Judge Jackson was applauded in many circles for her composure and composure.įor many black women, it was a painful sight because we know what it is like to experience this kind of scrutiny, questioning, and disrespect in personal and professional settings.
During Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the eminent jurist endured all manner of insults, racism and misogyny from Republican senators asking ridiculous questions that were truly opportunities for grandstanding.
We also witnessed an example last week of a woman being forced to wear incredibly thick skin when she was largely helpless. And what gets lost in the rhetoric is that, as disappointing as the incident was, it was also a rare moment when a black woman was publicly defended. Unfortunately, the incident has become a kind of Rorschach test on which people project their backgrounds, opinions and affinities. Rock’s attempt to keep his blood -cold right after being the target of violence. Pinkett Smith’s exhaustion from being the butt of humor, Mr. I try to save room for all those layers – Mrs. Smith might not have been able to accept that joke, at his wife’s expense, given the diapers of context and the public and private stories leading into this evening.
Rock’s joke was by no means the same as domestic violence, but I can see how Mr. In his memoirs, “Will “, the actor writes about the guilt he felt because as a child he couldn’t protect his mother from his father’s abuse. Smith likely saw his wife’s pain, and it’s possible he himself experienced a moment of frailty, thin skin. Rock and the world Monday night via Instagram. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launched an investigation into the incident on Monday afternoon, and Mr. Smith could have made so many better choices that didn’t involve getting his hands on another person in front of the whole world. Violence is always wrong and solves very little. Even if later, long after these public humiliations, their treatment is reconsidered and condemned, the miserable acts of public contrition are too little, too late. Famous women such as Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, Janet Jackson, Monica Lewinsky and Meghan Markle have been pushed to the limit by such scrutiny and the unreasonable expectation that they thicken their skin in derision, disrespect, insults and jokes. Ms Pinkett Smith has spoken openly about her struggles with hair loss – which is difficult for everyone, but particularly difficult in the sexist and image-conscious world of American celebrity, where women, in particular, endure an endless litany of comments about their appearance, clothing choices, relationships, and anything else people can find to distinguish. He reportedly said he was unaware of her alopecia, but he probably at least knew the joke would sting, since he produced the documentary “Good Hair,” about black women and their often strained relationships with their hair. Ms Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, a hair loss condition that disproportionately affects black women.