Woman's Poems
By Latifah M.C. Trams
Dr. J.G.L.A. Riesthuis
MA Thesis, i.e. Literary Studies: English Language and Culture, University of Amsterdam
Abstract
This paper examines the way white supremacy is challenged in The Fat Black
Women’s Poems by Grace Nichols, where the black female body becomes the site of contest between white supremacist domination and black resistance through self-identification. This self-identification comes from the understanding of race, gender and body image intersecting not as different aspects of a person’s identity, but all in one, based on the theory of Kimberle Crenshaw’s intersectionality, and Patricia Hill Collins’ work on interlocking systems of oppression. Chapter one deals with the explanation on the effects which white supremacy imposes on black female bodies, largely based on the explanation of white supremacy by Steve Garner. In addition the racialisation of black female bodies will largely be explained with the help of Sander L. Gilman’s theory on black female sexualisation. Chapter two deals with the consequences of black female sexualisation and how Nichols counters this in her poetry. Chapter three focuses on body standards imposed on black women by white
supremacy, and how Nichols reflects on this in her poetry. Lastly, chapter four focuses on the history of blackness and how self-identification in being a fat black woman leads both
Acknowledgement
Hereby I, Latifah M. C. Trams, acknowledge that I have written this thesis myself and therefore will take full responsibility for its contents.
I confirm that the text which is presented within this thesis is mine and that I have not sources other than those that are mentioned in text or references.
I would like to thank my mother for being my main source of positive representation of black female identity.
Table of Content
Abstract ... 2
Acknowledgement ... 3
Introduction ... 8
Chapter One – “This Kingdom”: White Supremacy ... 12
The Universality of Whiteness ... 12
“and the sea encircling all” – Whiteness as Universality ... 13
“thinking she don’t notice” – Othering ... 14
The West ... 16
“and de weather so cold” – Definition of the West ... 16
“in some North Europe far/forlorn” – Eurocentrism ... 17
(White) Sexuality ... 18
“he was alive / he was full-o-jive” – Racial Othering ... 19
(White) Bodies ... 21
“My breasts are huge exciting” – Sexualisation of the Black Body ... 21
“Those women” – Binary Blackness ... 22
“hibiscus to her cheek” – Femininity ... 23
“the white robed chiefs” – Conclusion ... 24
Chapter Two – “Come Up and See Me Sometime”: White Universality’s Effects on the Black Female Sexuality ... 25
Black Female Sexuality in History ... 25
Hypersexual and Asexual ... 27
Self-Expressed Sexuality ... 29
Exoticism and commodification of the Black Woman ... 31
Sexual Commodification ... 31
Racial Fetishisation ... 32
Historical Depictions of Sexuality... 33
White Women’s Domination ... 34
Owning Sexuality ... 35
Chapter Three – “Beauty is a Fat Black Woman”: White Universality’s Effects on the Black Woman’s Body ... 36
Eurocentric Beauty Standards and the Black Female Body ... 36
Normative Whiteness in Action ... 38
Reflection on Body Image ... 42
Different Image ... 43
Chapter Four – “This Kingdom Will Not Reign”: Reflection on Black History ... 46
History of Blackness ... 46 Home ... 50 Blackness ... 50 Home Displacement ... 52 Woman as Home ... 53 Resistance ... 54 Conclusion ... 57 Notes ... 59 Works Cited ... 61
Appendix ... 65
Alone ... 65
Invitation ... 65
The Fat Black Woman’s Instructions to a Suitor ... 66
Skanking Englishman Between Trains ... 67
Loveact ... 68
Like a Flame ... 68
The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping ... 69
Looking at Miss World ... 70
Shopping ... 70
Winterthoughts ... 71
Those Women ... 72
Beauty ... 72
The Assertion ... 72
The Fat Black Woman Composes a Black Poem… ... 73
Sugar Cane ... 73
We New World Blacks ... 76
Fear ... 77
Like a Beacon ... 78
Price We Pay for the Sun ... 78
Praise Song for My Mother ... 79
This Kingdom ... 79
Introduction
From the modern day obsession with big hips and lips as the epitome of sexiness, to the re-emergence of the ‘natural hair’ movement among young black people, features typically associated with black bodies are everywhere to be found in media. In this
hypervisibility, it can be argued that the black body is detached from its racial and cultural background, as well as its history of racialisation in Western society. In other words, features historically associated with blackness are detached from their racialized black origins. Two trends rise from these centred bodies in features typically and historically associated with blackness, where non-black people use these features for self-expression and mostly sexual identification, and black people more often identify with blackness from a perspective that is based on their own experiences. For example, black women across the world change their hair to work with the natural hair texture they were born with, instead of altering their hair textures to resemble different hair textures1.
These instances of identification through self-defining bodily features go against the institutionalised system of mass-identification through differentiation between Self and Other. In the case of the black female body, this differentiation is between black racialisation versus white racialisation, and femininity versus masculinity. While there are structures in place to oppress women, the source of differentiation for the black woman lies most in her blackness. White supremacy, the construction of the white race as superior to every other race as well as having the power to racialize others, forms the biggest obstacle for black female
self-identification. This is because white supremacy imposes itself as dominant when it comes to racial identification, and allows itself to racialize black women as black, instead of leaving black women the opportunity to identify themselves according to a system outside of white supremacist notions. In The Fat Black Woman’s Poems Nichols challenges white supremacist
1
“Natural hair movement.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 26June 2017. Web. 26 June 2017.
ideologies through presenting an afro-Caribbean female identity as grounded in the body, in relation to sexuality, body image and racial background. Nichols presents an inherently black, female, Caribbean (as opposed to Western), fat body to take the stage and create a
self-defined identity that disregards the racialized effect white supremacy has had on those types of bodies.
Instead of viewing any representations of human bodies as products of media, and media as influencing the sexualisation of aspects of female bodies, media functions as a tool to reproduce certain social categories all human bodies have to conform to. In the case of the black female body this social category cannot fall into the category of ‘black’ or ‘female’ by itself. Instead, the black female body is socially categorised into all social categories it falls into, each category having overlap with another. This overlap and intersection of social categories creates a new identity which incorporates all social categories it falls under, and shows how each of them could potentially strengthen or weaken the other on a sociologic hierarchal level. These social categories are oppressed within the bounds of white supremacy and the patriarchy, in order. By using the basis of intersectional theory to approach black female identity, these oppressed social categories can be shown to overlap and strengthen each other. Within the body of the black woman, blackness and femininity, as well as fatness of the black fat woman, intersect with one another to create the identity of the black woman based in the body. Victoria Burrows represents this intersection as a knot in Whiteness and Trauma, where the knot as a metaphor for the intersection of oppressed identities: “ …has been used previously by other feminists. For instance, Gayatri Spivak employs the image to suggest the multiplicity of contradictions that occur when the subject-in-process is bound within the complex entanglement of race, class and gender in her description of the subaltern subject effect” (4). In other words, the knot serves as a way to describe the overlap within the
entanglement of racial, classist and gender based oppression for the subject involved, which in this case would be the fat black woman.
