This short performative essay reflects on the author’s Black mother teaching him about cultural critique, particularly as this relates to the social construction of the Black female body. The author structures his reflections and lessons learned through the construct of fat asses, weight gain, and the White feminine commodification (contortion) of Black female bounty. He uses contemporary exemplars to reinforce aspects of his mother’s lived experience as a Black woman with a full body.
AlexanderB. K. (2022). A warning/a call: The spectacle of (In)visibility in the Vernacular Response to DEI-A work. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 22(6), 605–607. https://doi.org/10.1177/15327086221090660
2.
BurgerA. A. (1994). Cultural criticism: A primer of key concepts. SAGE.
3.
Fausto-SterlingA. (2002). Gender, race, and nation: The comparative anatomy of “Hottentot” women in Europe, 1815-17m. In Wallace-SanderK. (Ed.), Skin deep, spirit strong: The Black female body in American culture (pp. 66–95). The University of Michigan Press.
4.
FredericksonG. (1976). The Black image in the White mind (p. 541). Wesleyan University Press.
5.
GatesH. L. (1989). The signifying monkey: A theory of African-American literary criticism. Oxford University Press.
6.
hooksb.Mesa-BainsA. (2017). Homegrown: Engaged cultural criticism. Routledge.
7.
JohnsonE. P. (2003). Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the politics of authenticity. Duke University Press.
8.
KingC. (2023). The Body Liberation Project: How understanding racism and diet culture helps cultivate joy and build collective freedom. Penguin Random House.
9.
MadisonD. S. (2005). Critical ethnography: Methods, ethics, and performance (p. 13). SAGE.
10.
RobertsD. (1997). Killing the Black body: Race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty (p. 9). Pantheon Books.
11.
SueD. W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation (p. xvi). Wiley.
12.
YoungH. (2010). Embodying Black experience: Stillness, critical memory, and the Black body (p. 5). The University of Michigan Press.
