Damn, that's a lot going on today with the makeup I really did not plan to do all of this, I kind of just stepped in the booth
and went loco I can't let up on no hoe! Hi everyone. Welcome to this video, my name
is Tee if you're new here; I really do hope everyone's day is going well. Well. I'm back. Your favorite semi-important, mildly cringy, commentary YouTuber is back to shake some shit
up again because as you know I don't want peace I want problems, always. I also want to cut the sh*t I ain't got time
to be cute and funny today because even though I can't really help it because today I would
like to dive into the heavy ass, scary-ass, ever debatable-ass topics of
the politics of respectability and desirability specifically
in the context of Black women. We talking featurism, we talking glamorization, we talking bonnets. Still. So obviously I have a lot to say so I figured I
shouldn't just try to knock it out in just one go. So today's video will be part
one of either two or three parts so whatever I don't get to today will get got to eventually. The definition of desirability politics that I
want to use can be found in an article called 'Desirability: Do You Really Love Fat People
When You Can't Even See Us Beyond The Political?" by trans non-binary abolitionist
and author Da'Shaun Harrison and shout out to fellow creator Teanna, I've
been a fan for a while it was her video on pretty privilege and desirability politics
that actually introduced me to this article which is about fatphobia so
slightly different from today's topic but beyond the empowerment sphere so it's
really great for those like myself who are trying to dismantle anti-fat bias both in and
externally so y'all should go check that out. But the definition it reads, "I define desirability politics as
the methodology through which the sovereignty of those deemed (conventionally)
attractive/beautiful/arousing is determined." My interpretation of that is the study
of the different ways pretty privilege or sexy power is determined. So not just what you're gaining or even
avoiding for being considered pretty or sexy, but how is it being determined that
you're pretty or sexy in the first place? We know that White supremacy greatly
influences beauty standards and thus affects how society at large determines
how desirable black women are to them. I think the next step would be to examine
some of the social criterion for desirability. The standout finding when I was writing this video was that desirability has far less to
do with what a specific person is doing and much more to do with the tools that
exist for them to employ and how easily, drastically, and dramatically social perception
of a person can change when they are employed. Perfect example: Ari Lennox and JT. For those who don't know,
Ari Lennox is a popular R&B singer. She rose to fame after her
hit single, 'Shea Butter Baby', also known as the First Lady of Dreamville
and very famous for her Instagram lives. "I was this close to popping
that p*ssy on the goddamn pole but then god said no bitch you cannot dance
and no one will pay to see you drop it." She's a fucking trip. And JT "I ain't playing" is one half
of the popular rap duo City Girls. When these women first came out this is what
they look like beautiful, absolutely beautiful stunning I couldn't ask for more and at the
times that these photos were taken these women were already popular for their music
they already had made a name for themselves but not very popular for their looks at least not for the right reasons. But don't get me wrong I don't want to make it seem like everyone in the world was
calling them ugly and undesirable. There were definitely still people
who were calling them beautiful and admiring them because they are beautiful and
admirable, but there were also people thriving in the market of humiliating Black women
who was tearing their comment sections up publicly comparing Ari to animals proudly calling JT the ugly City Girl.