Focusing on the intersection of race, class and gender in the black female identity, Patricia Hill Collins in Black Feminist Thought shows how these concepts shape black female identity from a black female perspective. Building on the theory of intersectionality by
Kimberle Crenshaw2, Hill Collins reconceptualises race, gender and class as interlocking systems of oppression that together form the main oppressing system for black women (277). In addition, she uses the term ‘matrix of domination’ to describe the “social organization within which intersecting oppressions originate, develop, and are contained” (228). Therefore black women are oppressed within those aspects of identity, which form a separate system focused on the subjugation of black womanhood. Within The Fat Black Woman Poems the identity of the narrator is shaped by resistance against the matrix of domination, namely white supremacy, patriarchal structures and fatphobia, instead of having the black female identity be defined by the matrix of domination itself. In doing so, both narrator and Nichols move against the interlocking systems of oppression, dissecting and analysing each social oppression both separately and as one. While black womanhood itself can overlap with a multitude of other oppressions, such as differentiating gender identity from what was assigned as at birth (transphobia), or autism (ableism), The Fat Black Woman Poems do not tackle these identities, and they have therefore been left out of the discussion.
As an afro-Caribbean woman Grace Nichols provides an internal perspective on self-identification of black womanhood, against the matrix of domination which oppresses this identity. The matrix of domination which self-identification of blackness contradicts, is rooted in the normative nature of the dominant group, where in this instance, “black identity [is seen]
2
Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Standford Law Review, Vol. 43, 1991, pp. 1241-1299.
as a synonym for race, with whiteness being so natural, normative and unproblematic that racial identity is seen as a property only of the nonwhite” (Scully 197). This analysis of oppression and self-definition of identity is prominently featured within Caribbean literature of the 1980s, which The Fat Black Woman Poems fall under. Alison Donnell in “Sexuality and Gender in the Anglophone Caribbean Novel” gives an analysis of modern Caribbean novels centred around womanhood, and claims that “women’s novels of the 1980s were clearly expressing and questioning women’s social and cultural position and collectively brought gender alongside class and ethnicity empowerment, inclusion, social justice, and solidarity that had driven male-authored narratives of Caribbean life but they also illustrated how easily women has been mistakenly distanced from such concerns, how erroneously the distinction between domestic and public life had been drawn, and how relevant women’s experiences and perceptions were to the ongoing project of decolonization and community building” (The Novel in Africa and the Caribbean since 1950 159-160).
The Fat Black Woman’s Poems are divided into four parts, each dealing with one aspect of both Nichols’ and the narrator’s identity. The first part, titled “The Fat Black Woman’s Poems,” deal with the intersection of fatness with her femaleness and blackness. Normativity in whiteness and the aspects of white supremacy in society are the main focus. In “In Spite of Ourselves” the poems turn to focus on the consequences of dealing with self-identification and emplaced identity by white supremacy on black women’s bodies. It ties in with the following chapter, “Back Home Contemplation,” where the narrator ponders on Caribbean life, versus living as a Caribbean subject in a Western world. Lastly, the section “I Is A Long Memoried Woman” deals with the overtly violent attributions of white supremacy and the effects it has had on black women in history, by re-establishing the narrator in the place of an enslaved black woman. While the analysis uses poems without regard for chapter divisions, these chapter divisions resonate in the dissection of black female identity as rooted
in the body when it comes to femininity, blackness, history and body image. In all, the intersection of race, cultural differences, class, gender, and body presentation creates the identity of the fat black woman in The Fat Black Woman’s Poems, and is rooted in bodily representations of black women.
Chapter One – “This Kingdom”: White Supremacy
The Universality of Whiteness
The white supremacist ideologies challenged in Nichols’ poems, while focused on sexuality, body image and racial background, are all based on the same principles. White supremacy is based on the same principles, the principles of power relations. While power relations can be described as ambivalent, and in the case of non-white suppressed colonial subjects they can resist the emplaced power structure in multiple ways3, the white supremacist system places whiteness in a superior position. Whiteness in this case is not a determiner for skin colour alone, it is based on a myriad of phenotypical and cultural aspects with
geographical elements which form the concept of whiteness, which itself is coexistent with historiographical and spatial notions. In Whiteness: An Introduction, Steve Garner explains white supremacy to be a power to be of “unchecked and untrammelled authority to exert its will; the power to invent and change the rules and transgress them with impunity; and the power to define the ‘Other,’ and to kill him or her with impunity” (14).
While Garner continues to point out the harm enacted by the white supremacist system through racial violence, the focal point drawn here lies in the non-violent attributes of white supremacy. These non-violent attributes lie in discourse, where white supremacy allows to define both self and ‘Other,’ in which the Other is unable to define themselves due to lack of power. Garner continues to build on the idea of white supremacy by pointing out the concept
of white privilege, which works in the system of white supremacy as it demonstrates the existence of the white supremacist system which not just privileges white individuals, but is created by white individuals for white benefit (23). White supremacy is decided and created by individuals categorised as white.
Because of this, whiteness morphs and adapts when the social occasion demands it, as any categorisation of race is dependent on contextuality, location and time (Garner 9-10). The white supremacist system creates a hierarchal structure placing whiteness on top, but these hierarchies are never truly defined, always subject to change in time. As whiteness is never fixed, the hierarchal structure changes, yet its pattern stays the same (Garner 64). Whiteness is at the top of the structure, and white supremacy enables the position of anything not white, or not conforming to white supremacist ideologies, to be in a subjugated position. In The Fat Black Woman’s Poems, the subjugated position created by white supremacy is contested and negated in several ways. Nichols contests concepts of white supremacist ideologies such as universal and normative whiteness in body, language, sexuality, and nations.
“and the sea encircling all” – Whiteness as Universality
One of the problems in of whiteness, and its identity, lies in its universalisation of applicability, and its consequences. In other words, white supremacy suggests that its values are universally applicable. As shown before whiteness constructs the racial hierarchy of whiteness above all, leaving all other racial categories in a position with lesser power. As whiteness positions itself in a position of power, the category of white often denies itself a visible authorial position, in favour of a position where whiteness serves as the default. Whiteness entrenches itself in invisibility, as the default position of whiteness becomes the standard position for a human being. This allows the disregard of any “enactment of power and ideologies that are also relational but often concealed under a cloak of whiteness” (Burrows 14).
