated with gender norms. For a very long time society made it Clear that for men, their job is to be the bread winners of the household and unfit to show any type of emotion as It would make them weak where as women were supposed to be the care takers and give the children the love and emotion.

This ultimately relating to power and privilege. From the beginning of time men have always had more power and privilege than women. This being because society has made up this idea that men posses certain qualities and characteristic that women don’t. This in the end effecting women place in society as a whole. I think a prime example in which we see this is the gender wage gap. The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage between men and women across a workforce. This being a consistent problem seeing that it has been proven that women put in way more effort than men yet get paid less. In the end, in ever case scenario, men always benefit more than women. 

And while society has pressed these ideologies when it comes down to gender and how things are categorized, The truth behind it all is that these ideas are unreal and unfair to the world we live in today. We have seen that in the world we live in today we cannot place people In these 2 boxes to try to understand them but realize that gender exist in so many different forms.

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