Unhand Me: Misogynoir in the Digital Sphere
Location
PANEL: Third Year Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Panel
Wilder 101
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
4-28-2023 2:00 PM
End Date
4-28-2023 3:00 PM
Abstract
In 2010, Black feminist Moya Bailey coined the term misogynoir to give language to the specific strain of oppression that Black women experience. Often especially cruel and sexually charged, this oppression sits at the intersection of antiblackness and misogyny. Misogynoir, though a new term, has existed for centuries prior to Bailey’s coinage. Black women have been enduring its abuses within every fold of life—popular culture, politics, interpersonal interactions—whether Black women are present or not. As technology advanced within the last ten to twenty years, a new, digital sphere of life has emerged and etched itself deeply into the fabric of our society. The digital absorption of life, evidenced by the ever-present nature of social media, inevitably yielded to the digital expansion of misogynoir. This research investigates the existence of misogynoir as an unchecked, unflinching force across the digital sphere, irrespective of the platforms within it. This paper analyzes a wide scope of social media platforms. Inevitably, this project centers observations of white men, white women, and Black men—the three demographics perpetuating this digital harm more than any other. Each group, consciously or not, shares the same harmful perceptions of Black womanhood, allowing digital misogynoir to run rampant, changing forms to suit each platform. Notably, misogynoir is increasingly elusive as it moves from the outskirts to the center of the digital sphere. It is of the utmost importance to investigate and understand these violences, in every form they take. In doing this, the digital will become a safer place for Black women—and, in turn, so will reality.
Keywords:
Social media, Black women, Misogynoir
Recommended Citation
Henry, Ari, "Unhand Me: Misogynoir in the Digital Sphere" (2023). Research Symposium. 18.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2023/presentations/18
Major
History
Award
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Project Mentor(s)
Meredith Gadsby, Africana Studies
2023
Unhand Me: Misogynoir in the Digital Sphere
PANEL: Third Year Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Panel
Wilder 101
In 2010, Black feminist Moya Bailey coined the term misogynoir to give language to the specific strain of oppression that Black women experience. Often especially cruel and sexually charged, this oppression sits at the intersection of antiblackness and misogyny. Misogynoir, though a new term, has existed for centuries prior to Bailey’s coinage. Black women have been enduring its abuses within every fold of life—popular culture, politics, interpersonal interactions—whether Black women are present or not. As technology advanced within the last ten to twenty years, a new, digital sphere of life has emerged and etched itself deeply into the fabric of our society. The digital absorption of life, evidenced by the ever-present nature of social media, inevitably yielded to the digital expansion of misogynoir. This research investigates the existence of misogynoir as an unchecked, unflinching force across the digital sphere, irrespective of the platforms within it. This paper analyzes a wide scope of social media platforms. Inevitably, this project centers observations of white men, white women, and Black men—the three demographics perpetuating this digital harm more than any other. Each group, consciously or not, shares the same harmful perceptions of Black womanhood, allowing digital misogynoir to run rampant, changing forms to suit each platform. Notably, misogynoir is increasingly elusive as it moves from the outskirts to the center of the digital sphere. It is of the utmost importance to investigate and understand these violences, in every form they take. In doing this, the digital will become a safer place for Black women—and, in turn, so will reality.
