Book Dissection Part1: Our Views On Racism, Sexism, and “This Will Be My Undoing”
The I-Squared crew shift toward including discussions about race and gender by dissecting the book: “This Will Be My Undoing: Living At the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist In White America.” The discussion gets juicy with strong views, disagreements, and personal experiences with racial and gender stereotypes.
Discussion Summary
00:22: We’re SHARING OUR THOUGHTS ON Morgan Jerkins essay collection, picking each essay apart, focusing on the issues that jumped out at us.
02:18: How this book was a bothersome read at times.
04:06: Essay 1: “Monkeys Like You,” focused on when she realized what it meant to be black, and started noticing the differences between white girls and black girls. The crew’s experiences with becoming aware of these differences.
17:58: Essay 2: “How To Be Docile,” on teaching girls to be submissive to be accepted. The stereotypical black woman, being expressive, not having a right to your emotions, and having to be with a man to validate your womanhood.
31:17: The movement to channel your divine feminine, and change yourself to make a man feel better about himself. Why women pursue their independence.
41:47: Essay 3: “The Stranger At the Carnival,” on standards of beauty, objectifying black people, and black hair. There’s a difference between objectifying and exploring differences out of curiosity.
50:05: What Appropriation is, and what’s wrong with it.
52:14: Essay 4: “A Hunger For Men’s Eyes,” on wanting attention from guys, sexualizing women of color, and outspoken women having a more difficult time finding partners.
1:03:16: Black women always having to be hyperaware of what others think of their behavior because society is more judgmental of them.
1:09:42: Essay 5: “A Lotus to Michelle,” on the ways in which people criminalized Michelle Obama simply for being a black woman, intellectualized Rachel Dolezal for identifying as black and transracial as a white person, and white women protecting white male privilege.
1-24:26: Outro.
References:
HarperAcademic Calling interview of Morgan Jerkins
“This Will Be My Undoing” on Goodreads
Summary of the Study demonstrating sexualization of black girls as young as 5
Social media: Twitter @I_squaredpod, and our public Facebook group, Intersectional Insights.
Music credits:
Opening: Goestories - Noir Et Blanc Vie
Closing: First Class - DJ Williams
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