It just was not uncommon to run across a tweet or tweets that would just say mean things
about these women. But that's changed now though I mean the hate hasn't completely gone away but
both Ari and JT have definitely seen a drastic change in their overall online perception. And
you would think that with the kind of deeply entrenched and passionate hatred
that was being thrown at them that in order for their comment sections to
do a complete 180 that so would their looks. Like their physical appearances would have to
go undergo some major transformations but no, this is what they look like now. Obviously the same women very much still
recognizable, but as you can see with just a few small changes to their appearances people
went from dehumanizing them to praising them. I'd like to theorize this, the thing that
was standing in between society or at least that section of the internet viewing Ari and JT as animals versus now calling them
goddesses and their dream women was not a tone body or a new body, new
hair, new makeup, new wardrobe none of that those were tools, again effective tools
but that wasn't the flip of the switch the flip of the switch was and
continues to be society's standard and default discontent towards
Black women in the ordinary. I'm so fucking extra actually like I very
much could have just said regular Black women, but you tell me which one sounds more interesting: regular Black women or
Black women in the ordinary? Know what I mean? So what is Black women in the ordinary? Well, just as it sounds a Black
woman, a woman who is Black. Not a Black girl magic connoisseur, not a melanated queen.. not a Black woman celebrated and elevated through
the lens of her tenacity and her accomplishments her superhuman work ethic shout out to Yoncé. None of that extracurricular activity, but just a plain Black woman
which is majority of Black women. White supremacy and misogynoir makes
it so society does not reward her society does not desire her even worse if she falls into other intersections
of oppression if she's a dark-skinned Black woman, a fat Black woman, a disabled
Black woman, a trans Black woman rendered invisible. Typically unrewarded without first being exotified
to some capacity this happens in a number of ways we've talked about the fetishization
of Black women on this channel before, but another one that I've recently
come to articulate is glamorization I know all these -izations like
fuck can y'all give us a break? I've always noticed this, but like I said
I didn't quite have the words for it until I came across Ty Talk's video on
it called 'I'm Black, not Black' I love that video. I love how she did that video, but the
title alone encapsulates pretty much all that I'm about to say in this next bit
Ty talks a lot about how the Black women who get a lot of praise on the internet often
present themselves in a way that just exudes this mega goddess sun from within perfect
skin, body, hair and we love that for them we love that for them and what it does for
their self-confidence and self-image, but we would be remiss not to acknowledge
that this puts pressure on them and other Black women to constantly look their
absolute best in order to get the same attention and really just overall
acknowledgement of existence that women of other races get as a default. Ty also explains that glamorized they're not a lot of the Black women who
are placed on these pedestals often possess characteristics that appease
colorist, texturists and featurists ideals now that featurists part that's where I want
to take it because that's a huge part and we don't talk about it enough because it's tricky. So, here we go. I-I understand featurism as prejudiced against facial features that are recognized
as typically Black or Afro-centric you see this is what the fuck I be talking about featurism is such an unacknowledged
topic that I had to come up with my- in big 2021 I had to come up with my own
definition for it and I like I still like I'm still not 100
on it because I know it's vague the internet is just such a breeding
ground to gaslight Black women's struggles because let the internet
tell it featurism ain't even a word there's no official
Merriam-Webster definition for it there's still a little squiggly line
under it when you type it out as if it's grammatically incorrect or whatever the f*ck. This is why we say listen to Black women
and just hear us out when we try to share our personal experiences because
academia ain't always backing us up sometimes academia will have you thinking
we're fucking delusional even though the issues sit right there in front of you anyway featurism, it's real. If you're a consumer or even just a casual
observer of pop culture then you have absolutely seen people in publications use featurism as a
tool to shame and disrespect Black women and girls when people say Megan Thee Stallion she's
so se- oh she's so sexy, she's so beautiful but her nose, it ruins her face. Featurism. When people acted like Beyoncé personally
betrayed them for giving birth to a daughter with facial features that resembled
Jay-Z's more than they did hers, featurism. And she was just a fucking baby. Now I could sit here and be mad at the media
for being so mean to Black women and girls I could go on a rant about the publications
who continued to push this whole Black people with Black ass
features or ugly propaganda and yes, f*ck y'all. But I think it's a much more
interesting conversation a much more interesting segue to talk about