June Ying Yee explains white universalisation in “Whiteness and White Supremacy,” where white universalisation takes “for granted that the worldview of white people is the way to understand everything through its own historical and socio-political vantage point” (570). Yee continues by highlighting how white supremacy not only universalises, but has the ability to shape normalised morality, and naturalises, which is “seeing the representation and
embodiment of white culture as the referential social norm without having to ever define one’s own self” (570). The act of taking on a race-less viewpoint is in itself an act of racialisation, due to the underlying power structures which are not questioned, but
reproduced. On a surface level, a race-less stance creates spaces in which racial disparities are omitted. However, this same race-less stance enforces racialisation which enacts racism: “The world does not become raceless [sic] or will not become unracialized by assertion. The act of enforcing racelessness [sic] in literary discourse is itself a racial act” (Burrows 14).
In this definition of whiteness as presenting itself universally by placing itself as the normative standard, the act of racialisation and reproducing racism loses its footing as definite. Racism adapts to the elusion of race by presenting itself as non-existent in overt discourse. Racism becomes “metaphorical” in everyday life, embedded in social discourse without being named (Burrows 14). Therefore exclusion of racism reproduces racism in itself. The world which Nichols’ poems portray, however, presents explicit racialisation in narrative of the narrator’s body, and therefore turns the erasure of whiteness around, by highlighting a non-white racial status. Nichols does this by representing a different viewpoint than the universalised ‘white’ viewpoint presents, regarding sexuality, body image, race, ethnicity and nationality or culture.
“thinking she don’t notice” – Othering
In short, one of the things universalisation does, is define both ‘self’ and the Other: “Because of the dominance of Western European thought and military technological power
over the last five centuries in its global projects of colonialism and neo-colonialism, whiteness has come to be represented as humanness, normality and universality … If white is human, then all else requires qualification: everything else is deviant” (Garner 34). Due to the universalisation of whiteness, the Other becomes the non-white subject.
In relation to Nichols’ poems, the Othered subject from a white supremacist viewpoint is the fat, black, non-Western woman. The universalised subject placed opposite to Nichols’ subject in the poems, is a white Western person who adheres to white supremacist ideologies when it comes to their body and cultural history. The subject is both male and female, as both white masculinity and white femininity are contested. In fact, white femininity is highlighted as the main contested identity in Nichols’ poems. In The Fat Black Woman’s Poems Nichols positions the white supremacist idea of the Other as the ‘self’. As this ‘self’ negates white supremacist power structures, it challenges the power structure as a whole. However, the power structure is still in place, and whiteness still holds more power than blackness within a white supremacist viewpoint.
Because of this, the binary opposition between Self and Other from a white
supremacist viewpoint is often categorised by negative values versus positive ones, positivity placed on the white category of self (Garner 87-88). In order to contrast the ‘self’ presented by Nichols to the Other in her poems, the latter has to be analysed, namely the white Western, contextually British, idea of self and universality. The ideas of body image, sexuality, and a country’s cultural history are explored in Nichols’ work, playing around with Guyana’s history of colonisation and slavery, the experiences of a black non-Western woman in 1980s Britain, and the experiences of a displaced diasporic subject who in themselves could be seen as displaced from their ancestral African ‘roots’ due to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. In contrast to the history of self-defined blackness and black history outside of white supremacist control, the history of the relation between enslaved subjects and slavers, the formation of
white sexuality and white femininity in contrast to an ‘Other,’ white body standards
entrenched in white supremacist ideologies, and the concept of Western versus post-colonial Caribbean will be discussed.
The West
The notion of the West serves as the opposite of the Other or ‘African,’ where the Other has been constructed by Western society to justify4 colonial and imperialistic efforts in countries defined “Other”: “Eurocentrism has typically been viewed not as an ideology or mode of representation but as itself the very basis of domination in the colonial and modern imperial contexts” (Lazarus 43). In this sense, ‘Westerness,’ or eurocentrism, is the opposite of ‘Otherness,’ and synonymous with whiteness, as both whiteness and the West hold power to denounce anything but itself as Other. The concept of Westerness needs to be defined outside of racial terminology however, as it contains geographical indicators within its name.
“and de weather so cold” – Definition of the West
Similarly, the concept of “the West” forms not just a geographical position for white individuals, but an ideological one. Therefore it forms an ethnographic and geographical identity, a social actor and an ideology on its own, rooted in representations of a post-Cold War global duality (Lazarus 44-45). As the West holds power over any non-Western civilisations in this analogy, the West can be described as a global dominant power, which colonised and continues to colonise the non-West. If the West is the dominant power force on a global scale, it must extend its power ideologically, and does so through universalisation of Westerness. The West serves as a global standard for all civilisations to conform to. Like whiteness, Westerness goes through a process of universalisation in order to both consolidate and execute power for white, Western, colonising, European descended individuals. The West
4
Croydon, Silvia. “Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism, Ibn Warraq.” British Journal
as a concept relies on universalisation of its power and ideologies. Historically the West has been explicitly tied to Eurocentric ideologies, such as humanism or individualism, as well as white supremacy from a North/West-European standpoint, from both Europe and countries where descendants of European colonisers form the dominant force on an institutional, although not necessarily demographic level (Lazarus 44). Othered subjects living within Western countries do not apply to definitions of Westerness nor whiteness, and are therefore not taken in to the conceptualisation of Western.
In Nichols’ poems attention is drawn to the narrator’s non-Western background, closely tied to Guyana’s history of its black citizens, family, memory and ‘roots.’ This stands in contrast with the attempt of universalisation of white Western ideologies and perceptions regarding sociological and geographical history. Returning to the concept of the Other, Nichols’ poems present the viewer with a non-Western approach to specific perceptions regarding, for instance, sexuality. By discrediting universal Westerness by highlighting Guyana’s history, as well as debunking universalised white supremacist ideologies, Nichols manages to represent the Other in a state of ‘self.’
“in some North Europe far/forlorn” – Eurocentrism
The problem the universalisation of whiteness and the West presents is that anything that does not fall under the umbrella of Eurocentrism, is represented in a negative manner, if it is represented at all. The universalisation of whiteness does not just erase and oppress non-white identities under a ‘blanket’ of non-white supremacy, it reproduces its ideologies in every aspect of man. Sexuality, body image, racial issues, cultural heritage, geographical placement are all affected by Western ideologies, that impose restraints in order to legitimise its global domination. The opposite of the West is any category which does not fit within white
supremacist western constraints placed on society. Which, in The Fat Black Woman’s Poems, is the identity of the speaker. The narrator’s sexuality, body and race form the opposite of the
universalised white western standard. Taking into account the conceptualisation of identity as being constructed out of a system of interlocking different systems of oppression and
privilege, several privileges could grant individuals a position of power which seeing identity as but one aspect could not provide. In other words, if an individual has parts of their identity oppressed, but is granted privileges elsewhere, those privileges account for the whole of their identity and shape the individual’s experience. For example, if an individual is oppressed in gender and sexuality but not in race, they could still claim some degree of power over those who are oppressed in race.
