Shifting Continued

As I read further into the book Shifting, I am learning about the implications of some of the stereotypes about black women. The one that stood out to me the most is that of either being unfeminine and therefore not a sexual being, or of being loose and ready for sex with anyone. These contradict each other so I can't imagine how difficult it must be to walk the line between them. In the book, women who have been viewed as unfeminine have seen it as either frustrating or working to their advantage depending on the situation. Those that don't mind the stereotype feel this way because it has enabled them to escape being treated inappropriately by men of another race. Conversely though, it causes many women to feel like an "it."

The other stereotype causes many women to experience sexual abuse or assault because white men especially think that it's ok to treat a black woman that way because "she wants it." Some of the stories in the book are shocking. I can hardly believe that a man would think it was ok to say some of those things to a woman. I especially found it interesting that many black girls are taught to stay away from white men because of this stereotype, causing some women to fear them all together. I hate to hear that this is the case because, as one woman pointed out, not all men ought to be feared, but experience has caused many women to avoid them.

This makes me wonder what it would be like to have been raised this way, or to have experienced a white man treat you this way, and then to come to a predominantly white institution in the South, knowing that you will be surrounded by white men on a regular basis. Knowing that you will have to work with them or collaborate with them for class projects. I think it takes courage, but it can also lead to a very difficult college experience. I think it would lead to feelings of insecurity or lack of safety. It would be hard to walk around campus and feel safe, or to trust that the people around you are good people. I always felt safe on campus during the day (not at night so much), but I'm going to guess that some of our black females do not because of this stereotype.