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The Non-White Marked Woman


When reading “There Is No Unmarked Woman,” I concluded that Tannen’s essay is even more relevant today because as society changes, and women start to break barriers of gender expectations, they are criticized and sexualized.  Today men (and some women) are still ignorant on the very much prevalent gender differences between unmarked men and marked women.

I too believe that women are marked, however I must say that black and Muslim women are the most oppressed in our society.  A Muslim woman that is simply just practicing her religion by wearing a hijab, is put down.  If a black woman goes out in a natural hair style, she is labeled as “unprofessional” or “lazy,” “which can disqualify her from many positions” (Tannen 554).  Not to mention black women are then labeled as “ghetto” if they are seen wearing an ethnic, protective hair style such as box braids.

In January 2019, Brittany Noble, a news anchor at WJTV in Jackson, Mississippi was reportedly fired after filing complaints about discrimination in the workplace.  Noble recounted multiple instances she was discriminated for her natural hair.  She asked her news director if she could stop straightening her hair after she had her son and was told, that her “natural hair was unprofessional and the equivalent to him throwing on a baseball cap to go to the grocery store.”  He also said that “Mississippi viewers need to see a beauty queen,” and that she needed to change her hair back to the way it was because that’s what looks best.  Black and Muslim women alike have had to accommodate others and place their ethnicity/culture on the back burner just to please others that most likely have no culture.  

Comments

  1. Abby RizkFebruary 2, 2020 at 9:12 AM

    I love the original thinking behind this post. It's sad that people like Brittany have to face that type of discrimination for being marked, but it was a solid piece of evidence to support your thinking. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kayla TompkinsFebruary 2, 2020 at 11:28 AM

    I really like how you took it a step further and not only discussed how women are marked but how black and muslim women are the most oppressed. I also like how you provided a real life example where a women was mistreated for having natural hair.

    ReplyDelete
  3. dipika raoFebruary 2, 2020 at 1:29 PM

    Wow this is really good! I like how you tied in the beauty pageant; I think it not only highlights expectations placed on women by society but also, more specifically, white standards.

    ReplyDelete

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