#66 - Mediated Misogynoir | Dr. Kalima Young (Sangria)

The status of Black Women? Living with misogynoir as a pre-existing condition.

To be considered innocent is to be viewed as vulnerable to harm and worthy of protection from harm. An innocent person’s pain is recognized, acknowledged, and addressed. Mediated Misogynoir: Erasing Black Women’s and Girls’ Innocence in the Public Imagination interrogates contemporary media culture to illuminate the ways the intersections of anti-blackness and misogyny, i.e., misogynoir, converge to obscure public perceptions of Black women and girls as people with any claim to innocence. When pained images of Black female bodies appear on media devices, the socio-political responses are telling, not only in their lack of urgency, but also in their inability to be read empathetically. By examining viral videos, memes, and recent film and television, Kalima Young makes a striking case for the need to create a new Black feminist media studies framework broad enough to hold the complexity and agency of Black women and girls in a digital age invested in framing them as inherently adulterated and impure.

About Dr. Young:
Dr. Kalima Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronic Media and Film where she teaches Principles of Film and Media Production and African American Cinema. She received her PhD in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her scholarship explores the impact of race and gender-based trauma on Black identity, media, and Black cultural production. A videographer and writer, Ms. Young has written, produced and directed two feature films Grace Haven (2006), Lessons Learned (2009) as well as several political campaign videos.

A gender-rights activist, Dr. Young is on the leadership team for the FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture’s Monument Quilt Project, a collection of stories of survivors of rape and sexual abuse. Collecting over 6,000 quilt squares from across the nation. She is also a member of Rooted, a Black LGBTQ healing collective. Additionally, Dr. Young is a frequent host on local radio where she provides media and cultural criticism.   

Mediated Misogynoir: The Erasure of Black Women and Girls’ Pain the Public Imagination is her latest literary work.

Resources Mentioned:
Mediated Misogynoir
Misogynoir Transformed
Race After Technology
Algorithms of Oppression
Memes to Movements
The Arab Spring
At the Dark End of the Street

Connect with Dr. Young:
Email: kyoung@towson.edu

The podcast's hashtag is #no