High standards protect you from low quality experiences.

Love this interview... I have been semi-checking in on Zawe's journey since before certain stans were feeling some kinda way about her recent familial additions. I do for certain Black actors/creators especially, who seem to be moving in interesting ways in entertainment/film media...

-A remnant from a period when I used to go to screenings and blog about films (and was published a few times in a major national newspaper)... So, I knew of Zawe through the grapevine of her mentorship, i.e. she is the reason why Rege Jean Page of Bridgerton fame got to work in U.S. markets, as she sponsored him. And she is known, as one of those "good eggs" who will be accessible and help/advise especially young actors of color. ...But, I have some other stuff to say. This isn't about proving that she's an amazing human being. It's about a certain brand of misogynoir that some of these people far beneath her in self-knowledge, self-love, and just plain grown-ass-woman-personhood...keep letting fly in what they *think* are compliments, but actually are just trite microaggressions. Saying things like "as long she makes [T-blank H-blank] happy then she's alright" as if he's the centered human and her attachment renders her worthy somehow. Babies, as long as SHE'S happy. Yall. He's marrying up.

WAY UP and the fact that he knows this? Actually elevates him. She's been there.

She tells a story in the above interview that reminds me of Uzo Aduba's anecdote about her name , - of an incident when she was called to an early job (at 6!) and someone there said she wasn't pretty because of her gap and her Ugandan mother took her on past this person and into the room, ANYWAY.

... She learned a specific self-knowledge and self-love, that is necessary in very white western spaces that constantly pressures a narrow sense of worthiness and beauty, especially from Black women, something a lot of these small-minded stans don't even have a notion of seeing beyond. Zawe is biracial, and her features, aside from her skin tone are very African. So while she benefits from colorism, featurism is something I've seen those bigoted stans, pick on as well. She knows those features are what makes her beautiful and knew that, w/o and before her partner saw that too. And people who aren't blind narrow-minded ignoramuses can *also* see that. This is why I assert the fact of featurism needing to be in the conversation of light/dark privilege conversations. Lips, nose, gap, and even the set of her eyes are ethnic beauty markers within quite a few spaces in the Black African diaspora... My mom was an absolute stunner because of her gap.

Even the old school white model Lauren Hutton got there because of her gap. Uzo Aduba, who I have already mentioned has a deeper skintone and has similarly large round striking eyes, gap, and a non-pinched-nose *rightly* played Glinda in NBC's production of The Wiz a few years back, with Dorothy saying she's so beautiful *because* of those features, not despite them as a very narrow white-washed gaze would wrongly assert.

And while we're here that includes sizes and shapes too. I'm saying your boy is enjoying all that plush. A lot of yall need to read or reread Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman, for comprehension.

Anyway... All this to say I know Zawe is and will be fine regardless.

P.S. Maya Angelou *also* had height, and gap and was very much known for her beauty/magnetism as a woman when she was alive. :

Jourdan Dunn for ES magazine, 2022

the barbie movie should be state-sanctioned mandatory viewing

get where they’re coming from but feel like the comments talking about relative obesity rates in Canada and US in response to what i said about Letterkenny were kinda missing the point.. it’s not that there are no obese women in Letterkenny! It’s that the women are tiny to a degree that is honestly beyond even what is characteristic of ‘conventionally attractive TV women’ in this day and age.

it’s like they got their idea of a Hot Girl straight out of the 1990s, but the cinematography notes are bang up to date, resulting in some very weird moments in which the camera lingers salaciously on a scantily-clad young woman’s complete and total lack of ass.

The Woman King - Combatting the Masculinization of Black Women

I was a little scared to watch The Woman King. I saw from the trailers that the movie contained a bunch of badass, Black women, but I wasn't clear on the plot. The ambiguity of the film's story made me worried for what exactly the movie was trying to accomplish in its portrayal of these women. It wasn't until I'd read up on the women who created the film that I became more excited about seeing the movie. Fortunately, Gina Prince-Blythewood, Maria Bello, and Dana Stevens flooded the movie with opportunities to view womanhood in various perspectives, defining Black femininity through an ironically historical and contemporary lens.

Set in nineteenth-century Africa, the film depicts the typical local life found in history textbooks. In a general sense, most communities were patriarchal and expected piety from women. Additionally, a woman's primary role surrounded her family or tribe as a daughter, mother, or wife, etc. However, during this time period, the Dahomey Kingdom had an additional status for women as warriors, who were revered even more than their male soldier counterparts. It is this culture that the film focuses on and embellishes.

In today's context of modern feminism, the film was evidently intended to primarily show female empowerment. I believe the writers did a wonderful job in showcasing this through story. But the layers of the film can be savored in its representation of African, Black women. This was due to great directing.

