If you didn’t know a thing about
Black folks, what would you think
if you turned on your TV?
Whether it’s “Basketball Wives,”
“Love & Hip-Hop,” “The Real
Housewives of Atlanta” series, or
“Single Ladies” (although not a
reality show, it’s along the same
lines), chances are, you would leave
those shows with a negative view of
Black women. In this world of
fiction portrayed as reality, what is
the message being sent to those in
the community and the rest of the
world? As a Black woman working
diligently to empower and embolden
other women, I can unequivocally
say that I’m downright frustrated.
On a daily basis, we are bombarded
with images of women of color
dancing half-naked in music videos,
or prancing around fighting each
other on one of these TV shows. If
reality TV is purported to depict
real lives, what does that say about
us and what others think of us?
What sorts of examples are we
setting for young, impressionable
women out there?
These days, it’s very difficult for
me to pinpoint a single reality
program that showcases positive,
accurate images of Black women
and our role in society. As doctors,
lawyers, educators, mothers, care
takers, political activists and more,
we are responsible for calling out
networks that don’t correctly
portray who we are as women and
as a people. But, is the ugly truth
that there are more women
conducting themselves in the
manner we see on reality shows
than those doing actual,
constructive things in real life?
The reality in all of this is that we
must decide ourselves who we are
and what we’d like to represent us
on a national and global scale. For it
isn’t just Americans that tune in to
popular programming; there are
countless others around the planet
that may never come across a
Black woman in his/her entire life
and the image on TV is all they
have to go by.
Even though there may be
extensive money in reality TV,
have we decided that it’s worth the
cost of selling our souls and
misleading our children?
No comments:
Post a Comment