how these biases are upheld intraculturally. Following the trend of using
musical artists as exemplars, I want to talk about Asian Doll aka Asian Da Brat. I like her, I real- hold on hold on I like every person I'm about to mention okay? I like her, I really do. I don't really listen to her music
that much, but I like-I like her style I like how she looks like how she presents herself
and I also love how she spoke out against colorism even when it seemed like the whole industry was
trying to tell her that this shit didn't exist so yeah I like her, but why the
f*ck is her name Asian Doll? Same thing with Tokyo Jetz,
why is her name Tokyo Jetz? [Katya] "When I tell you what I'm about to
tell you, you will be told my opinion." I'll tell you why all right I'll theorize as to why,
but you're probably not gonna like it it's likely because they have
features, presumably facial features, that are more commonly associated with Asian women. I'm gonna put on a little bit more
like I think I'm a little bit nervous. Now of course this is not to say
that Black women can't naturally have these features I mean obviously
because these women ain't even Asian what I'm saying is I didn't just pull
this out of my ass even Tokyo Jetz herself said that she adopted that nickname
because of the way her eyes are set. That's wildly f*cking
problematic wouldn't you say? I'm just thinking about how upset Black women get
when we hear women of other ages say things like "oh I got-I got a Black girl
booty, I got Black girl lips." Imagine if there was a non-Black rapper with
the stage name Black Fairy or Africana Grande and the list goes on Lightskin
Keisha, Mulatto now known as Latto. But I think nicknames like these are so
common especially amongst Black female rappers because it's so common within the
Black community for the feature that people fixate on and praise
you for to be an ambiguous feature a feature that's not typically Black. A feature that removes you from
being a Black woman in the ordinary. You see how I brought that full cir- you see? I'm nice like that. And then rewards you for it let me not forget that part. Removes you from being an ordinary Black woman and
then rewards you for not being an ordinary Black woman and then this cycle of this outside fixation
and then the reward system thereafter it goes on for so many years and these women internalize
it so deeply that you make it your stage name, you make it your Instagram handle, you make it your entire identity. You say this is what I want you to know
me for and in doing so, whether they want to admit it or not, it serves as a symbol
of separation from the demographic they actually belong to. And don't think that this kind
of stuff only happens in the music industry okay the exotification of Black women happens
all over it shows up all the time. Like do y'all remember the foreign phase? When it was just so cool
to be a Black girl who was "foreign" and that's another thing I will not allow
anyone to gaslight me on because I was there I was fighting for my f*cking life back then. I remember girls would have
user names like foreignkiki kikiforeign and it always baffled me because it
was like sis, ain't you from Detroit? So you see that's another
symbol of separation from being a regular Black girl, an ordinary Black girl even if you are a regular, ordinary Black girl that symbol of separation even
if it was just pure delusion that shit meant something because we see
how the world treats the Asian Doll's versus how they treat the Chika's
okay we know what's good. And this is not to say that these
women hate being Black not at all you know what let me let me read exactly what I have here so I don't f*ck it up
because I want to emphasize this. This is not to say that
these women hate being Black. It is completely okay to say "hey, my
eyes are beautiful and I want you to notice that. My nose is beautiful,
my skin complexion is beautiful." Of course, but that's completely different for
making these features your entire identity society has a weird way of detaching these
characteristics from who they are as people and making it seem as though their
beauty is in spite of their Blackness or like these characteristics are their one
saving grace because if they didn't have it they would just be a Black woman in the ordinary. Now in Ari and JT's case this doesn't apply
but I'm including all of this in the same video the featurism, the exotification, the glamorization all at one time just to
exemplify that Black women in the ordinary Black women just existing
without any sort of decoration is socially treated as the
contrary to a desirable person almost like the rival to a desirable person. That is what seems to push the needle from
society's baseline hatred of us to their tolerance of us it really is not what we do to our appearance, it's that the more that this fickle and gullible
ass society believes that we're not regular the more comfortable they feel with loving us out loud and viewing us
as desirable, attractive, arousing etc. I've said once before in a Patreon
video, my most recent one actually, uh Patreon.com/TeeNoir you already know the vibes. I said that attraction
can't necessarily be forced, but it can absolutely be manipulated. And
one of the main driving forces of that is the influence of other people's perception
and treatment of a person or a group of people. This is why we say representation matters because
who you see getting praised on the internet who you see on the TV screen, on the movie screen
