When given an open brief on a video work for “Women’s Day” my self-awareness went into overdrive like, there are so many issues pertaining to existing in this palatable yet fetishised, light-skinned body that I could speak on. I could turn the camera on myself, put together some beautiful montage of me flicking my natural hair in slow-motion, talking about being an empowered, strong woman for all those little brown girls out there to look up to, an older, South African version of Amandla Stenberg…
The gag is I’m not empowered – this faux liberation comes at the cost of a dark-skinned woman’s self-esteem. The forgotten ouma in Blikkiesdorp pays in the years she dedicated to a family whom could not escape racialised incarceration and generations of the Dop System. Bodies that are fat and femme simultaneously that are not represented. Women who weren’t assigned “female” at birth, forced to sacrifice their humanity every time you assert onto the world what “real” women are supposed to do, what they’re supposed to look like, how they’re supposed to dress, how they’re supposed to be.
The above is an excerpt from an Essay by Kyla Phil originally published on Superbalist.
"Let us Live - Three generations of women; one shared narrative" implores us all to take an honest look at ourselves as a nation, as men and women and ask ourselves: "What exactly is there to celebrate?"
Click Here to Continue Reading the Complete Original Article by Kyla Phil on Superbalist
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