Greetings =) I was wondering if any Black mods and followers would be up to sharing your thoughts/feelings on portrayals of Black characters sexuality- given that a lot of portrayals hypersexualise or fetishize. What would you want to see/feel is more balanced given the way black people are treated in media at large? (thank you for doing what you do with this blog)
Here is my opinion on things that should be more represented in relationships involving Black characters, concerning their sexuality:
More queer relationships.
Black gay men or women
Bisexual characters
Aromantic or asexual characters too
Even though we tend to be more closeted depending on how theses identities are viewed in our communities (generally for religious motives), Black people aren’t “more straight” than White people for example.
Healthy and light-hearted relationships
Relationship not rooted in trauma or violence.
Going with that, more tenderness and romanticism too, with the funny-awkward moments that go with it.
Weird love declarations, embarrassing but lovingly awkward sexual situations.
Healthy family dynamics
I also want to add that it extends to family dynamics.
Black characters having a present partner for their children or having both their parents together (to be careful with the Absent Black Father trope).
More relationships involving two Black characters
More relationships involving two Black characters!! Lots of relationships involving a Black character involve a White lover. While this is okay, Black love could be a bit more depicted outside the romance genre (I’m thinking fantasy and science-fiction, or Young Adult).
More interracial relationships not involving a white partner.
These relationships can be harder to find in literature, due to the prevalence of the White lover.
There’s an amazing french graphic novel titled Amours croisées by Laura Nsafou and Camélia Blandeau which depicts Yari, a Black girl living in Paris, falling in love with Hide, who has East-Asian origins and mostly… is polyamourous. The graphic novel is about discovering different ways to love, including inside your own relationship. The drawing style and the plot are really soft. That’s an example of what can be done to depict our relationships in a caring way.
-Mod Lydie
Black followers, please add the BIPOC queer representation you want to see!
companies underestimate how much locking their content behind needing an account will just make me go do something else. oh your website wants me to make an account to view this content? oh your website doesn’t show media to logged-out users? okay. i didn’t actually want to see it that bad. yeah. bye ✌️
companies doing this, basically making content and information inaccessible is greed and it’s with an agenda:
they see profits through those who make free accounts to view locked content. if people are committed to making free accounts now, eventually it may lead to free content/information being only available and accessible through paid subscriptions only.
Emotionally unavalaible men are not attractive. “Bad boys” are not attractive. Good looking men who use you just for sex are not attractive. Men who act like your boyfriend but don’t want to commit are not attractive. Fuckboys are not attractive. Men who treat you like crap, don’t reciprocate your feelings, leave you feeling confused about your situation are not attractive. Please value yourself.
The only people that call me difficult are people who can’t meet me where I’m at. I don’t demand respect, people give it to me based on how I carry myself and how I treat them. Remember that when people don’t understand you, it probably means you’re just in the wrong room.
Changing your life means changing your environment. You can’t hold on to a life that isn’t compatible with you anymore. You can’t convince people to meet you at your level and you can’t water yourself down to fit into places that you have outgrown. You’re not growing and working on yourself to stay the same. Think about it.
