“Any classroom that employs a holistic model of learning will also be a place where teachers grow, and are empowered by the process. That empowerment cannot happen if we refuse to be vulnerable while encouraging students to take risks.” – bell hooks, "Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom"
3 thoughts on “http://tressiemc.com/2013/08/27/when-your-brown-body-is-a-white-wonderland/”
This is an interesting take on the recent Miley Cyrus controversy. I know the experience here is not shared by all of us in this course, and perhaps some of us may not agree with the writer’s perspective. Is it possible for us to entertain the idea that this is a legitimate response, especially given the writer’s stated experiences and the experiences of other women like her? Some say she does not speak for all Black women. That is undoubtedly true. Does this render her perspective less valid? What do you think of her assertion that Miley (or whomever chose those particular Black female bodies on the stage) would not have placed women who look like Rihanna, Beyonce or Halle Berry on the stage with Miley?
I think this is an absolutely legitimate response. Even though the writer uses her own experiences to illustrate her argument, there is definitely a peculiar pattern of exploitation and invisibility in our culture when it comes to the types of bodies seen in Miley’s show. These kinds of women have been used to satisfy white male gaze (all the way back to Sara Baartman, even) and have been invalidated and turned into novelty at the same time. They exist within this unusual dichotomy, where they are both the object of desire (or interest) and a spectacle, made to seem to ridiculous, “exotic,” and somewhat terrifying. While I don’t think Miley or the directors of the show put quite as much thought into the spectacle as the author asserts, I do think the long history of the perversion of women like the ones in the show has turned into something a lot of people have become comfortable with–which is probably why it was such a thoughtless decision in the first place. Amongst all of the things being said about the performance, I think that comfort is something that needs to be examined and discussed.
I agree with Stefani. I also think we should consider the Black women who participated in this show. They did, after all, agree to participate. Are these women simply unaware of their own exploitation or have they too become “comfortable” with playing a role?
I don’t think Miley would have wanted to share the stage with any stunning woman, black or white. Clearly, this was all about getting her name out and, thanks to our self-obsessed media culture, she succeeded.
Lorde Course 
This is an interesting take on the recent Miley Cyrus controversy. I know the experience here is not shared by all of us in this course, and perhaps some of us may not agree with the writer’s perspective. Is it possible for us to entertain the idea that this is a legitimate response, especially given the writer’s stated experiences and the experiences of other women like her? Some say she does not speak for all Black women. That is undoubtedly true. Does this render her perspective less valid? What do you think of her assertion that Miley (or whomever chose those particular Black female bodies on the stage) would not have placed women who look like Rihanna, Beyonce or Halle Berry on the stage with Miley?
I think this is an absolutely legitimate response. Even though the writer uses her own experiences to illustrate her argument, there is definitely a peculiar pattern of exploitation and invisibility in our culture when it comes to the types of bodies seen in Miley’s show. These kinds of women have been used to satisfy white male gaze (all the way back to Sara Baartman, even) and have been invalidated and turned into novelty at the same time. They exist within this unusual dichotomy, where they are both the object of desire (or interest) and a spectacle, made to seem to ridiculous, “exotic,” and somewhat terrifying. While I don’t think Miley or the directors of the show put quite as much thought into the spectacle as the author asserts, I do think the long history of the perversion of women like the ones in the show has turned into something a lot of people have become comfortable with–which is probably why it was such a thoughtless decision in the first place. Amongst all of the things being said about the performance, I think that comfort is something that needs to be examined and discussed.
I agree with Stefani. I also think we should consider the Black women who participated in this show. They did, after all, agree to participate. Are these women simply unaware of their own exploitation or have they too become “comfortable” with playing a role?
I don’t think Miley would have wanted to share the stage with any stunning woman, black or white. Clearly, this was all about getting her name out and, thanks to our self-obsessed media culture, she succeeded.