I am a Woman. I am Black.

     If society were a totem pole white men would preside at the top. Right beneath them sit white women. They would be followed by black men. At the very bottom lies the black woman. Unlike the privileged white male, the white woman oppressed by gender, or the black male oppressed by race, the black woman is persecuted by both race and gender. As a result, the black woman is either excluded or falls prey to the stereotype of both being a woman and being black. As a result, my experience as a woman of color is influenced by both racist and sexist events (Crenshaw, 1959).  I admit, finding an example of intersectionality at play in the FCS was difficult. But as I opened my mind, I began to see things I had not seen before.

 
     The picture to the left above shows two of the many figurines inside the FCS. One is a black angel and the other is a black child. The photo above and to the right shows a white angel and mother Mary. The black angel is shown with fairly large breasts. She also has hips. The black child is almost like a caricature of black girl. She has a wide nose, full lips, and large cheeks. On the other hand, Mary and the angel have no obvious breasts, no hips, their clothes fit quite loosely, their nose is slender, and their lips are thin. Even the archangel Michael in the photo from my post on white privilege does not have full lips and a wide nose. So why is the black woman portrayed as such?

     After looking at the breasts, hips, and lips I feel that these black figurines are more sexualized than their counterparts. These figurines portray the stereotypical exotic features that have become synonymous with women of color.