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sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

Abstract

This paper delves into the misrepresentation of women of color in western media. From the perspective of bell hooks (1992), the commodification of the Other serves sinister societal “needs” in order to uphold the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Patricia Hill Collins (2000) and Judith Williamson (1986) interpret this as keeping the western racial hierarchy, gender dichotomy, and capitalist markets intact. A vast majority of people believe that any form of representation in the media is a sense of inclusion when in fact misrepresentation is counterproductive and problematic. Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins (1993) would agree that inaccurate portrayals of people of color, specifically women of color, regress years and countless movements that resulted in social progress. The intersectionality of this issue is pertinent in explaining its origin, motives, results, and consequences. Kimberlé Crenshaw (1997) conveys exactly how false depictions enable current systems of oppression and how endangering it can be to the physical and/or social fate of the Other. In order to bring an end to the social catastrophe of misrepresentation, people must acknowledge the systems that allow it to occur in the first place. Accordingly, this article will show how cultural appropriation, the misrepresentation of women of color, and the desire for Otherness— products of a white supremacist patriarchy—are central to today’s society.

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