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thegryphon.co.uk
Misogynoir: One of the barriers which silences Black women in the public sphere
Image: Indy100.com
Farida Augustine
to read that the Labour MP and former Shadow Women’s
of their own party. Upon her appointment to the shadow
The abuse and hate hurled at Black and dark-skinned women
and Equalities Minister Dawn Butler was forced to close her
cabinet, senior staff jokingly dismissed Dawn Butler’s
who dare to take a seat at the table and speak truth to power
constituency office. This was after threats against her and
serious allegations of racism as “untrue”. Similarly, the
is tragically nothing new in politics. However, in the age of
her staff “drastically escalated”. Following her defence of
leaked document revealed how a senior staff member used
social media, twitter trolls and memes, this abuse plays out
Black Lives Matter protests and after speaking about the
“a classic racist trope” to insult Diane Abbott; the first Black
brutally in our digital spaces and manifests itself in the “real
impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities. Not only was
woman to be elected to parliament and longest-serving
world”. This form of misogyny has become so acute, that
this an attack on Dawn Butler, but an attack on democracy
black MP. Despite her popularity within her constituency,
in 2008 the term misogynoir was coined by the academic
itself. In an open letter to her constituency, Butler frankly
retaining her seat for over 30 years, a 2017 report revealed
Moya Bailey to give Black women the vocabulary to talk
stated that the windows of her office had been smashed
that Abbot receives more online abuse than any other MP.
about their experiences. As researcher Lisa Amanda Palmer
through by bricks and that she continues to “receive on an
highlights, the term describes the gendered and sexualised
almost daily basis, threats of violence and death threats”.
Perhaps,
what
these
woman painfully show
blatant
attacks
on
a
Black
is just how commonplace the
“
form of racism faced by Black women in popular culture
Though, she went on to add defiantly that “I will never
dehumanisation of Black women has become. These attacks
and the current political landscape. However, misogynoir
be threatened into silence and will continue to speak out
usually rely upon racist and sexist tropes that portray Black
rears its head in all aspects of Black women’s lives, having
and speak up for all of my constituents in Brent Central”.
women as angry, undesirable, animalistic and ultimately
devastatingly tangible and violent consequences.
“
One extreme example of this was an incident that took place at end of August. A right-wing French magazine
published a cartoon depicting Black member of parliament and outspoken afro-feminist activist Danièle Obono as a
slave in chains. This image was accompanied by an equally racist fictional narrative where she finds herself put up
Perhaps, what these blatant attacks on a black woman painfuly show is just how commonplace the dehumanisation of black women has become.
undeserving of their humanity or your empathy. Despite attempts to silence these phenomenal women, they still continue to fight and stand up for what they believe in. They refuse to be invisible and refuse to be silent. In the words of Dianne Abbott, “the abuse and the attacks have never made me falter”. Yet the heavy burden of misogynoir should not be left upon the shoulders of Black women to
for auction in the 18th century. After seeing the images,
The labour antisemitism report leaked in April also painted
carry alone. We must struggle, collectively to rid it from our
I was left dumbfounded, asking myself how a magazine,
a dark and depressing image of the endemic nature of anti-
body politic. While I don’t have all the answers, what I do
which the French president once described as “very good”
Black racism and misogynoir within the Labour party and
know is that we have to go beyond ‘diversity and inclusion’
could publish an image of a Black member of parliament,
politics more generally. For years, I saw Labour as leading
or unconscious bias training to achieve this. This can be
a human being, as a slave? Worst still, Obono is frequently
the fight against racism within mainstream politics, but no
summed up by author Lucy Ko’s tweet: “The revolution
met with an avalanche of abuse from her fellow politicians
longer feel that way today. Racism and misogyny are not
will not be diversity and inclusion trainings”. The presence
and members of the public alike for simply doing her job.
just confined to the ultra-right or the depths of twitter troll
of Black women and other marginalised communities in
This is by no means a problem unique to the French.
land but are present on all sides of the political spectrum.
parliament is vital to keeping our democracy alive and we
Misogynoir is rampant and deep-rooted within the UK
The dossier confirmed that, unearthing the vile treatment
must remove the barriers that stop them from getting there.
political landscape too. This summer alone, I was distressed
and bullying that Black women were subject to by members
