Storyline/Topics Notes for Taboo
warning: (contains raw thoughts, streams of consciousness and fragments) List in progress.
BM/WM relationships, although previously rare are on the rise. Why were they rare before, and why are they on the rise now?
Historical BG: WW as the paradigm of true womanhood (Victorian cult of true womanhood); BW as the anti-woman /mule of society. Black=Ugly: Mammy/Jezebel/Sapphire stereotypes Sojourner Truth: Ain’t ?I a Woman. WW as the Prize. Emmett Till and such murders.
Why were/are BW so resistant to look elsewhere for love? Is it the same reasons why BW have been so resistant to confronting sexism in the black community/church/? Fears of castrating the BM. The Moynihan Report. BW taking a backseat in Civil Rights movement. Stokely Carmichaels’ Prone Comment. “Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys.”
Current So-called Eligible BM Shortage. College vs. Jail. Stats.
Exoticism/Otherness
Modern White Guilt vs. Current Conservative Climate
The Hard Questions: Self-Hatred? (Re: Hair, Skin, Lips, Difference)
What do we have to prove? Do we owe “blackness” anything? What is “selling out”? From what? Does selling out exist?
Who is likely to be in these relationships and why? Are pressures internal or external? If external, from whom? If internal-- what/how/why?
Who is opposed to these relationships and why?
Are people still asking in 2004, what about the children?
What about “positive” reactions/comments that are unhealthy or a reflection of self-hatred? “You’re moving up in the world by dating a WM?” “Your kids’ll have an easier time.” “You’ll have prettier kids.” “You’re so black that you should marry white/light and have good hair etc.”
The social construction of race. Fixedness. One-dropness. How do other societies view this? Is there anywhere in the world currently where Ebony/African beauty is prized?
Differences between those who by chance found love with someone of a different race and those who only sought love with a specific race?
Fetishizing. Asking spouse to use racial slurs during sex. Spouse using slurs in anger.
Feelings of guilt/race trading/selling out. Embarrassment of spouse/relationship.
How do subjects feel about their own race?
What race, if any, will you consider your kids? Why? Do you care who they marry?
What tends to be the social groups of those in BW/WM relationships?
Is the couple completely liberal; and prejudice free (or make an effort to be) as a couple?
BM/WM relationships, although previously rare are on the rise. Why were they rare before, and why are they on the rise now?
Historical BG: WW as the paradigm of true womanhood (Victorian cult of true womanhood); BW as the anti-woman /mule of society. Black=Ugly: Mammy/Jezebel/Sapphire stereotypes Sojourner Truth: Ain’t ?I a Woman. WW as the Prize. Emmett Till and such murders.
Why were/are BW so resistant to look elsewhere for love? Is it the same reasons why BW have been so resistant to confronting sexism in the black community/church/? Fears of castrating the BM. The Moynihan Report. BW taking a backseat in Civil Rights movement. Stokely Carmichaels’ Prone Comment. “Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys.”
Current So-called Eligible BM Shortage. College vs. Jail. Stats.
Exoticism/Otherness
Modern White Guilt vs. Current Conservative Climate
The Hard Questions: Self-Hatred? (Re: Hair, Skin, Lips, Difference)
What do we have to prove? Do we owe “blackness” anything? What is “selling out”? From what? Does selling out exist?
Who is likely to be in these relationships and why? Are pressures internal or external? If external, from whom? If internal-- what/how/why?
Who is opposed to these relationships and why?
Are people still asking in 2004, what about the children?
What about “positive” reactions/comments that are unhealthy or a reflection of self-hatred? “You’re moving up in the world by dating a WM?” “Your kids’ll have an easier time.” “You’ll have prettier kids.” “You’re so black that you should marry white/light and have good hair etc.”
The social construction of race. Fixedness. One-dropness. How do other societies view this? Is there anywhere in the world currently where Ebony/African beauty is prized?
Differences between those who by chance found love with someone of a different race and those who only sought love with a specific race?
Fetishizing. Asking spouse to use racial slurs during sex. Spouse using slurs in anger.
Feelings of guilt/race trading/selling out. Embarrassment of spouse/relationship.
How do subjects feel about their own race?
What race, if any, will you consider your kids? Why? Do you care who they marry?
What tends to be the social groups of those in BW/WM relationships?
Is the couple completely liberal; and prejudice free (or make an effort to be) as a couple?
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