Society has been obsessed with female bodies, female sexuality, and female pleasure since forever. Particularly within the contexts of culture, capitalism and racism, sexuality has often been the mediating term by which we are either regarded ‘respectable’ or unworthy of respect. However, as we move into the 21st century, I feel there are a plethora of liberating movements emerging, encouraging us to finally free ourselves from the boundaries of societal expectations of female sexuality.
Despite the sexologists of the 19th century and their fascination with sexuality as forms of deviance and perversion, I think if we are to actually come to terms with how deeply engrained politics of sexuality is in society, we must look directly through the lens of colonialism and imperialism. Since the colonial and imperial era, Black female bodies have been stigmatised as the colonised subject through processes of de-agentalisation, objectification, and hyper sexualisation. As such, violence has continually been employed against Black female bodies to construct them in opposition to whiteness in a colonising project of domination.
A useful example of this is the case of Sara Baartman, also known as ‘The Hottentot Venus’. Don’t worry, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this case, I can give you a quick low down. Sara Baartman was a Khoikhoi woman captured from South Africa in 1810 by colonisers and brought to London and Paris to be exhibited and displayed for the public. The commodification and sexual exploitation of Baartman’s body was for the purpose of entertaining the white middle/upper classes, who would scrutinise and lure at her body.Indeed, the white gaze in action.
“The anti-thesis of European sexual mores and beauty is embodied in the Black, and the essential Black, the lowest rung on the great chain of being, is the Hottentot. The physical appearance of the Hottentot is, indeed, the central nineteenth-century icon for sexual difference between the European and the Black.” - (Gilman, 1985:231).
(Sara Baartman, The Hottentot Venus).
When considering this dark colonial history and the relationship between white imperialism and the hyper sexualisation of Black female bodies, it is not surprising that the conversation regarding sexualised imageries remains highly contested. Black Feminist Thought, introduced by Patricia Hill Collins, exemplifies a negative position within this conversation. It is based upon the understanding that sexualised imageries reinforce colonial oppression and damaging images of Black female sexuality to maintain the subordination of Black women and their bodies. I think this is slightly problematic however, because by reducing the hyper sexualisation of female bodies to a narrative of colonialism and violence, we actually neglect to acknowledge the empowering multifaceted motivations that also exist behind female sexual and bodily expression.
Can a positive relationship between sexuality, race and hegemonic standards of respectability ever be reached?
Theorists such as Jennifer Nash explain how a positive relationship between sexuality, race and hegemonic standards of respectability can be achieved, by resisting the notion that contemporary culture is just another perpetuation of colonial trauma, injustice, and oppression against Black women. Nash presents an inspiring outlook on reimagining a politics of respectability which have historically policed women, and women of colour in particular. By centralising the role in which Black female pleasure and the Black feminine imagination plays in creating a cultural space, we can begin opening our eyes to the multiple ways in which the Black female body is celebrated and the body parts that have historically denigrated and fetishised black women are being reclaimed in a positive light.
This is the moment where Lizzo takes the stage...
Lizzo is a perfect example of this resistance within the sphere of popular culture. Lizzo’s iconic outlook on the power of self-love and body positivity celebrates the female body, whilst rejecting the pressures of oppressive systems that have, for so long, worked to break women down. I recently read an article in Essence Magazine where Lizzo expressed her passion for resisting the power that continues to police the Black female body through her music, image, body positivity and self-acceptance. She explained that she doesn't post ‘risqué’ photos of herself to gain likes or shares, but because “she is comfortable in her skin and wants to normalise bigger bodies of all kinds, but especially Black women”.
I know, what a QUEEN.
By rejecting the damaging stereotypes placed upon the sexualised female body, Lizzo redirects the position of the white male spectator as 'dominant' and denaturalises the imperialist nostalgia and consumption of Black bodies. This ethos is bound into the reclamation of Black female agency, placing pleasure above all forms of oppression against Black female sexuality and self-determination. Lizzo playfully pokes fun at what Nash calls the ‘fantastical project of race’ by channelling empowerment and reclamation into her performances and work. As such, the site of the Black female body becomes a site of productive opportunity, emanating female power, and sexual pleasure. I believe in doing so, Lizzo is recovering Black female sexuality and redirecting it away from the oppressive shadows of colonialism, demanding a rejection of the hegemonic and disciplinary regimes of power and knowledge that regulate race, gender, and sexuality.
Lizzo challenges the intersections between colonialism, capitalism, controlling mechanisms against the female body image and fatness. Images of Lizzo unapologetically flaunting herself work in opposition to the male sexual desire for feminine thinness as the most respectable example of sexuality. Through her willingness to celebrate all facets of herself, Lizzo counteracts the colonial and neoliberal forces that underpin the expectation that one must fit into the idealised model of the normative body to access full socioeconomic fulfilment of society. This willingness to be publicly vulnerable represents how women can reach an emancipatory platform by sharing their own story and truth, without a third party intercepting the narrative.
Lizzo however, does not stop here. Yes, she’s a queen of body positivity and self-love, but she also writes from a position that I don’t think you see that often these days. A lot of the time music artists tend to materialise their success in their lyrics by flaunting the cars they own, the brands they wear and the money they earn. However, Lizzo refuses to fall into this trap. Her lyrics come from a place of internal success, positivity and encouraging others to be ‘100% that bitch’. I think the lesson here is that no matter who you are, what or how much you have, internal self-belief and collective empowerment of one another against the repressive regimes of racism, patriarchy, and capitalism for example, are invaluable.
I feel like we can all learn a lot from Lizzo, and her energy is something that we must all engage from within ourselves. Self-sexualisation, pleasure and erotica are subversive forms of reclamation no doubt, but they are also a political act. By rejecting any external gaze that emanates from the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, we can instead prioritise our own internal gaze within both ourselves and within our community. This reverts back to Sonya Renee Taylors ‘Radical Self Love’, encouraging a transition away from notions of self-esteem and self-confidence, and towards more interdependent forms of the body as everyday act of resistance. Radical self-love questions our relationship, not only with our own body, but with the bodies of others in a process of learning. As such, radical self-love allows us to make peace with our own bodies, and therefore with other people’s bodies. I think this is what makes Lizzo’s presence in the popular culture sphere so important, because she is able to use her platform as a famous artist to spread self-love energy and radical self-love to people from all ages, races, genders, sexualities, and classes.
Lizzo has arrived, and it is up to us to grab the moment by no longer being passive to those in power who thrive off breaking people down. Now is the time to boss up and change your life.
References:
Collins, P.H., 1990. Black feminist thought in the matrix of domination. Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment, 138(1990), pp.221-238.
Gilman, S.L., 1985. Black bodies, white bodies: Toward an iconography of female sexuality in late nineteenth-century art, medicine, and literature. Critical inquiry, 12(1), pp.204-242.
Nash, J.C., 2011. Practicing Love: Black Feminism, Love-Politics, and Post-Intersectionality. Meridians, 11(2), pp.1-24.
Taylor, S.R., 2021. The body is not an apology: The power of radical self-love. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Zavattaro, S.M., 2021. Taking the social justice fight to the cloud: Social media and body positivity. Public Integrity, 23(3), pp.281-295.
Comments