and how other characters are reacting to that person has such a great impact on how we view
and treat people like them in the real world. You want to know why Issa
Rae is our queen of queens? Because everything that has her name on
it she's put in regular ass Black people regular ordinary ass Black women at the
forefront and saying take your things. And there's no hurdles for her to
realize her beauty; she already knows it. There's no trials and tribulations for
her to find and maintain a love interest a sexy ass, desirable ass, love interest at that it's already given, it's already expected. In Issa's world, Black women
are beautiful in the ordinary in the regular in the plain as hell and that's just that. Wake up wake up wake up out of your sleep. Now the last thing I'd like to address are
the people who have something negative to say about women like Ari Lennox or
even women like Chloe Bailey who have gone from a more modest
and I guess you could say organic image to one that plays up their sex appeal more. You know I understand both
sides and that's what sucks like I really wish I could be on my no frauds
and just pick a side pick a side but I can't. Because I glamorize myself in every single video
you see-you see me, but this is not how I walk around on a day-to-day basis like this is not
how I present myself to the world every damn day shitting me? And that's a calculated decision. But
I also understand that all of this it doesn't necessarily change the hatred
towards Black women in the ordinary nor does it promote respect for us and
I say us because again this is..fake. So it doesn't change much it just creates
a little safety pocket so when Black women are elevated because of how they've
worked the system of desirability the elevator isn't necessarily
being sent back down for the others. So whether intentional or not with
playing into desirability politics it's really just the process of evading
hate rather than working to condemn it. So yeah you know I get that um and I get the irony in that me talking about
it and then sitting up here looking like this I get it- I get it um but you know me
I cannot blame a Black woman doing her best not trying to hurt the rest for anything.
So I think it's a bit selfish for us to blame these women or turn our noses up at these women
because sometimes careers depend on it like Whereas with us, society, we gain not a damn
thing from being so selective in our validation. We gain not a damn thing from upholding these
biases. We are the majority at the end of the day and although holding ourselves accountable
isn't necessarily going to fix the problem, Accountability is always a good
starting point wouldn't you say? So yeah what we respond to and how
we respond plays a much bigger role than a BBL and toning up your body and wigs and
glamorization and exotification ever could, okay? So maybe we should look within. Maybe. Thank you all so much for watching this video,
especially if you made it all the way to the end. I do want to say while I did do
research in prep for this video it isn't as cited sources fact checky
as it usually is because well for one, I'm doing a whole lot of that in part two of
this video so I didn't want it to be an overkill and for two, today's topic is my reality, okay? I came to a lot of personal realizations
and I articulated a lot of observations for the very first time in doing this video.
And while the facts and the stats and the articles and the book references are cool
and stuff and it makes me sound kind of smart it's also important for us to hone in on the
opinions and the personal real world experience aspect of it because that's just
as important to the conversation and that's what humanizes the conversation. This topic, at least for me,
was extremely complicated if you saw my community post
a couple weeks ago this video is well overdue like I already wrote it
and recorded it, edited it and posted it, but only to Patreon because I felt like
something was missing and a lot of things were so I'm happy I you know got my shit
together. Um but yeah it's- it's tough even though it's a tough conversation in general, I feel like it's especially difficult for
me as a commentary creator because I feel a lot of people expect a lot of the times I feel like it's my
job to articulate my thoughts in a way that takes them from point A to point B
when in reality the topic is more like a.. But as my channel is taking a turn where
I'm just popping in every once in a while to really give it all I got and
really, you know, challenge myself rather than just popping up once
a week to barely crack the surface I want to make sure that my content and
what people expect of my content isn't snowballing into something where like
this is a conclusions factory and people constantly want point A's to
point B's and answers out of me because I don't fucking got 'em okay. Point A's to point B's ain't got it. This video, for example, was more like a point C
to point Q and that's where I'm most comfortable so yeah I-I would like people to
think of my channel as more of a community think tank and understand that I'm
just-i'm just trying to chop it up rather than um viewing this channel as
an end-all be-all resource. Be sure to leave your thoughts
in your comments down below. Give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down, however you're feeling today
and subscribe for more content. I'll catch you in the next video. Bye!