In the case of universalised whiteness and Westerness, a white western identity could place individuals who fall under several underprivileged statuses, in a position of power over individuals who follow the same underprivileged positions but are not in possession of a white western identity. The interlocking systems of oppression applied to whiteness take into account the ways white women have been suppressed by patriarchal western norms, but also reproduce white supremacy in order to benefit them. For example, while white women are forced to conform to patriarchal standards regarding female sexuality, these standards were created in white western ideologies. The way a white woman would negate or contest her sexuality would be different from a black woman. The white woman would not have to counter white supremacist western ideologies, while the black woman would have to, as her sexual identity is linked to her non-Westerness and non-whiteness. The black woman would also have to contest notions of sexuality enforced by white supremacy.
(White) Sexuality
Sexuality, or sexual interactions and perceptions regarding a person’s sexual nature and orientation, are linked to other societal concepts, such as gender. In fact, the concept of masculinity and male domination in the form of patriarchal structures which enforce subjugation for women (and non-conforming men), has been interwoven to ideas of binary
systems regarding sexuality, race, and colonialism. Colonialism depended on this binary system to maintain colonial control, and concepts such as sexuality emerged “across the divide of metropole and colony” (Scully 199). That is, sexuality was defined within the binary divide and depended on the divide between coloniser and colonised.
“he was alive / he was full-o-jive” – Racial Othering
As whiteness manifested as ‘self’ alongside an Other, so did ideas of sexuality, race and colonial powers. Sexuality in this case, was shaped not only by self-determination, but interactions with anything or anyone outside the self. As whiteness and Westerness
constructed themselves as universal, any of such binary positions were enforced on all subjects involved:
“The prevailing belief was that through white control, these undeveloped spaces and primitive peoples would become civilized. … Thus, while sex in Europe was viewed as a force to be controlled by civilization, in the colonial setting sex, both metaphorically and literally, became a force for colonizing the non- Western world. Essentially, unrestrained male heterosexuality became an instrument for European conquest” (Walther 45).
Therefore in colonial context the Other defined white western male sexuality, and the expression of white western male sexuality contrast to the Other, reproduced colonial control. White western sexuality adapted to allow and support colonial domination, on both
geographical and demographical levels, but on intimate levels as well. Walther states that as colonial control extended, white western ideology and morality were applied and enacted in the colonies, leading to concerns regarding formations of white male sexuality and its consequences (45-46). White western sexuality was used for colonial control by comparing colonised lands to objectified female bodies, which in the patriarchal structure decreased the
power held by colonised lands. During conquering years of colonial efforts this comparison helped solidify colonial control. The colonised land was feminised and Othered, yet desirable enough to conquer. Eventually the Other lost ‘her’ desirability in favour of serving as a threat to colonisation by the very nature of her being:
“Initially an object of desire, by the end of the century she became associated with the prostitute. And, because her body, the body of the prostitute, could justifiably be regulated for the sake of the civilizing mission, white male colonists could continue to satisfy their sexual desires by giving into their otherwise controlled nature - now, though, without any ramifications. …
Thus, this female colonial "Other" was not eliminated, but rather further objectified and relegated even more to the periphery of the colonial landscape. But, this female "Other" remained essential for the colonial environment, for she continued to act as a vehicle for justifying and maintaining the white male heterosexual order in the colonies” (Walther 60).
In the case of colonies involved in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, perceptions and the categorisation of blackness largely drew from experiences of slaveholders in their interactions with enslaved black people, especially their power over the bodies of enslaved black women (Scully 199). However black sexuality was not just defined by interactions between white men and black women, but white female control over black women’s and black men’s bodies as well. White femininity shaped black femininity through white female politics of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Through political efforts on behalf of white women, the latter tried to ‘civilise’ the non-white women in both colonies and the coloniser’s countries (Scully 222-223). These white women perceived their white femininity to be superior than black femininity (Scully 206-207), even in the face of efforts to highlight the intersectionality of womanhood and blackness by black female activists at that time.
(White) Bodies
“My breasts are huge exciting” – Sexualisation of the Black Body
Through a series of paintings featuring white sexualised women next to black women, Sander L. Gilman shows in his work “Black Bodies, White Bodies” to how black femininity shaped ideals of white sexuality, and vice versa. Black female sexuality and white female sexuality were shaped parallel and in overlap to one another. Gilman points out how the presence of any form of black body, be it in stereotypical associations of the black body or a black person present in the painting, sexualised the setting. In short, any black body
sexualised the setting of paintings, as black bodies were viewed as inherently sexual: “By the eighteenth century, the sexuality of the black, both male and female, becomes an icon for deviant sexuality in general” (Gilman 209).
This permeated through any kind of representation of black bodies in many forms of media, especially black female bodies. One of the most prominent forms of sexualised black representation which shaped perceptions of black sexuality was that of the female ‘Hottentot,’ displayed in the body of Sarah Baartman. Throughout the nineteenth century Sarah Baartman, the image of the female Hottentot, came to represent the black female body. The sexualised body came in the form of the prostitute. Prostitutes’ bodies were examined and categorised by scientists in efforts to classify any ‘degenerate’ types of bodies. Gilman’s analysis of the paintings show how the differentiation between white and black bodies in paintings were used to establish a sexual nature for the white female sexual object. White women did not show overt sexuality, but through the presence of the black (female) body were able to show covert sexuality.
Nineteenth century morality white western female sexuality was heavily restricted if not completely denied. While contemporary views on nineteenth century sexuality show a
much more ambiguous nature5, nineteenth century’s perspectives on female sexualities were still shaped by patriarchal notions of suppressed womanhood. Over time the image of white female covert sexuality, through the presence of a black female body, came together in the body of a sexualised white female object with phenotypical attributes associated with black women. Through 19th century images Gilman shows how paintings of prostitutes began to take on larger hips, behinds and breasts. A more modern example would be the “Kardashian Klan’s” obsession with enlarging their behinds and lips, engaging in sexualised depictions of themselves with these features as the main focus.
“Those women” – Binary Blackness
Blackness, as being the opposite of whiteness, occupied the inhuman space when it came to defining humanity, in the nineteenth century (Gilman 212). In this binary opposition whiteness was able to, as it still is, denote the Other from whiteness as inhuman. As whiteness is the standard universalised form of self, and the self is human, any category outside is denoted inhuman. This same binary opposition was applied to all aspects overlapping with blackness, in colonised countries, bodies, beauty, sexuality, and gender: “the antithesis 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” (Gilman 212).
