Some of us were socialized through animated movies. And some of us were socialized through, ahem, other movies. That’s fine. If you think about it, Pornhub and Disney have a lot in common in terms of mass appeal, cultural longevity and a preoccupation with school girls. I just wasn’t aware we were exposing which side we were on until I wore my spectacles to a party.
Picture this: a WOC (I know, hard to imagine, especially in a frat house), in a tiny, weather-inappropriate top, with far-from-perfect vision. My trusty contact lenses failed me that fateful night because I had eaten spicy food with my fingers and they could not go anywhere near my eyes. Yet another convincing argument to be white. I’d blend in better, and mayonnaise would have never immobilized me this way.
Nevertheless, she persisted. Besides the obvious inconvenience of beer smog clouding my glasses the moment I entered the basement, I didn’t think it was a big deal. After all, women can’t afford to laser the hair off every inch of their body and get LASIK. You’re the ones who give us only 80 cents to the dollar!
Drunken conversations reveal truths… but maybe some truths are better left hidden. Truthfully, inviting me upstairs to say you’re “really into brown women” because you “watched a lot of Mia Khalifa growing up” was never going to work out for you, Andy.
Admittedly, I was flattered. Mia Khalifa is a badass, who empowered herself and took ownership of her body after years of manipulation and threats. I may as well have been dressed as Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In the spirit of feminism, I decided to lean in and put my hair in two ponytails.
Was it worth it? I did get free drinks and a lot of requests for pictures. I felt like a real celebrity! Apparently, the solution to seeing more brown women represented in the media was closer than we thought, ladies. Just pull your shirt down and compromise your eyesight (and dignity) for the night.
Image via.