"Solidarity is for Miley Cyrus"

As promised, here is the article that I mentioned in class about the racism found in Miley's VMA performance. (Fittingly, this song came on the radio earlier today and has been stuck in my head ever since. Yay!)

"Solidarity is for Miley Cyrus: The Racial Implications of her VMA Performance" was written by a black woman who contests the performance. She explicitly mentions that it is okay that white feminists (or mainstream feminists, at least) originally defended Miley against slut-shaming. However, she also explains that in expressing her desire to have a sexuality in the way that she did, Miley was implying that sexuality and black women go hand in hand, and one cannot exist without the other. She also discusses not only the appropriation of black culture that has occurred, but also the assumption that this representation of "ratchet" culture is the only type of black culture that exists in our country today. The article itself explains things in much more detail. It gets a little lengthy, but is really intriguing and important to read, I think.

Another reason I encourage you all to read the article and not just listen to (or read) my summary is because I can only say so much on the topic, as a white woman myself. I think that one of the most important aspects of intersectional feminism is that in which people in a position of privilege (sorry, those were some key words that I know we didn't cover on the vocab list yet) take a step back and recognize their privilege - and in doing so, recognize that they don't have the knowledge of certain experiences. So, in this case, I have no idea what it is like to be a black woman in America. I'm white. So I'm advocating that you all take a read from someone who has personal experience with the issue.

here's a link to the URL if the link didn't work: http://battymamzelle.blogspot.com/2013/08/Solidarity-Is-For-Miley-Cyrus.html#.Uh7LgT5oRe_  At the beginning of the article, she also links to the #solidarityisforwhitewomen hashtag and an article explaining that if anyone's interested! (you all should be!)