POWER DYNAMICS: ROMANTIC POWER (PART THREE)

BLACK WOMEN VS CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND RELIGION

Women in the world, across all races, religions, and social standings, can amass and attest to being besieged with the burden of emotional labor, because why not; it’s a man’s world. All the firm, strong values and qualities that women didn’t have the chance to claim for themselves, men have claimed for themselves, then relegated the rest to women. By their own definitions, men are logical and women are emotional, they’re physically strong (and that’s the only important genetic accident of all), and women aren’t supposed to, if she is, well, should I even go there?

They don’t cry, they’re just angry, and women are whinnies. My personal favorite is that men are “smart, clever, and brave”, yet these qualities conveniently disappear when they have to deal with women or sustain a relationship with one. Suddenly, they can’t use their wits to figure out “what women want”, even when told, they’re at their wits' end. But they have no problem using their intelligence to sustain relationships with men they consider superior.

Strong, brave, and smart women are often labeled as “masculine”, accused of lacking a father figure, and told they need to be “tamed”. Countless times, I’ve been asked who my father was. I could go on and on, but the sugar-coated and only positive view men hold about women, and have made sure to spread far and wide, is the belief that women are nurturing, loving, and natural caregivers.