Michelle Obama and Beyonce challenging traditional white culture by being awesome

Mychal Denzel Smith wrote a great piece on the politics of respectability pertaining to Michelle Obama and Beyoncé. Read his article, and you’ll have a pretty good understanding of the issues surrounding the criticism of Michelle Obama’s relationship and support of Beyoncé. A few right wing bloggers think that Michelle and Beyoncé’s relationship is somehow detrimental to the security of the Nation. The argument is Beyoncé’s owning of her own sexuality is somehow offensive for all women, and Michelle’s support of her performance condones this offensive thing. Smith also notes that the bloggers say nothing about the all-woman band who played with Beyoncé, which was badass. Emily Heist Moss for Role Reboot also wrote on the bloggers and Beyoncé.

It is a pretty sexist argument, but there is also a creepy racist aspect to this. Smith hits on it, but doesn’t actually dig into the theory behind it. So the respectable black woman mythos is actually rooted in the idea of the good black person or slave, the mammy figure in literature. They are non-threatening and generally female thought Uncle Tom is one, but remember black men are perceived to be more threatening to traditional whiteness (white supremacy and the lasting effects on culture today which has become the standard by which we measure) than black women because of reproduction. The good black person serve a purpose for the whites in the narrative as house slaves, domestic workers who are “like one of the family,” the good Christian woman, and other non-threatening figures.  The idea of the respectable black women really rises when juxtaposed with two other archetypes/stereotypes the Sapphire (antagonistic and angry woman), and the Jezebel (harlot or slut). There is also an interesting age factor here, which I’m not sure has been widely written about. One black woman can be all of these archetypes throughout her life: Jezebel as a young attractive woman, Sapphire as middle aged woman, and Mammy as an old non-threatening woman. This is seen in slave literature or narratives, but also in current literature as well (The Help does something interesting with this narrative). These labels are assigned (like so much) by those in power. The Jezebel and Sapphire in current mythos are often combined into the welfare mother. The character of the welfare mother often pulls from both of these two archetypes, and has shifted over the years to become perhaps the most recognized of these (thanks Reagan!).

If we’re still using these archetypes/stereotypes then these poor bloggers don’t know what to do with Michelle Obama and Beyoncé. Beyoncé looks like a Jezebel, a woman of color inciting sexual desire (in white men and regardless of her interest in doing this she is responsible), and Michele Obama who is perceived as Sapphire (she is perceived to be a black militant activist by the conservative right), but has been channeling the respectable black woman role because of her commitment ending obesity. There has been interesting discussion around why Michelle Obama hasn’t taken on a more active role as First Lady in the same vein as H-Rod, and the conscious seems to be a wariness of invoking the Sapphire character, which obviously H-Rod didn’t have to deal with (ball-buster as she may have been perceived to be). So by supporting Beyoncé, Michelle is once again cast as Sapphire, the antagonistic black woman to white culture. Simply put a threat. And because of her position as First Lady, a threat to all that is the Presidency. Pretty crazy and rooted in racism, but moving on. 

Now, as for how respectable black woman is defined. Beyoncé also fits the bill. Beyoncé is financially stable, married, probably church going, and a mother. Except she doesn’t seem to fit the bill for these bloggers. I wonder why? Oh, because she has more money than god and is a beautiful woman. This is one of the many problems with the respectable black woman mythos. On top of the burden of respectability comes the fact that if you are perceived as a threat at all then you no longer fit the bill. Beyoncé will be perceived as Jezebel until men no longer find her attractive (I don’t think this will ever happen), but pretend for a second she wasn’t the most attractive woman ever, her net income makes her a threat to traditional whiteness that dictates people of color must be poor for white people to flourish. Beyoncé is everything people who believe and buy into traditional whiteness fear: she is a powerful woman of color.

One of the bloggers, Lopez for the National Review blog said, “I so want the Obamas to be leaders on building a culture of marriage and fatherhood and human dignity.” Well, Smith points out they do as do Beyoncé and Jay-Z. But I’m calling party foul. Lopez wants the Obamas and the Carters to promote a culture that has very white, heteronormative, and Christian undertones. And personally, I think we can expect better especially from the couple whose husband called out racial profiling almost twenty years ago and has come out in support of gay marriage. No, I’m not talking President Obama.