The Ladies’ Society of Collegiate Success hosted a series of talks and performances intended to start conversations between black men and women about issues pressing black women as “double minorities.”
The event, called "confessions of the new black woman," was held in Foy Hall auditorium.
Speakers at the event included Kiara Butler, sophomore in rehabilitation and disability studies; Amber Arthur, senior in finance and English professor Julia Charles. Charles is currently teaching classes on both revolutionary African American literature and 20th century African American literature.
Butler and Arthur led an open discussion on mental health issues relevant to black women, specifically anxiety, feelings of prejudice and the “myth of the strong black woman.”
“[Black women] are not allowed to be vulnerable, they’re not allowed to be sensitive, they’re not allowed to cry, they’re not allowed to feel sadness or feel worthless,” Arthur said. “They have to literally be strong for everyone else, and we just wanted to talk about that myth and kind of break it apart just so y’all know that it’s okay to have those moments of weakness.”
Following Butler and Arthur’s mental health talk was Charles’ discussion of the hypersexualization of black women and black bodies through a cultural lens, referring to modern social commentaries such as Beyonce’s 2013 single “***Flawless” or Jordan Peele’s recent thriller "Get Out."
Charles said she wished to open a dialogue between black men and women in the audience and she would ask questions aimed specifically at each.
She attributed much of the hypersexualization of black female bodies and double standards about black women to western notions of respectability politics.
“When I went on the job market, there were questions about whether or not my locks were ‘locked’ enough or if they looked ‘too black’ or if I should have waited to grow my locks when I got to Auburn, or what I should do with my hair in order to procure employment,” Charles said. “If you look or speak in a particular way, depending on the environment you’re in, your words may be weighted a particular way, or they just might respect your opinion a bit more because you look a way that is acceptable to them.”
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