What is Misogynoir? A deeper look into the anti-black racism and sexism that impacts Black Women and Black nonbinary, agender,and gender-variant folks
By Dr. Kay Coghill, Community Safety and Support Steward - Blacksky Algorithms
I am using “Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks”, how Dr. Moya Bailey uses it to explain misogynoir. She states the following in her book, Misogynoir Transformed Black Women’s Digital Resistance, “Anima Adjepong’s formulation of 'Black women adjacent' (BWA) to signal members of the nonbinary, agender, gender-variant community who may still be interpellated by misogynoir. BWA signals the fact that these diverse groups of folks are neighbors of Black women on the gender block but are also living in their own communes and multi-family duplexes. BWA also extends a potential for solidarity in that “adjacent” means “alongside” and “near.” While all neighbors are not neighborly, “adjacent” hints at possible coalitions that are worth imagining and fostering. But BWA as an acronym or written out does not make immediately clear who is being called forth…“I will write out “Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks” in this text when necessary to prevent the continued conflation and erasure of these members from our neighborhood.”
Misogynoir, although not a new experience for Black women and Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks, is a term that was coined by Black feminist scholar Moya Bailey in 2008 to discuss the unique and pervasive anti-black racism and sexism that Black women and Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks experience. There is a historical legacy of violence towards Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks dating back 400+ years here in the United States, but this form of hatred and discrimination has always been prevalent throughout global history. From the exploitation and degradation of Sarah Baartman in France during the 1700s to the ways in which Black Trans Women like Cameron "Cam” Thomas, who are being murdered at alarming rates, and how athletes like Angel Reese are treated in contemporary spaces, misogynoir continues to leave a pungent stench in the daily lives of Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks.
To break it down even further, misogynoir can be seen as the hatred of Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks because of their intersecting identities– their race AND gender. These identities play a critical role in how Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks are treated in society and also in what people can get away with when harming them. We see these types of harm in the media, literature, technology, medical systems, justice systems, familial dynamics, relationships (both platonic and romantic), and in our everyday lives.
Misogynoir is not something that is just done to Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks by non-black people. Studies have shown that intracommunal harm is a factor in misogynoiristic actions as well. Books like America, Goddam Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice by Treva B. Lindsey discuss this at length and give examples of how this form of intracommunal violence impacts Black women and the perception of them in society.
Here at Blacksky Algorithms, we aim to mitigate instances of misogynoir that show up on Bluesky. Our goal is to make the Blacksky feed, in particular, a safe space for all users by especially Black women and Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks. Through daily moderation, we comb through reports submitted by users to determine if they are misogynoiristic in nature or not. One may wonder how that decision is made, and that decision is made based on the definition of misogynoir, examples from research done by different scholars, cultural events, and historical legacies of violence toward Black women and Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks.
It can be difficult to know what to report as misogynoir, but if it falls in line with the following, it is likely misogynoirisitc:
Degradation of Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks
Violent language towards Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks
Targeted harassment towards Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks
Memes/Vides/Gifs that portray or further negative and violent stereotypes (controlling images) of Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks such as, but not limited to, Sapphire, Welfare Queen, Mammy, Jezebel/Hoochie etc.
Comparing Black women/Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks to animals such as, but not limited to, monkeys, roaches, rodents, etc.
Colorism, texturism, ablelism,fatphobia, transphobia/transmisogynoir, biphobia, etc.
Misogynoir is vast and shows up more frequently than we may realize, and it has impacted Black women and Black nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant folks for centuries, but that does not mean that it cannot be mitigated. Through education, open dialogue, unlearning, and relearning, we can reach a point where Misogynoir is not as prevalent. Although Misogynoir is a systemic issue, it can be tackled in online spaces, and that is what we are aiming to do at Blacksky. This is not an overnight fix, but it is possible.
For more resources on Misogynoir, please check out the following living spreadsheet of articles, podcasts, books, and media. This will be updated frequently.