Misogynoir Transformed

Where racism and sexism meet—an understanding of anti-Black misogynyWhen Moya Bailey first coined the term misogynoir, she defined it as the ways anti-Black and misogynistic representation shape broader ideas about Black women, particularly in visual culture and digital spaces. She had no idea that the term would go viral, touching a cultural nerve and quickly entering into the lexicon. Misogynoir now has its own Wikipedia page and hashtag, and has been featured on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time. In Misogynoir Transformed, Bailey delves into her groundbreaking concept, highlighting Black women’s digital resistance to anti-Black misogyny on YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, and other platforms. At a time when Black women are depicted as more ugly, deficient, hypersexual, and unhealthy than their non-Black counterparts, Bailey explores how Black women have bravely used social-media platforms to confront misogynoir in a number of courageous—and, most importantly, effective—ways. Focusing on queer and trans Black women, she shows us the importance of carving out digital spaces, where communities are built around queer Black webshows and hashtags like #GirlsLikeUs. Bailey shows how Black women actively reimagine the world by engaging in powerful forms of digital resistance at a time when anti-Black misogyny is thriving on social media. A groundbreaking work, Misogynoir Transformed highlights Black women’s remarkable efforts to disrupt mainstream narratives, subvert negative stereotypes, and reclaim their lives.

Bailey's aims are ambitious. She's not interested in just shining a light on misogynoir; she's interested in its destruction. In a voice that is scholarly yet accessible, she tackles media culture from television and film to Tumblr to YouTube web series, to hashtags, revealing how different media contribute to, transform and/or challenge the pervasive circulation of misogynoir and, importantly, how Black people deploy digital activism to resist., In her new book, Misogynoir Transformed, Bailey takes an in-depth look at the histories and contemporary manifestations of racist misogyny toward Black women in media, analyzing everything from YouTube web series and Tumblr archives to Black women in Hollywood. Through a combination of thorough research and nuanced cultural criticism, Bailey analyzes how various forms of media have upheld, troubled, and transformed misogynoir., In this much-anticipated text, Moya Bailey examines misogynoir—a term she coined—and how Black women work to disrupt racist misogyny, to reclaim their autonomy and to tell their own stories, particularly in precarious digital spaces., Misogynoir Transformed is a resounding, deftly reported manifesto centering the work of transformative Black women seeking one another in a culture that refuses to see us and center us. Moya Bailey reminds us that we are our liberators and have always had the tools to seek, see and celebrate ourselves., Misogynoir Transformed is meticulously researched and an extraordinary example of Black feminist studies as an interdisciplinary project. It is brilliant in its exploration of the ways in which Black women, especially queer, nonbinary, agender, gender variant and trans women resist misogynoir in various media in their roles as 'digital alchemists.' The book underscores the urgency of reimagining how we define women's social movements given the use of social media platforms among Black women and girls in their mitigation of misogynoir.

Moya Bailey is Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever-growing network of activists and organizers.