Applying normative whiteness formed by white supremacy on matters of gender and physical appearance, white bodies become the standard body. Consequently, female bodies, defined as being the binary opposite from male bodies, become white female bodies. This categorisation can continue by applying a multitude of axes of oppression onto the body in question, such as biological sex, skin colour, physical ability and more.
The body questioned in The Fat Black Woman’s Poems constricts itself to a white female thin body, and therefore only those axes will come into question. The depiction of the white female body in The Fat Black Woman’s Poems is consistent with white supremacist ideals of the body. The ideal female body in short, is white, thin, has access to monetary resources to keep up its appearance. She does not need to work, and therefore is naturally dainty in stature, supported by her smaller hips, labia and breasts and overall thinness. While the sexualised female body needs to conform to these standards of whiteness, it does take elements from the black female inherently sexualised body in terms of distribution of fat, and sometimes skin tone (Gilman 232). The female body adheres to white supremacist ideologies and therefore forms the antithesis to blackness, and the black female body. The latter of which is categorised by having ‘exaggerated’ distribution of body fat, such as broader hips, and different facial features, such as thicker lips or a wider nose.
“hibiscus to her cheek” – Femininity
Ideas about femininity were established before the 17th century by the binary opposition within class differences and social etiquette. However, through colonial interactions in the slave trading and slaveholding areas, the construction of femininity
underwent changes. Black women became the opposite to femininity, which was white. Black femininity was categorised by sexually licentious behaviour, and nonconforming to white patriarchal ideas of femininity (Scully 201). White femininity was formed not just by patriarchal ideas about womanhood, but also the role white middle and upper class women took on in the household between the 17th and 20th century.
The role of the woman in the household was subjugated to her husband, but she also served as the dominant position within the household itself. White women served as figurative figureheads for keeping up western morality and social norms, and in doing so white
morality while still conforming to her subjugated position in the white patriarchal structure. Within a colonial and slave holding setting, this meant that white women were crucial in serving as the opposite of the black enslaved woman. Black women could not adhere to ideals of white femininity as they had to work alongside their male counterparts as slaves, and could not conform to white supremacist ideologies by nature of being black.
In their role white women were often head of the household, and directly in charge of servants and slaves. White women were positioned as pure protectors of the colonising land by mothering white children and upholding white morality in non-white countries. This allowed to the devaluation of black femininity and the inability for black women to conform to white femininity. White women were needed in colonial control as they were able to control their husbands’ sexual urges toward the colonised enslaved black women, and further establish binary roles of oppression (Ain’t I a Woman 46-47).
“the white robed chiefs” – Conclusion
In the Western world of both the 1980s and the 2010s, white universalisation has led to the normative nature of white femininity, applied as the standard for representation of the female body and of beauty. White Eurocentric beauty standards serve as the standard of beauty for all women to conform to, and those who do not, are othered. As white Eurocentric beauty standards, they are dependent on geographical and historical context, yet whiteness has always served as the default. Its perceptions might shift, but it stays in its dominant position (Sekayi 469).
As for white Eurocentric beauty standards of the 1980s, not much has changed. Female bodies are expected to be thin with small hips, have smaller faces with features typically ascribed to people of European descent, and their skin often reflects that of those racially categorised as white. The body which does not adhere to these white Eurocentric
beauty standards does not necessarily have to be deemed overweight by scientific
measurements, but has different fat distribution or has more exemplified sexualised body parts, historically associated with black female bodies. The black female body is seen as naturally fat by these standards, but theoretically could conform should the black woman’s body adhere to white Eurocentric beauty standards regarding weight. Cultural aspects, skin colour, ethnicity and other markers of racial categories cannot change, however, and therefore the black female body is unable to fully conform.
In all, due to the universalisation of whiteness and Westerness, white supremacist ideologies have been applied to certain aspects of human interaction and identification, such as gender and sexuality. Due to colonisation efforts and white western attempts for global domination, almost rigid binary oppositions in sociological structures have been created. This binary features the universalised white western self, against the black colonised Other. The narrator in The Fat Black Woman’s Poems is the embodiment of this black post-colonial Other, and by constructing an identity in opposite to the structures to suppress her, as well as negate such efforts, Nichols manages to dismantle white supremacist ideologies in the poems’ narrative.
Chapter Two – “Come Up and See Me Sometime”: White Universality’s Effects on the Black Female Sexuality
Black Female Sexuality in History
The first notion of the Fat Black Woman’s identity to tackle, is her sexuality. Black women’s sexuality has been defined as an antithesis to white sexuality, therefore being undesirable, as well as being morphed to serve as a sexualised and desirable object. In The Fat Black Woman’s Poems black women’s sexual identity is defined outside of white supremacist standards from a black woman’s perspective. The poems also negate the
restraints placed on black female sexuality by white supremacist ideologies, as well as its perceptions and expectations. These perceptions and expectations of black female sexuality have been shaped by representations of black female sexuality throughout Western history.
Building on previous statements, black women have historically been structurally identified opposite to whiteness and all ideologies the latter entails. Through colonialist efforts and the legitimisation of slavery, the construction of racial identities led to the
construction of social stereotypes of black women. These racist social constructs labelled their sexuality as being either asexual or hypersexual (Scully 203). Asexual referring to a lack of desire for sex, not as a sexual orientation indicating a lack of sexual attraction towards any gender6, and hypersexual meaning an excess of sexual desire and expression. The image of the hypersexual black woman was created early on during interactions between white colonisers and black enslaved women, and this representation continued to permeate and shape the interactions between white men and black women, as well as the black community itself. The Jezebel image originated during times of colonisation and slavery, created out of interactions between white masters and female slaves, where white masters would control these black women’s sexuality and reproduction. The Jezebel also tends to conform to white Eurocentric beauty standards, likely being a product of such interracial ‘interactions’ herself, and functions as the “role of a seductive … exploiter of men’s weaknesses” (West 462).
On the contrary, the asexual or desexualised black woman, comes in the form of the Mammy. The desexualised black woman does not conform to Eurocentric beauty standards whatsoever, often being obese, dark-skinned and having features associated with blackness, such as a larger nose, and afro-textured hair. The role the Mammy filled was that of servitude in a domestic setting, linking to “subordination, nurturance, and constant self-sacrifice” (West
459). Meaning in contrast to the Jezebel, the Mammy is content with her subordinate position, and is to be trusted.
Hypersexual and Asexual
While these images were constructed largely throughout the history of the United States, these same images continued in the history of the Caribbean, for both locations up till today (Scully 205). Historically, black women’s sexuality has been constructed by
perceptions, made by white (male) colonisers who either commented on, or scientifically categorised black women’s bodies as being both hypersexual and asexual. A loose oxymoron, these two categories overlapped and strengthened each other in practise.
