The ‘Angry Black Woman’ Trope Just Put A Jersey On Alyssa Thomas [Op-Ed]
The public demonization of WNBA star Alyssa Thomas shows how society treats Black masculine-presenting women’s appearance and strength. The post The ‘Angry Black Woman’ Trope Just Put A Jersey On Alyssa Thomas [Op-Ed] appeared first on MadameNoire.
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Years ago, I pulled into my local gas station. I had been going there for years, and the man behind the register and I regularly exchanged pleasantries. As I walked up to the counter that morning, he looked me up and down and said, “I can tell you’re a boss at your job.”
Equal parts amused and curious, I told him I was an executive producer of a daily news radio show. I asked him how he knew I was a manager. He smiled, then said, “It’s the way you are dressed every time you come in here. You walk tall and with so much authority. You look like you mean business and tell people what to do.”
In that moment, I was flattered, and it felt like a compliment that he saw my masculine presentation, my posture, and natural stride, and he translated those traits into competence and leadership. But the reality of being a Black masculine-presenting queer woman is that his response is rare. More often than not, my experience has been that, in an employment setting, the same presentation is perceived as an active and imposing threat.
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The post The ‘Angry Black Woman’ Trope Just Put A Jersey On Alyssa Thomas [Op-Ed] appeared first on MadameNoire.
