I read about artist Sofia Maldonado's mural on 42nd street in New York (Times Square) at
Jezebel.com today and was at a loss for words. Now I grew up in Colorado, live in New Orleans, and have been to New York only a handful of times...so my expertise on the city is non-existent and I will not attempt to understand or try to relate to a New Yorker's point of view (at risk of using Sex and the City as a reference for how women in New York are). However, as an outsider I have trouble seeing what all the fuss is about. If I were to go to the article written for
Jungle Gym Magazine about the mural, I never would have seen the controversy. Now this could be a good or a bad thing I guess. Those opposed to the mural would say that I am racist and feeding into stereotypical images of Black and Latina women. Those in support of the mural would say that I am rational and don't automatically see depictions of urban Black and Latina women and equate them to prostitutes or poverty, and even if they are prostitutes or are poor automatically assume they aren't strong women. I'm pretty sure impoverished women are probably some of the strongest women in the world, but I also don't know what in this mural would indicate that these women are poor in the first place. I just think they look cool (nerd alert)! If you can't tell I'm on the side of those who support the mural. One of the funniest quotes about the mural comes from Fox news (so take with a grain of salt, I'm pretty sure this is not what most New Yorkers think of the mural) Tony Herbet says, "Women should be depicted with cell phones and briefcases, that's to show the professionalism of how women have broken the glass ceiling to accomplish what they've accomplished, not to come back to this." WHAT....THE....F$#&?!?! I can't speak for all women, but having a cell phone does not represent the women's lib movement to me. Also, I don't carry a brief case, so obviously I'm not "accomplished". I don't even understand what the "come back to this" comment even means...these are very contemporary images. Where were these women in the past? Interestingly enough, the driving force of opposition behind the mural is social networking group
The Black Professionals Meetup Group and Fox News. An interesting pairing to say the least.
i didn't read any of the articles and can only guess at what the controversy is based on your article but i like that particular mural that you posted and would never have associated it w/ anything negative. I would associate it with black woman, not latinas, but not in an exclusive manner -ie, the woman depicted could be white. .."not come back to this" I think represents what that man sees -sex and power, from an abusive stance ie thought bubble above his head: "she's showing off her body, she must be a prostitute, she's black, she must be poor, she's happy, she must be high/drug addict. damn i want to fuck her. -oops, wasn't supposed to have that thought"
ReplyDeletei see a happy woman. period. ooooHHH, now i see the problem.
also, from what i've experienced, most of the Black professional type groups are just cliques of people trying to say they're better than someone else and are vehemently racist themselves against other black people (darker, don't dress right, don't fit the bill of success). Not all, some are genuine networking groups. Not surprised that they hooked up w/ fox news, both groups are sensationalists.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting to look at it from the prospective that because the women look happy and content the imagery is considered false or negative: Black women aren't supposed to be happy...Poor women aren't supposed to be happy...Sex workers cannot possibly be content. Unless a woman of color who grew up poor isn't depicted as a "professional" then it must be a damaging message and she must not have progressed much in life...hmmmm.
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