Being a black woman today

So a friend shared an article with me today, in the hope that I would comment on it; and to appease her and generally because I think it's an interesting topic here goes.

The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation have produced some rather interesting research that centres on black women in America and their lifestyle. As I said there are some interesting statistics and its worth taking a look at what the outcomes are (I would be very interested to see a similar study produced in the UK) especially as it compares attitudes from both white and black men and women. There is even a whole set of questions on the attitude towards Michelle Obama; who in my personal opinion personifies Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman poem (thanks Mum for reading this to me throughout my childhood).

There are quite a few articles on The Washing Post  that cover this topic but what really stuck in my mind was this article article, and the accompanying video that can be found on the page;  covering the shifting portraits of black women in America. Having the first African American family in the White House, two black women being nominated for Oscars and the dominance of some of our black female artists in the music world, it should be evident that black women are a force to be reckoned with; we've truly arrived (well we were always here) and the glass ceiling has been smashed. I could share tons of research that proves that this isn't the case, only 1.9% of Fortune 500 companies have a black woman on their board compared to nearly 13% which include white women; but that's not the purpose of this blog post.

What interests me is the fact that articles like this and research on this topic are being published by media outlets like the Washington Post, showing a massive step up from where we were even a couple of years ago; and is a clear indication that things are changing. However before we become too congratulatory we need to consider why 60 years after the Civil Rights Bill was passed we are still segregating the views of black women as if we are a completely separate species?!?!

Even though I say this, and I'm hopeful that at some point in the near future we will be identified by are own special interests rather than the colour of our skin, the research and The Posts publication of the articles are welcomed and in my view are a clear reminder of how far we have to go in the UK.

There is lots to read and comment on, so I would recommend that you read the articles. I'd really love to  read your comments on:

1. Why black women are happier with their body size (and generally have higher self-esteem) than our white counterparts and to what extent do you think that this is to related to the previous lack of widespread representation of black women in the media?
   
2.  If things have really changed, the stereotypes of black women still exist and we are doing little to stop them, I would actually go as far as to say we are actually reinforcing them i.e. the oversexualisation of black women in the music industry and the angry black women phenomenon in black reality shows i.e. Love & HipHop and Real Housewives of Atlanta (I've yet to watch Basketball Wives - should I bother)?
   
3. What being a black woman means to you, and if any of the issues raised are relevant to black women in the UK or elsewhere?
   
4.  Do you think that women in the UK share similar concerns regardless of ethnicity and that surveys like this are useless?

If you would prefer not to comment, feel free to tweet me @nadie79. I would also like to say a big thank you to all the women in my life family, friends, acquaintances and women who I've never met making strides in all walks of life who inspire me, you've ensured that my head is always kept high x