In early Enlightenment literature black women were linked to animalistic
representations of their sexuality. The animalistic/dehumanised nature of the black female body in 18th century science was created by the scrutiny of the bodies of black African women. The bodies of these women served as a bridge between humans and animals, as well as their difference in civilisation from the West, as apparent in their lack of clothing. (Scully 215-217) Both body and sexuality is representative of that of an animal, and this allowed for the process of dehumanisation of black women, and their sexuality (Gilman 212). In the spirit of the Enlightenment, scientific evaluation and categorisation of the black female body led to the pathologisation thereof, as well as resulting in a link to the bodies of prostitutes and black women, making the latter’s bodies sexual in nature (Gilman 213). By putting nude black female bodies on display, attention was drawn to their posterior and genitalia, both being larger in size to that of a white woman (Gilman 218).
Toward the nineteenth century white women were characterised as “pure, passionless, and de-sexed, while black women were the epitome of immorality, pathology, impurity, and sex itself.” (Hammonds 96) This view of black women created the image of the
hypersexualised black woman, whose sexuality did not fit within the respectability politics and morality of middle-class white people. While these representations of black women were created over a hundred years ago, these representations are still present today, as they were in the 1980s. By using the images representative of black women’s sexuality throughout history, several conclusions can be reached. Firstly, black women have been and are still represented as either hypersexual or desexualised. Secondly, this has roots in colonialism and slavery, as well as the Othering of the black woman from whiteness. Black women’s sexuality has been defined in terms of opposition to white (female) sexuality, leaving no representation for black female sexuality outside of terms of whiteness.
Modern Day Depictions of Sexuality
“Black women’s sexuality is often described in metaphors of speechlessness, space or vision; as a ‘void’ or empty space that is simultaneously ever-visible (exposed) and invisible, where black women’s bodies are always already colonized. In addition, this always already colonized black female body has so much sexual potential it has none at all. Historically, black women have
reacted to the repressive force of the hegemonic discourses of race and sex that constructed this image with silence, secrecy, and a partially self-chosen
invisibility” (Hammonds 94).
Returning to the depiction of black female sexuality as either sexless or discouraged, Hammonds argues that black women themselves rejected the notion of the hypersexual black woman by conforming to white supremacist moralities, performing ‘respectability,’ and whatever that entailed. They used ‘silence’ as a way to reject the hypersexual representation of their bodies, yet did so by conforming to other standards which did not work in their favour as black women (97).
Self-Expressed Sexuality
In the poem “Alone” Grace Nichols presents the fat black woman in a sexual situation. The poem itself contains allusions to masturbation in its narrative, and this sexual act rejects the asexual stereotype of the black woman, as well as the suppression of her sexuality through silence on her sexual nature. A sexual act rhythmic in nature, masturbation is alluded to in the poem through its rhythmic narrative and repeating sentences. Repetition is present in the sentences, as most return and repeat themselves in the poem. For example: “The fat black woman / sits alone,” is used thrice, while “into herself / onto herself” (Nichols 6) are used three times as well. The word “gathering” is used a total of twelve times, half of which are used in the last seven words of the poem. This rhythm continues steadily, reaching its end towards the end of the poem, where the rhythm is interrupted by use of the word “gathering” six times, and ended with “silence,” indicating climax (Nichols 7).
Besides, masturbation is more explicitly suggested in the phrase “gathering / into herself / onto herself,” in addition to “woman moan” (Nichols 6). The motion of gathering objects with one’s hands yet turned “into” someone’s body definitely shows a sexual act. As the person in question “sits alone,” this sexual act is masturbation. The act of the fat black woman masturbating places the fat black woman as a sexual subject, who does not only experience sexual desire but acts on it, too. She does so alone, so her sexuality and sexual nature are outside of outside influences such as white ideologies, that can sexualise her in ways that antagonise her sexuality. By allowing the fat black woman to be a sexual subject, as the obese dark-skinned black woman is desexualised, and not choose to be vocal in sexual expression, Nichols manages to reject the notion of a desexualised black woman, as well as rejecting notions of ‘respectability.’
Similarly, the second half of “Invitation” deals with stereotypes of the black woman’s hypersexualised body, while dealing with the desexualisation of that same body in practise.
The phrase “Come up and see me sometime” (Nichols 11) is casual in nature, shows no hesitation nor shyness on the asker’s part, and is a statement about wanting to make sexual contact. To illustrate, Nichols contrasts anxieties regarding sexual availability (10) with overt expressions of desire for sexual contact. In “Invitation” Nichols presents the image of the hypersexualised black woman in order to represent sexual desire, in a body that has been both hypersexualised and desexualised for being black. It is the undesirable body, yet its features have been associated with overt sexuality.
For example, “My breasts are huge exciting / amnions of watermelon / your hands can’t cup,” features both the hypersexual image of the black woman in the exaggerated size of her breasts, but also other stereotypical depictions of desexualised black women. An amnion could allude to the Mammy stereotype in the sense that the amnion serves to protect and contain a child, referring to the ‘nurturing’ side of the desexualised black woman. These amnions are also linked to watermelon, a historically used racial trope for black people.7 Continuing, contrasting the “slick” nature of the woman’s thighs in “my thighs are twin seals / fat slick pups” (Nichols 11) to “twin seals” and “pups,” serves as a reminder of the
desexualised nature of the black woman in her dehumanisation, yet “slick” referring to a wetness caused by sexual activity. The exaggerated features of the black woman’s body return in the lines “there’s a purple cherry / below the blues / of my black seabelly” (Nichols 11). Below the belt of her stomach, which also indicated her dehumanised body, a visible “purple cherry” is found.
Linking this to the poem’s sexual content this “cherry” would suggest to be the clitoris. Scientific categorisation in the 19th century showed the “overdevelopment” and “malformation” of the black female clitoris, leading to both pathologisation and othering of
7 Black, William. “How Watermelons Became a Racist Trope.” The Atlantic, 8 December 2014,
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/how-watermelons-became-a-racist-trope/383529/. Accessed 5 June 2017.
the black female body (Gilman 218). The subject’s clitoris in the poem is highlighted as large in size, linking back to negative depictions of black female bodies. Finally the lines “there’s a mole that gets a ride / each time I shift the heritage / of my behind,” show how movement returns as an indicator of sexual activity in “shift,” as well as highlighting the history of the representation of black women’s bodies (Nichols 11). The “heritage” of the black woman’s posterior would be the history of its hypersexualised depictions.
Exoticism and commodification of the Black Woman
Another consequence of the dehumanisation, desexualisation and othering of black women, lead to the commodification of the value of black female lives and emotions. The depictions and representations of negatively stereotyped black women value others above themselves, such as in the nurturing nature of the Mammy.
