Alright, Let’s Be Honest America: Black Women’s Bodies Are “Inappropriate”

I know what you’re thinking.

“Oh my god, how could to title your post that?”
Relax, I was just trying to grab your attention of course Black Women’s bodies are not inappropriate. However, it seems as though society wants us to believe that they are.

After pictures of fourth grade assistant teacher, Patricia Brown aka #TeacherBae came out social media went into a frenzy…and not so much in a good way. Both men and women believed that her form-fitting dress was too “sexy” and “distracting”. But the dress is not inappropriate or unprofessional. It falls right above her knee and covers her chest completely. So it is not the dress that is inappropriate, the only reason the outfit was deemed “sexy” and “distracting” is because of Ms. Brown’s curvy figure. Her dress fits her well enough that it reveal that she has…wait for it…Boobs and Ass!

The negative responses that Brown received is a perfect example of how black women rarely have control over their bodies being over-sexualized.

I sympathize with TeacherBae, we are both black women with curvy figures who constantly get over sexualized and fetishized. Growing up I use to be jealous of my little sister because she had small boobs and a little butt. When I was younger my parents use to dress my little sister and I alike. One year my mother had bought the two of us skirts that had matched, so we put them on and headed outside to play. Except, I did not get to go outside to play like my sister not before my father had word with me. He had took my skirt and cut it up and when I told my mother she said to me “You’re not shaped the same as your younger sister.”

Everyday after that growing up I was self conscious of my body. If I wore a v-neck shirt my mother would tell me to change. If I wore leggings, a dress that seemed too tight, anything deemed “inappropriate” for my body type… my mother would tell me to change. I found it unfair that my younger sister who did not grow into a similar body as me did not get the same response from our parents that I did.

Society has programmed us to see curves as sexual. This results in people shaming curvy women and curvy women shaming themselves. So, the double standard that only skinny, flat chested women can wear anything without repercussions pervades and curvy girls like myself continue to be demonized.

The problem isn’t Patricia Brown’s clothing or her body. The problem is societies reaction to a curvy women. The problem is society telling curvy women to cover up because their bodies are too sexual. Ms. Brown’s body shape is one that is shared with many women of color and there is nothing wrong with it. However, there is something wrong with the people who sexualize and fetishize our bodies.