Overall, I don't think this film was especially good in that it took artistic liberties, fine-tuned dialogue, or had amazing camera work. Additionally, it was a story we've seen in other forms before, and in my opinion, it failed to add a unique twist on the tale. Despite this, the film was impactful (though I'm a bit biased as a target audience member). There are several scenes that are hard to forget due to their level of intimacy and relevance to modern Black women. For example, one moment that lingers in my mind is when a mentor braids a mentee's hair. For me, that was a perfect example of Black femininity. It showcased their sisterly bond and drew upon generations of braiding in the Afrikan diaspora. It also displayed fortitude, as it was a warrior's hairstyle in this culture. This aspect made me recall warriors of the Southern United States who wore map-like braids and risked their lives to help others. There was much to unpack in that scene. Regardless of the film's execution, I think it accomplished it's goal in terms of representation and positive messaging.

The Woman King was an especially interesting film because it purposefully blurred the lines between masculinity and femininity in an appeal to progressive ideology. Additionally, it centered on brown-skinned and darker skinned women, who have consistently been considered less feminine/desirable than their lighter counterparts due to a Eurocentric standard of beauty. Seeing Viola Davis's bulging muscles and contortion of her face into a war cry is not something traditionally viewed as beautiful, and it may have even fed into some stereotypes surrounding the abrasiveness of Black women. Even so, the feminist motif of the film highlights the fact that women have many facets. As any dynamic character, Viola Davis performs in moments of vulnerability and delves into feminine energy in more usual ways later on. Her beauty is then displayed in her multidimensional character rather than relying solely on either her masculine or feminine behaviors.

All in all, the film was a pleasant watch. I appreciated it more for its purpose than its quality.

Additional comments:

Personally, I could have done without the rushed, lightskin subplot. I get, that it was used to show another key definition of femininity (I hope so anyways). Manz was giving body though.

how to develop a healthy sense of self as a black woman

living in a eurocentric/anti-black and colorist society where people constantly remind us that we aren’t the beauty standard (even our own family), and we face misogynior so these are things that helped me gain a healthy sense of self

- don’t be around people that have negative things to say about black women.

- love your own image. find instagram and pinterest girls that look like you and have your hair type

- take a break from dating and don’t hang around colorist people once it’s proven that’s how they are

- instead of wearing straight hair try faux locs, braids, twist, or if you get extensions do afro textured ones.

- eating healthy and working out.

- finding your self care routine (hair,nails, eyebrows, facials etc).

-don’t worry about people understanding your plight because all people do is gaslight us about our experiences.

-if you can get therapy (specifically a black woman therapist)

What is baddie culture?

Basically I just mean this [largely social media] culture of glamor, hyperfemininity, full face beats, glorification of cosmetic surgeries, favoring a curvaceous “slim thick” figure, exaggerated emphasis on being sexy as a source of worth and power paired with an idgaf type attitude where it’s better to be emotionally cold and chase wealth and status above all else. While I see the merit in having ambition, not letting people walk all over you, finding empowerment in femininity, and having command over your own sexuality, The IG Baddie has become another unachievable image for nearly every average woman but is still placed on a pedestal as the kind of woman you should aspire to be and the kind of woman men should aspire to have (or at least fuck).

A woman who knows her self-worth is unstoppable.

people really want feminism to be easy, and it’s not

what didn't you like about it, out of curiousity?

Hmm I’m gonna have to think on it it some more and come back to you when I’ve managed to articulate something

Letitia Wright for ES Magazine

"you looked prettier back then."

oh. ouch.

"that's not what i meant, it's just bad phrasing."

i understand. never mind that the words stung like a tiny million paper cuts.

"i meant that everyone has their prime and looks less pretty over time."

i am 20.

call me egotistical but i don't think i'm past my prime yet. call me vain but i think i grew up and look better than my younger self. call me shallow but i care about how i look, about what i wear.

tell me how do i recover from this. how do i look in the mirror and not cringe at my features. lately i've been trying out makeup but now i shudder at the thought of putting it on. opening my closet and choosing what to wear doesn't bring me joy, because tell me what is the point in caring what i wear when it won't change anything.

my self esteem was never good but it was getting better and now it feels like i have to start over. when i was 17 i hated looking in the mirror because i used to be covered in scars and bruises. when i was 18 i started shedding these marks and leaving it in the past. when i turned 19 i looked at myself and felt beautiful for the first time in years.

now i am 20, but i may as well be 17 again.

"...i'm sorry."

yeah. i know. doesn't fix things, though.