Sexual Commodification
In “The Fat Black Woman’s Instructions to a Suitor” the woman narrator asks her suitor to perform a variety of dances (Nichols 22). Every single dance named can be, or should be, performed with a couple, indicating that the dances might be representative of sexual interactions instead. When the listing of dances comes to an end, the woman asks of her suitor: “After doing all that, and maybe mo / hope you have a little energy left / to carry me across the threshold.” (Nichols 22) The carrying over the threshold is a Western tradition where one of the persons of a newly wedded couple carries the other over the threshold of either house or bedroom.
In “Invitation” the woman narrator asked for casual interactions with male suitors, while in this poem the casual relationships are no longer wanted. The depiction of the hypersexualised black woman, and the constant illicit relationships throughout colonialism between white men and black women, has led to perceptions of black women as not being
‘marriageable material.’ Black women are to have casual sexual encounters with, without consequence, and no marriage ties involved. By having the narrator desire marriage or
commitment after the hinted sexual encounters with her suitor, Nichols is drawing attention to this issue, and makes clear how that perception of the unmarriageable black woman does not hold.
While the poem can be read as an interaction between the black woman and any man, it might indicate a white man as the suitor. In the first section of dances named the “boggie woggie,” the “hop,” the “Charlestown,” the “rock,” and the “chicken funky,” contrasted with the other names in the poem, are all misspelled, in order: Boogie-Woogie, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Rock-and-Roll and Funky Chicken. The same dances that are misspelled are also of African-American music traditions, such as Rhythm-and-Blues or Jazz. The
mispronunciation of black dances could indicate the suitor the woman is talking to is not quite familiar with these dances, and black cultural types in general.
Racial Fetishisation
This leads to the next problem in which the black woman does not only wish for a black man, her equal on a racial level, to marry her, but a man who historically has been explicit in defining her sexuality. Not only do black/white interracial relationships call into question racial statuses, but also colonial and imperialistic attitudes that have continued to exist in the present. The Othering of the black woman is found in the exotification of black women. Exoticism and racial fetishisation could be described as “the romanticization of the racial, ethnic or cultural Other, yet the simultaneous oppression and exploitation that occurs with it” (Kempadoo). In addition, the “cultural imperialism in the form of an exoticization of “the Other” is firmly embedded in Caribbean history” (Kempadoo) .
This racial fetishisation continues in “commodity culture,” where Otherness becomes commodified in order for mainstream Western audiences to consume non-Western cultures, with disregard for its consequences, such as in cultural appropriation. (Eating the Other 366) In the poem “Skanking Englishman Between Trains” the consumption of black media leads to an appropriative stance on behalf of the white man, and fetishisation of both culture and the body of black women. The Englishman in the poem is presented to be white, indicative of his “yellow hair.” (Nichols 39) The man in question proceeds to tell the black female narrator all about his consumption of black culture and bodies, as he has a “lovely / Jamaican wife,” as well as not being able to remember “the taste of English food” (39). The man ends his encounter with the narrator by telling her, “whenever we [the Englishman’s Jamaican wife and he] have a little quarrel / you know/to sweeten her up / I surprise her with a nice
mango/Man” (40). This last sentence mentions he brings her either a mango, a man or “mango Man.” ‘Mango man’ is a derogatory term for a Caribbean man of Indian descent. Both of these men the white Englishman would present his wife with, show how the Englishman assumes his black Jamaican wife is hypersexual in nature, and would appreciate having extramarital sexual encounters with the men her husband brings home.
Historical Depictions of Sexuality
As mentioned before, the sexuality of black women has been defined in relation to interactions between black female slaves and white (male) masters. In “Loveact” the
characters include every part of this interaction, the white master, the white mistress, and the black female slave. This is shown by the words “his Great House,” (Nichols 71) as the master would live in the greatest house on the plantation (and own it). During the poem the narrator describes how the master feels “the thin fire in his blood / awakening” whenever he looks at the slave. In other words, he gets aroused and will act on his arousal, too.
The black female slave is described as being “the fuel / that keep them all going” (71). “Them” refers to “He/his mistresswife/and his / children who take to her breasts / like
leeches” (71). Enslaved women often nursed white children of their masters, the “leeches” part indicates the relationship, as she will get nothing from the children but they get her labour. The master’s relationship with the slave becomes apparent in the next lines where he “want to tower above her / want her to raise her ebony / haunches and when she does / he think she can be trusted / and drinks her in” (71). Towering above someone and the slave raising “ebony haunches” indicates a sexual act. The female slave ‘allows’ this sexual act, and in doing so, the master knows he can do it again without her refusing him, not realising she has no choice but to.
White Women’s Domination
The mistress’ relationship with the female slave becomes clear in the following lines: “and his mistresswife / spending her day in rings / of vacant smiling / is glad to be rid of the / loveact” (71)-72. This presents an image of the mistress of the house spending her time in the containment and or safety of the house outside from the horrors of slavery, and keeps up the façade of picture perfect living by laughing without emotion. Her laughter comes from the fact that she will not have to sleep with her husband that often as he’s getting his take elsewhere, as marriage for upper-middle-class white people was done for monetary reasons, yet she is still not too happy about her husband sleeping with black women. The white mistress is in a position of power, as her race “and slaveholding privileged white women … Although to some extent victims of patriarchal relationships within their marriages, white women benefited from their position on plantations. They … upheld the racial order” (Scully 205).
This relates to representations of white mistresses in slavery novels, where they grow jealous of their husband’s misplaced attention, and start to mistreat the female slaves out of
hatred. For example, in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs, the latter laments the effects of slavery on white owners: “… slavery is a curse to the whites as well as to the blacks. It makes white fathers cruel and sensual; the sons violent and licentious; it contaminates the daughters, and makes the wives wretched” (50). Harriet also points out the powerless position of the enslaved black women where when “she is fourteen or fifteen, her owner, or his sons, or the overseer, or perhaps all of them, begin to bribe her with presents. If these fail to accomplish their purpose, she is whipped or starved into submission to their will. … But resistance is hopeless” (49).
The poem builds up to the ending where “… time pass/es / Her sorcery cut them / like a whip / She hide her triumph / and slowly stir the hate / of poison in” (72). This presents two different interpretative scenarios. One refers to a situation in which the mistress grows jealous of the enslaved woman, where her jealousy turns to hatred and she takes it out on the slave by doing her harm, or “sorcery.” This hatred cuts her victim, quite literally, like a whip, an instrument used by slave-owners to ‘discipline’ enslaved people. The other situation presents the enslaved woman using literal sorcery in the form of traditional African (diaspora) beliefs. She uses the whip back on the slave owners, reverts it. She cannot outwardly show her triumph over the masters otherwise they would suspect her and cast away the innocence they placed on her, and literally poisons them without them suspecting a thing. One reflects on the position of enslaved black women in history, while the other rejects the image of the
oppressed black woman silent in her oppression, fighting back within her means, instead.
