What colour is 'Women"?

 

“Typing “women” on the search bar of Google will barely get you any search results of black women. Hello world……”

 – Lindiwe Gugushe (Facebook) 

We live in a world where the meaning of being is constantly defined by the norm, which has been established according to western ideologies. Lighter skin has always been seen as being superior, as beautiful, as the desired and accepted colour in our minds. This has meant that the word “women” has been expressed through the use of white females as they have long been portrayed and seen as the epitome of being, the alpha breed, therefore, the very essence of “women” across the globe. The word “women” has been defined by the attributes, character, skin, colour, hair, and the nature of white women.

I have two problems with how “women” is defined in our contemporary world that rewards mediocrity and approximation. The first being the absence of my sun-kissed black sisters. Have black women not played a large enough role in society to be idolised as the symbol of “women”? Have we not brought forth nations from our wombs and nursed the greats of tomorrow, have we not fought behind the scenes and the front line, have we not done enough and shown enough great character to be seen as relevant in our own defining. Why have we allowed the privilege of defining what and who we are to be taken away? The courage, the beauty, the intelligence and the warrior behind the meaning of “women” is supposed to be determined by the people it is being used to describe or explain.

This brings me to my second problem, colour being used to define the meaning of a woman. But guess what, the word “women” has no colour!!!!! It should not be defined by colour because it is not my colour that makes me the strong, fearless, mother, care giving, lover, sister, friend, worshiper and educated woman that I am. It is my spiritual DNA that has biologically predestined me to be the regal queen of nations, the mother of civilisations, the warrior battling for a people’s freedom. My defining is not by my bronzed skin, or by your fair complexion, it is determined by who I am and the generation of a strong women I bring up after me.

What colour is “women”? It is the way I wear the crown on my head. 

#wakeupworld #blackwomenmatter