'Black women have routinely been unfairly labelled as being angry and aggressive. This discourse has impacted how Jada is able to behave publicly'
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. We all got taught this as children, but as adults I think we can understand how completely untrue that statement is. Words can really hurt, and they can leave long lasting damage that runs far deeper than a cut or a broken bone.
Alisha Lestrade – Owner of Thimble and Doll says, “It's a lot… another week, another Black woman being made the butt of someone's joke in front of a world audience. Jada has spoken openly about the cause of her hair loss, through Alopecia, and of how hard it was to have to share that publicly, being bald not by choice - but to then be joked about in front of the millions watching must've been incredibly painful.
Will Smith responded by slapping Chris Rock. I don’t think it seemed like a particularly hard slap, but Will used physical violence nonetheless. I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how physical violence is intolerable and there is no excuse. And whilst I agree completely, I also think that emotional harm is violence too, violence that can often be just as, if not more, harmful than physical. Two wrongs do not make a right.
We have glorified this idea of the masculine protecting the feminine, and of women needing a strong male protector, but losing your temper and lashing out violently should not be seen as the way to do that. We should not need male protectors, we should live in a world where we are able to protect ourselves.
It’s very easy for us to say, ‘But Will should know better, he is a role model, he should have stayed calm’. But perhaps that misses the context for many Black women who do not condone violence, but who are also feeling that for once, they are being protected and defended. Alexis says, “Will has been emasculated by the social media discourse on their relationship. Men cheating and women staying has been normalised, but when it’s the other way around, men who stay are made out to be weak and pathetic. So, Will has been forced into a position of feeling that he has to prove his manliness. It feels like his actions may have been partly fuelled by his need to not be seen as the weak husband anymore.
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