Owning Sexuality
Another poem where the enslaved black woman fights back against enforced sexual encounters and sexualisation of herself, is in “Like a Flame.” This poem presents a slave woman locking eyes with another enslaved man in between working on the sugar cane fields, where they share a moment of non-physical sexual connection. The poem ends with the
woman wanting to meet up with him later that night, “like a flame”: “I like this man / Tonight I go to meet him / like a flame” (Nichols 80). This meeting will be a sexual encounter. A flame is quick to light and fast to extinguish, meaning the meeting will not last long, and is a quick burn of passion. The difference between the sexual encounters with the white master lies in her free will, as she herself admits that she likes this man. The rejection of emplaced sexuality is shown as the enslaved woman chooses a sexual relationship with a black man, without the interference of white masters. They would interfere in both having sexual relations with the black slaves themselves, but also establish systems where they would control their slaves’ reproductive lives. (Smithers 551)
The Fat Black Woman’s Poems handling of black female sexuality presents both a historical view of black women’s sexuality, yet manages to counter representations of black female sexuality made contrast to white, and instead offers images of black female sexuality outside of white domination. Nichols uses stereotypical representations of black women to highlight its problems on the actuality of black female sexuality, and discredits them as well by offering accounts of black women’s lives. These problems hide in its negative depictions of sexuality and blackness, and their overlap. By depicting a black female narrator as the focus point between the poems, her perspective becomes the one to emphasize with, disregarding the universalisation of the white experience. Nichols’ narrator not only rejects notions enforced by white supremacist ideologies on black female sexuality, and highlights its problems, but also manages to deny whiteness’ attitude of universality by giving a different perspective outside of white supremacist ideologies.
Chapter Three – “Beauty is a Fat Black Woman”: White Universality’s Effects on the Black Woman’s Body
Nichols’ main character in the Fat Black Woman Poems deals with a variety of aspects that have effects on the character’s life, including body image issues. As a fat black woman, the character experiences a lack of representation which has a negative effect on the
judgement of her self-worth. The kinds of representations are usually found in multiple types of media, such as television and literature. Having positive representations when it comes to black bodies, not in image but in actual positive valuation of black bodies, leads to positive development in assessment of racial identity for the subject involved. Negative
representations can lead to the exact opposite (De Maynard 121). One of the forms of this negative bodily representation comes from the negative evaluation of black bodies relational to other racialized bodies (De Maynard 121).
Based on the theory of universalised whiteness, the bodies black bodies are related to in value, are most likely white. As these bodies emulate and reproduce white supremacist standards, and this system of evaluation is influenced by white supremacist ideologies, the negative representations of black bodies probably come from being measured against whiteness. As they are measured in a system which works against them, their bodies are devalued. This leads to bodily dissatisfaction and can even lead to disordered eating. The bodily standards black women are to conform to, align with Eurocentric beauty standards, which ask for thinness, lightness in skin, smaller facial features, looser hair patterns
(Capodilupo and Kim 45-46). While white women are expected to mirror Eurocentric beauty standards even if they have no ability to, black women have to deal with another aspect of standards that overlap with body image. Eurocentric beauty standards for women consist of standards for body image every woman has to conform to, lest they be unaccepted in
mainstream social circles, but these standards are a product of white supremacist ideologies. Part of these ideologies was that normative whiteness implied that all bodies that are the norm fall in to the category of white. As bodies have been racialized and categorised not to look
similar to one another, any bodies that are not white fall outside the norm. Therefore the fat black female body does not fit in a multitude of norms set for the body.
While fatness and blackness are not the same kind of aspects a body can have, in the categorisation of race and racialisation of bodies the two have managed to overlap. While fatness outside of white supremacy has had different meanings regarding bodies over time8, current standards of whiteness require bodies not to be fat. The overlap of fatness and race returns in black female representation in the image of the Mammy. As she serves as one of the antithesis for whiteness, her fatness is highlighted too (Shaw 146). Fatness became part of black women’s bodies, as anything the black female body had was excess, contrast to its white counterpart. This perception of natural fatness in the black female body is still apparent today, in both negative stereotypical black female imagery as well as beauty standards within black communities themselves (Capodilupo and Kim 38, 44). Accordingly, fatness and blackness overlap in depictions of the black female body.
Nichols’ poems represent several aspects of the effects of white supremacist ideologies on black women’s bodies, and on black women themselves. Nichols both regards and reflects on the effects normative whiteness have on a fat black woman’s body image. In addition, Nichols moves to reject white normativity in bodily representation as well as the negative effects this has on the constitution of fat black women. Instead, the fat black woman presents a counter-view to her fat female blackness, one that encompasses all in one positive
perspective of herself.
Normative Whiteness in Action
Normative whiteness and Eurocentric beauty standards are extensively featured in the poems “The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping,” and “Looking at Miss World.” In “The Fat
8
Gremillion, Helen. “The Cultural Politics of Body Size.” Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 34, 2005, pp. 13-32.
Black Woman Goes Shopping” the narrator is presented with Eurocentric beauty and bodies as normative, and reacts accordingly. The narrator is in search of “accommodating clothes” (Nichols 8) for the cold weather, as the scene is set in a London winter, yet the
accommodation could be done for Eurocentric beauty standards instead of the weather. The weather parallels the other aspects the fat black woman needs to accommodate to, namely living in a Western country as a Caribbean woman.
The scene continues and she is presented images that do conform to Eurocentric beauty standards: “Frozen thin mannequins / fixing her with grin / and de pretty face salesgals / exchanging slimming glances / thinking she don’t notice” (8). In this scene the narrator is not just confronted with a representation of the beauty ideals she needs to conform to, but also those who do conform marking her as socially unacceptable. The “frozen thin mannequins” are a fixed position of white Eurocentric beauty standards. They serve as the example. As they are mannequins, inhuman representations of humans, they are a complete inhuman
representation of what it is like to be human, and even to that the black woman does not conform, further dehumanizing her in the process. The “pretty faces” of the saleswomen signify their conformity to white beauty standards, and they continue to judge her, giving her “slimming glances.” (8) The mannequins do not represent the fat black woman, and the humans do not accept her nonconformity.
This display does not have a positive effect on the well-being of the fat black woman, as she laments this scene is “a drag” (8) and outs her contempt in the phrase “Lord is
aggravating” (8). In her own mind, she continues to give more examples of Western beauty ideals to reflect on: “Nothing soft and bright and billowing / to flow like breezy sunlight / when she [the fat black woman] walking” (8). “Nothing” indicating that while these
representations of softness and light are linked to white women, the black woman cannot be conceived as such. This continues in the dehumanising attitude towards black women, as they
