• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Dexter Origins confirmed with plans for more serial killer spin offs
  • Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo
  • Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

Mississippi Senior Inspires Debate with TIME Open Letter: ‘Dear White Gays: Stop Stealing Black Female Culture’

Charles Pulliam-Moore July 11, 2014

D16c95a2dd6ac974c88adceee250205cTIME Magazine contributor, and current University of Mississippi senior, Sierra Mannie has penned an open letter to the white, male members of the gay community concerning what she feels is the widespread appropriation of black female culture:

"Maybe, for some of you, it’s a presumed mutual appreciation for Beyoncé and weaves that has you thinking that I’m going to be amused by you approaching me in your best “Shanequa from around the way” voice. I don’t know.

What I do know is that I don’t care how well you can quote Madea, who told you that your booty was getting bigger than hers, how cute you think it is to call yourself a strong black woman, who taught you to twerk, how funny you think it is to call yourself Quita or Keisha or for which black male you’ve been bottoming — you are not a black woman, and you do not get to claim either blackness or womanhood. It is not yours. It is not for you."

It’s not so much that gays have come to appreciate certain manifestations of black femininity that have flourished in the broader culture, Mannie argues. The line between the appreciative and problematic is crossed when gay men over-identify with black women to the point of forgetting that “strong black womanhood” isn’t something to be affected. It's an identity tied to a very specific kind of life experience inexorably tied to one's race and gender.

"In all of the ways that your gender and race give you so much, in those exact same ways, our gender and race work against our prosperity. To claim that you’re a minority woman just for the sake of laughs, and to say that the things allowed her or the things enjoyed by her are done better by you isn’t cute or funny."

Chuck Knipp, the comedian behind the drag persona Shirley Q. Liquor, has drawn varying degrees of criticism for his use of blackface and heavy reliance negative stereotypes about black women in his act. It’s easy to point out egregious examples like Knipp and decry their behaviour while overlooking the more subtle, but very real strains of misogyny and racism fostered within gay male culture–particularly when they masquerade as kitsch.

video
play-rounded-fill
Link
typorama 6 copy
 

Reactions to the piece have varied from emphatic agreement to flat-out dismissal.

Reactions to the piece have varied from emphatic agreement to flat-out dismissal. In a piece for Thought Catalog comedian H. Alan Scott, challenged Mannie to broaden her ideas of what constitutes the “proper” kinds of actions for men and women, gay, straight, black, or white.

“Must I, as a gay white man, only like and act in a certain way because I’m a gay white man?” He asks. “Must that black woman pretend to like Beyonce when maybe, just maybe, she likes Katy Perry?

“[T]he last thing we want is for people to embrace other cultures.” Wrote another reader.  “Just have the blacks and the whites keep to [their] own sides of the town. Next thing you know they might start marrying each other and having kids.”

Far from calling for the resurrection of anti-miscegenation laws Mannie, like everyone else who has ever made her points is simply looking for people to be more cognizant of their actions.

"All of this being said, you should not have to stop liking the things you like. This is not an attempt to try to suck the fun out of your life.  

If you love some of the same things that some black women love, by all means, you and your black girlfriends go ahead and rock the hell out. Regardless of what our privileges and lack of privileges are, regardless of the laws and rhetoric that have attempted to divide us, we are equal, even though we aren’t the same, and that is okay. Claiming our identity for what’s sweet without ever having to taste its sour is not."

Topics: Drag More Posts About: Beyonce, drag queens, Sierra Mannie

Related Posts
  • Beyonce makes history at Grammys with 32 wins
  • Beyoncé Could Make Music History at the 2023 Grammy Awards
  • How to Get Tickets to Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour
  • Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

    Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

    Published by OK Magazine mega Tom Brady‘s latest sultry snap has fans drooling. On Monday, February 6, the legendary quarterback took to his Instagram Story to tease his 13.4 million followers with a stripped-down mirror selfie. …Read More »
  • Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

    Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

    Published by OK Magazine TLC Jazz Jennings has entered the dating pool — which has turned out to be more of a rocky, dating dance. In the sneak peek of the Tuesday, February 6, episode of …Read More »
  • Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

    Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

    Published by Global Voices A screenshot of Google maps (Jakarta). Composed by Sydney Allen via Canva Global Voices has extensively cataloged the pressures, violence, hate speech, and oppression queer people face all over the world. Whether …Read More »
  • Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

    Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

    Published by Raw Story A Christian school in Kansas City is being forced to close after its donations almost completely dried up ever since it came out in support of LGBTQ rights. The Kansas City Star …Read More »
Previous Post: « MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Looks At Fallout From Hobby Lobby Decision And Implications For ENDA: VIDEO
Next Post: San Diego Mayor Raises 124 Pride Flags Over Gaslamp Quarter: VIDEO »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • A Secret Weapon in Preventing the Next Pandemic: Fruit Bats

    A Secret Weapon in Preventing the Next Pandemic: Fruit Bats

  • Explainer-Biden’s State of the Union address and what to expect

    Explainer-Biden’s State of the Union address and what to expect

  • Optimistic Biden to try to lift Americans with State of the Union speech

    Optimistic Biden to try to lift Americans with State of the Union speech

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • ‘Leaving Neverland’ Director SLAMS Michael Jackson Biopic Starring Late King Of Pop’s Nephew, Claiming It Will ‘Glorify A Pedophile’

    ‘Leaving Neverland’ Director SLAMS Michael Jackson Biopic Starring Late King Of Pop’s Nephew, Claiming It Will ‘Glorify A Pedophile’

  • Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals Sandy Gallin and Dolly Parton’s ‘little known’ Buffy the Vampire Slayer role

    Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals Sandy Gallin and Dolly Parton’s ‘little known’ Buffy the Vampire Slayer role

  • Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

    Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

RSS Partner Links

  • Liam Hemsworth & Girlfriend Gabriella Brooks Land in Australia as Miley Cyrus Tops the Charts a Third Week with 'Flowers'
  • Sam Smith basks in Grammy win!
  • OMG, why not wear it? Cub Sport’s upcycled denim & other Grammy lewks we loved
  • Russian Man Punches Camel In Face, Camel Tramples Man To Death
  • Watch how the brilliant Bowen Yang opened SNL as the Chinese balloon shot down by US of coast of South Carolina
  • Open Post: Hosted By The Internet’s Thoughts On Shania Twain’s Red-Wigged Grammy Looks
  • Viola Davis Won A Grammy And Became An EGOT Winner

Most Recent

  • Dexter Origins confirmed with plans for more serial killer spin offs

    Dexter Origins confirmed with plans for more serial killer spin offs

  • Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

    Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

  • Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

    Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

  • Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

    Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

  • Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

    Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

  • Afghanistan’s LGBTQ+ may prefer death to life under Taliban

    Afghanistan’s LGBTQ+ may prefer death to life under Taliban

  • Hogwarts Legacy seemingly adds first transgender Harry Potter character

    Hogwarts Legacy seemingly adds first transgender Harry Potter character

  • Grammy Awards: Men’s fashion steals the red carpet in stereotype-shattering style

    Grammy Awards: Men’s fashion steals the red carpet in stereotype-shattering style

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×