Student Submission CUNY Hunter College Spring 2025

Ever since reading about the final project when I first started this class, I’ve had many ideas that I wanted to explore. It was interesting to me that over the stretch of many classes, I slowly learned that I was indeed present during the time that Digital Misogynoir started becoming invasive alongside the growing presence of the Internet and online media, but wasn’t aware that it was a concept. Honestly, I didn’t even know it was a concept / term until I chose this class as an elective. I was in my preteens and teens around this early era of emergence, and always knew there was something wrong with such content, whether it was Youtubers cosplaying digital blackface or putting on a wig to become Mammy, Jezebel and Sapphire. There’s a lot of content to choose from, and I wish I can spend the rest of my life analyzing everything I come across, but I’ve decided to put my focus on the Youtuber Shane Dawson. 

In my digital collage, there is a young black girl in the bottom corner of the canvas that thinks to herself: “The internet has forgotten but I never have”. Above her is the logo of Youtube with a collage of Dawson and his many achievements and impact he had on that era of Youtube, but there lurks his messy controversies regarding blackface (a lot of it), misogyny, racism, but particularly his contributions and perpetuation of early digital misogynoir. Through this project, I learned that the portrayal of Black women in digital spaces have often been reduced to racist caricatures rooted in long-standing stereotypes like the Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire. These portrayals are not accidental, but are recycled, monetized, and normalized, especially during this early rise of Youtube. The disturbing reality is that many content creators, like Dawson, built careers off of this type of humor, targeting Black femininity for ridicule, without facing long-term consequences. These portrayals are not only dehumanizing but also reinforce societal views that marginalize Black women offline as well. 

One of the main challenges I faced while creating this collage was presenting this content, particularly the digital blackface / modern day minstrel, without further amplifying the harm. I even felt uncomfortable having these pictures downloaded to my laptop. There is a delicate balance between exposing offensive imagery and avoiding retraumatization or desensitization. I was also frustrated by how incredibly easy it was to find this content and how widely it had been celebrated or brushed off at the time. It was difficult emotionally too, especially after reflecting on how much of this I witnessed as a young viewer, not fully being able to understand the depth of the harm being done. 

Before this project, I understood racism and sexism as separate categories, but this course helped me recognize how they combine in unique and violent ways against Black women, especially online. Misogynoir isn’t just overt hatred, it can also show up in who gets platformed, who gets punished, and whose pain gets erased. This project deepened my understanding of how digital platforms have historically rewarded misogynoir under the guise of comedy, and how silence or performative apologies allow the cycle to continue.

To combat misogynoir online, both individuals and platforms must act with intention. Platforms like YouTube need better content moderation policies and more transparency in how they handle reports of racist and sexist behavior. Apologies should not erase harm and there must be accountability, including demonetization, removal of harmful content, and more education. As individuals, we must be more critical of the media we consume, call out harmful narratives, and center the voices and experiences of Black women. Memory, like the caption in my project says, is political: “The Internet has forgotten, but I never have.” We must choose not to forget.

…

I also suggest you read this Reddit thread called “The effects shanaynay had on me as a young black girl”, as it gives great insight as to how young girls felt during this time in conjunction with a young viewer like me: 

The effects shanaynay had on me as a young black girl.
byu/Bibiicream inShaneDawson