Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American Culture
My article underscores the intermediate existence of black American women between race and gender by stressing the role white patriarchy and black hypermasculinity play in the marginalisation of black female voices and the prioritisation of white women’s interests within and beyond mainstream femini...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Open Cultural Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2018-0027 |
| _version_ | 1831570806762635264 |
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| author | Welang Nahum |
| author_facet | Welang Nahum |
| author_sort | Welang Nahum |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | My article underscores the intermediate existence of black American women between race and gender by stressing the role white patriarchy and black hypermasculinity play in the marginalisation of black female voices and the prioritisation of white women’s interests within and beyond mainstream feminist spaces. In order to legitimise this intermediate existence of black women, my article develops the triple consciousness theory (TCT). Inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness, TCT argues that black women view themselves through three lenses and not two: America, blackness and womanhood. Black feminists, TCT affirms, are able to reimagine misguided narratives of black womanhood in contemporary American culture by unpacking the complexity of this threefold consciousness. In Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay strives for the inclusion of pluralist voices in the mainstream feminist movement and in Lemonade, Beyonce uses Afrofuturist tropes, reappropriation and gothic imagery to exorcise the generational pain of betrayal by black men and white women. With Insecure, Issa Rae radicalises feminist theory by critiquing archetypes attached to black womanhood and in Marvel’s Black Panther, not only do black women possess the unprecedented agency to shape their own identities on their own terms, there is also an existential reconnection with their past. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T12:57:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2f5508707a744953b271090d3b79e261 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2451-3474 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T12:57:37Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Cultural Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-2f5508707a744953b271090d3b79e2612022-12-21T21:47:26ZengDe GruyterOpen Cultural Studies2451-34742018-10-012129630610.1515/culture-2018-0027culture-2018-0027Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American CultureWelang Nahum0University of Bergen, Department of Foreign Languages,Bergen, NorwayMy article underscores the intermediate existence of black American women between race and gender by stressing the role white patriarchy and black hypermasculinity play in the marginalisation of black female voices and the prioritisation of white women’s interests within and beyond mainstream feminist spaces. In order to legitimise this intermediate existence of black women, my article develops the triple consciousness theory (TCT). Inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness, TCT argues that black women view themselves through three lenses and not two: America, blackness and womanhood. Black feminists, TCT affirms, are able to reimagine misguided narratives of black womanhood in contemporary American culture by unpacking the complexity of this threefold consciousness. In Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay strives for the inclusion of pluralist voices in the mainstream feminist movement and in Lemonade, Beyonce uses Afrofuturist tropes, reappropriation and gothic imagery to exorcise the generational pain of betrayal by black men and white women. With Insecure, Issa Rae radicalises feminist theory by critiquing archetypes attached to black womanhood and in Marvel’s Black Panther, not only do black women possess the unprecedented agency to shape their own identities on their own terms, there is also an existential reconnection with their past.https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2018-0027white patriarchyblack hypermasculinitywhite feminism |
| spellingShingle | Welang Nahum Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American Culture Open Cultural Studies white patriarchy black hypermasculinity white feminism |
| title | Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American Culture |
| title_full | Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American Culture |
| title_fullStr | Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American Culture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American Culture |
| title_short | Triple Consciousness: The Reimagination of Black Female Identities in Contemporary American Culture |
| title_sort | triple consciousness the reimagination of black female identities in contemporary american culture |
| topic | white patriarchy black hypermasculinity white feminism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2018-0027 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT welangnahum tripleconsciousnessthereimaginationofblackfemaleidentitiesincontemporaryamericanculture |