Presentation

Student Submission CUNY Hunter College Spring 2025

As a Black, multicultural woman who has lived a history of trauma and abuse, this course has represented an academic journey as well as an emotional and spiritual reckoning. I have experienced the reality of misogynoir throughout my life, far before I learned that it had been solidified into a term and theory. As a teenager, I was consistently sexualized and stereotyped in ways that robbed me of safety and dignity. I identified more with black culture, media, music and peer groups after arriving in NYC in early adolescence, and also began experimenting with alcohol and drugs. This led me down a dark road for years, experiencing many moments of internalized racism, sexualization, and exploitation, especially as a teenager and young adult. I experienced misogynoir as a constant phenomenon, and this led to a warped sense of identity that was destabilized further by alcohol addiction.

As an adult, I experienced being silenced and dismissed in professional and social settings, where the intersection of racism and misogyny shaped much of my personal narrative and perspective. As a light skinned, biracial teenager entering adulthood around 2010, I was considered attractive and “blessed” with Caucasian-leaning features. I found myself teetering in the bizarre hierarchy that rates black women, still desiring to be more curvaceous and shorter to match the video vixens. Deep down, I hated how I felt as a Black woman, so caged in by society. Yet, until this course, I did not have the language to fully articulate those experiences or understand how deeply systemic and historical they are. NYC is a microcosm of greater American society, complete with ghettoes and glittering condos. Inequality, systemic racism, and misogynoir ring from every singly street corner.

Through our study of Moya Bailey’s Misogynoir Transformed and powerful additional material such as the video “How Black Women Harm Black Women,” I came to recognize that I was not alone. Survival under these intersecting forms of violence is not a sign of weakness but of deep resilience, and constant awareness and introspection is a sign of budding wisdom as a Black woman in America. These materials reminded me that the archetypes I’ve been boxed into-the “strong Black woman,” the “angry Black girl,” and the “tragic Mulatto.” These are all rooted in centuries-old images used to control and diminish Black women’s humanity, divide them along color lines, and sow hatred. Learning the origins of these tropes, from the Jezebel to the Mammy to the Sapphire, and seeing how they evolved and still play out today allowed me to name my pain and reclaim my power.

What made this learning environment especially transformative was the way Dr. Coghill defined the academic theory of misogynoir and held space for Black womanhood in its full complexity. Their commitment to uplifting Black women, centering our experiences in action, and illuminating the many faces of misogynoir made the classroom feel like a rare space of affirmation and truth-telling. In conversations with my peers, I was able to share ideas I had kept buried, and I listened to others who mirrored back strength, compassion, and care. These moments gave me permission to let go of shame and guilt I never was able to truly expose.

I found deep resonance in the examples of Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, and Megan Thee Stallion that I highlighted. They are three women who, despite their power and visibility, have each been subjected to the misogynoir we studied, and publicly coped and reflected in digital spaces. Their experiences reminded me that no amount of success shields us from harm, and no matter where my life takes me, I will have the responsibility as a Black woman and right to resist, to speak out, and to heal out loud.

This course has left me with hope because I now carry tools-language, history, community-that ground me in both truth and possibility for the future. I know that if I am in a difficult moment encountering misogynoir that I can reach out to Dr. Coghill-a guru of sorts in this field-for professional and personal guidance. I have felt seen and held in the space of this class and while creating the final project I felt as if I was creating a true compendium and guide for a Black woman out there to find. I leave with a deeper love for myself, a stronger connection to other Black women, and a renewed sense of purpose.

In summation, this course presented me with unique roots that I can ground in as a Black woman, fighting for a world where we are free to live, speak, and thrive without fear. This knowledge will combine with my training and education in harm reduction, substance use counseling, peer advocacy, and social work. I intend for this academic experience understanding misogynoir to magnify my ability to create sustained change in my own life and the lives of others-black women and beyond-that I will service as a future social worker in New York City.