What is misogynoir?

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What is misogynoir?
Thanks for asking. You may remember that we discussed the idea of intersectionality in a previous episode of Do you really know? The term describes how characteristics like race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and physical ability intersect when it comes to social discrimination. It was coined by American civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw, and became strongly linked to black feminism. Well, today we're going to talk about a more recent term for the unique type of discrimination that black women face. Misogynoir. Just last month, British charity Glitch released its Digital Misogynoir Report, which was based on analysis of close to one million text-based messages about women posted on social media. Glitch suggested that the violent dehumanization of black women has been happening unchecked for a long time now. Where does the term misogynoir come from? It was first introduced by American scholar Moya Bailey in 2010, in an essay entitled They Aren't Talking About Me. She had actually come up with it as a graduate student at Emory University two years prior. In a 2020 blog post, Bailey defined misogynoir as the anti-black racist misogyny that black women experience, particularly in US visual and digital culture. She also suggested that misogynoir is more harmful than its parts because it amalgamates two different forms of oppression. How does misogynoir manifest? The results of the Digital Misogynoir Report were striking. 20% of all posts were considered highly toxic. What's more, there were 9000 more toxic messages about black women than white women. According to Glitch, that highlights how black women are much more likely to be racialized. The report found evidence of a lot of hateful tropes being used to describe black women. They're often portrayed as angry or hypersexualized, which contributes to discrediting individual experiences and the ability to express emotions for fear of being confined to a stereotype. Dehumanizing terms like Sapphire, Mammy or Jezebel are rife in digital spaces. Setting aside blatantly hateful messages, it's important to look at the stereotypes and archetypes presented in the media and popular culture and how they impact the daily lives of black women. This can be a subtle process as the seemingly positive aspect of being a strong woman sometimes leads to black women not being taken seriously when in pain. Just look at what happened to tennis superstar Serena Williams during childbirth, for example. She nearly lost her life because medical personnel refused to acknowledge her complaints.
Other high-profile figures to be targeted by misogynoir are Megan Markle and Kamala Harris. Misogynoir is also responsible for issues like anxiety, depression and a lack of confidence among the black women who experience it, particularly in the workplace. As the term becomes more widely known beyond academic circles, it's important to question both our behaviour and the media we consume in order to identify and challenge misogynoir. It's without doubt one of the major battles for the modern feminist movement.
There you have it.
Now you know what misogynoir is. In under three minutes, we answer your questions and help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. Listen along and you will really know it for sure.
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