Xernona Clayton and me, 2013 National Conference Race Amity
It’s hard for me to believe that February 2014 will mark the two-year anniversary of Wendy Jane’s Soul Shake. I still feel somewhat new to this journey of exploring my passion for all things race relations, yet when I reflect on what I strove to discover and connect with in 2013, I feel happy and full. I can’t wait for all that 2014 will bring my way, and thank all of you for all of your comments, and dialogue here on the blog, and in “the real world.” I truly cherish making these connections, and I hope that during the times I’ve offended, and have been enlightened, I have done so with humility. I have also cherished moving through these difficult “bumps” and embracing the opportunity to learn and grow.
Every time I check my blog’s dashboard for visitor statistics, the most popular daily search term is: white girl stereotypes, and variations thereof including, stereotypical white girl things, funny white girl stereotypes, what is a stereotypical white girl, stereotypical white girl dress…well, you get the picture. Wendy Jane’s Soul Shake is actually the second listing on the first page of Google, right under Yahoo Ask. And, all because of the post I put up in July 2012, White Girl Stereotypes, a follow-up to my post, One-Of-A-Kind Black Girls.
In One-Of-A-Kind Black Girls I recalled my high school days when I had to admit that I and others seemed to prescribe certain roles to the black girls at our school, which included, the super-funny black girl, the angry and/or sassy black girl, and the shy, church mouse black girl. I included a few white girl stereotypes I experienced and imagined were projected on us as well, like rich white girl, stuck-up white girl, and bookworm nerdy white girl. A few days later I Googled around for what others were saying about white girl stereotypes to make my counter White Girl Stereotypes blog post.
It’s curious to me why so many people want to find out about white girl stereotypes. And, of course, when you Google black girl stereotypes there are just as many listings. Is it so people can laugh at the other race, and silently chuckle to themselves, saying, see it’s true…just what I thought…white girls really do say, um, totally, and flip their hair a lot. Or…see, it’s true, all black girls do have an attitude.
While we all ponder this, here are two more videos to give us food for thought. I would love to hear your comments on the subject in the Comments section below: […]
As if any trait can be attributed to a single race, and not allowed for another.
I blew it. I was at the tail-end of my weekend trip to NYC with my daughter Leni and her friend Grete. We were there to celebrate Leni’s 13th birthday. Never mind I had no business even going to the city since I am flat broke, and here is the shopping spreadsheet Grete studiously drafted, so you can see I was in big trouble before we even hit their starting point: Fifth Avenue.
Yes I had fun being a fly on the wall while the girls ooohed and ahhhed their way through window shopping at Chanel, FAO Schwartz, and TopShop. More fun for me of course was gorging myself on NYC eats–this time with the focus on sugar. Violet macarons from Laduree, Jacques Torres chocolates, and the Bea Arthur specialty cone (vanilla soft-serve, dulce de leche, and ‘nilla wafer crumbs) at Big Gay Ice Cream. These girls know how to live. I just followed their lead.
We had just finished our last sweet run Sunday morning, a glazed apple cinnamon doughnut and delectable chai tea from The Doughnut Plant, and headed three blocks west to the High-Line, the westside NYC park created atop old train rail tracks. From there we were to catch the train back home to Providence from Grand Central.
As soon as we reached the top of the stairs to begin our walk through the narrow park, lo and behold, who do I see walking in our direction– […]
After Monday’s post which questioned how stereotypes of black girls evolve, I thought it was only fair to check into some white girl stereotypes. Searching on-line, there were actually numerous articles on the subject of stereotypes of both black and white women; some serious and some satirical. I’m posting two finds here. Please post links to any interesting article or video discoveries you make.
First, is a list poem that appeared on Yahoo! Answers as a response to a student asking for advice on school assignment to write poem on stereotypes of white girls:
I DO NOT BELIEVE IN STEREOTYPES! BUT I DO KNOW A FEW:
stupid
eating disorders- bulimic/anorexic/over-eater
evil
snobby
flat booties
no curves
tiny lips
dingy
clueless
hair lice
can’t cook
can’t dance
no rhythm
slutty
unassertive
overly-sensitive
wild party girls
gold-diggers
won’t work
let their children control them
incest
plastic surgery
cry babies
spoiled
daddy’s girls
say “um” and “like” a lot
racist
greedy
selfish
try to use sex to get out of things like “tickets”
sense of superiority
look old at a young age
tan too much
shallow
materialistic
These are a few! I didn’t want to go overboard!
The following video is pretty funny–a young woman pleads for the dismantling of white girl stereotypes. It’s funny, and yet, if I was an academic, I’d have to say something about the fact that this is a young, black woman, dressed in a blonde wig, talking about white girl stereotypes, so there should be some kind of discourse about subversion, racial constructs, signs and signifiers, etc., but I am not an academic, and so will leave it up to you all, to add any remarks about the multi-layers of looking at race that are happening here.
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SOURCES: Yahoo! Answers, November 2011; www.youtube.com, White Girl Stereotypes, by TajmaNaj, 5/23/2011
