Beyond the White Gaze
This year, in many ways, has been filled with uncertainty about what the world will become. We are being bombarded, everyday, with pressing issues like the consequences of climate change, and the ongoing opioid crisis. And as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, we are reckoning with a much older disease- racism. The revealing economic and social ramifications of COVD-19, paired with the several viral stories of Black people murdered at the hands of the police has made for the perfect storm. Some of us are in the streets, as protests seem to be happening almost daily. Others are on social media, with no shortage of Instagram posts explaining what "implicit bias" is, or what it means to be a good ally. Many are adding anti-racist reads to their shelves, supporting Black business, and evaluating their community’s relationship to police and the criminal justice system. White supremacy is under a microscope, for once not just in social justice circles but as part of the mainstream conversation. This new, seemingly unstoppable moment of collective social consciousness presents an opportunity for a reset of sorts, requiring all of us to think differently about what it means to show up in the world in the ways that we do. We have had a few political awakenings like this before, after Goerge Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin, and after a New York grand jury did not indict the police officers involved in the death of Eric Garner. However, this time feels different. We are taking a critical look at the past, and at the same time are reimagining our future.
“White supremacy is under a microscope, for once not just in social justice circles but as part of the mainstream conversation.”
It feels as though the rest of the world is finally having real conversations about what it means to exist under white supremacy, and creating space for marginalized people to be heard and understood. For Black women in particular, this feeling is even more acute. When interrogating white supremacy as part of this new reset and political awakening, it’s important to consider how it specifically targets Black womanhood and femininity.
Misogynoir, a term coined by scholar Moya Bailey, perfectly describes the specific misogyny faced by Black women. Misogynoir is in our workplaces, in academia, even in our personal and intimate lives. The patriarchy and white supremacy has us in a double bind, but Black women have found numerous ways to deal with this reality. Black women have straightened and relaxed our hair, invented “phone voices” and different ways of speaking (better known as code-switching), and dressing in certain styles— all to mitigate harm.
In order to survive white supremacy and the patriarchy, Black women have created versions of ourselves that are infallible. Black women understand they need to be “twice as good”, to be perfect, and to cater to the feelings of others, or can risk being called “unprofessional” or “angry”. We are now tasked with examining this very dynamic, looking into the institutions that reinforce misogynoir and cause Black women and girls to be careful and meticulous in crafting "safer versions" of ourselves.
“Operating under the white gaze means constantly considering what white supremacy demands.”
While this is important and liberating work, several questions still loom. It’s not enough to interrogate these issues and leave the conversation there. Breaking free from the white gaze requires us to move from a kind of cynicism to an idealism. Yes, understanding and confronting the “safe” version of ourselves, the version designed to survive the wrath of white supremacy, is necessary. But equally necessary is asking who we can be outside of it. What's left of who we are when we're not crafting ourselves just to survive? What can we accomplish when our goals are not governed or repressed by the white gaze?
Operating under the white gaze means constantly considering what white supremacy demands. Black women and girls spend so much time learning how to exist according to the outside world, before even learning who they are, or who they want to be. It forces us all to operate on a superficial level, acting in ways that are not authentic to us. “[It is] as though our lives have no meaning and no depth without the white gaze,” Toni Morrison, the prophetic writer, said in a 1998 interview. There is so much art, humour, fashion, beauty, poetry, and community that we can have and build when we are not operating from a place of fear or caution. There is also healing. When you understand that many self-doubts and insecurities are not coming from you, but rather the outside world, you can begin having an entirely different relationship with yourself and others- one rooted in truth and care.
"Hitting reset", especially now, ultimately means starting over, and considering who we are when we are not building our world according to terms set by white supremacy and the patriarchy. We should continue to challenge racism and misogyny everywhere we can, but it's important to remember that the work does not stop there. After investigating and destroying these structures, the next step is to think genuinely about who we are and what we want. I, myself, am a young person navigating life as an emerging writer, a student, and as a Black woman. I am continuously untethering myself from old habits I formed out of fear, like over-apologizing for taking up space. I am learning how to say no, how to be gentle with myself, and taking some time for self-care. All of this challenges me to explore how I carry myself, in the context of a world that needs me to make changes to who I am just to survive. On our path to imagining a more just and progressive world, one of the most radical things we can do is reimagine ourselves.