Description
Book SynopsisCaShawn Thompson crafted Black Girls Are Magic as a proclamation of Black women’s resilience in 2013. Less than five years later, it had been repurposed as a gateway to an attractive niche market.
Branding Black Womanhood: Media Citizenship from Black Power to Black Girl Magic examines the commercial infrastructure that absorbed Thompson’s mantra. While the terminology may have changed over the years, mainstream brands and mass media companies have consistently sought to acknowledge Black women’s possession of a distinct magic or power when it suits their profit agendas.
Beginning with the inception of the
Essence brand in the late 1960s, Timeka N. Tounsel examines the individuals and institutions that have reconfigured Black women’s empowerment as a business enterprise. Ultimately, these commercial gatekeepers have constructed an image economy that operates as both a sacred space for Black women and an easy hunting ground for their dollars.
Trade Review“
Branding Black Womanhood unearths the untold histories of the now-ubiquitous, commercial concept of 'Black Girl Magic.' With clear and compelling prose, Timeka Tounsel thoughtfully tells the story of how representations of Black women as 'magic' both provides Black women with empowerment
and delivers a sparkly image that can seriously undercut Black women’s need for care.”— Ralina L. Joseph, author of Generation Mixed Goes to School: Listening to Multiracial Kids
Table of ContentsPrologue
Introduction: Black Women and the Twenty-First Century Image Economy
Chapter 1: The Black Woman that
Essence Built
Chapter 2: Self-Branding Black Womanhood: The Magic of Susan L. Taylor
Chapter 3: Marketing Dignity: The Commercial Grammar of Black Female Empowerment
Chapter 4: Beyond Magic: Black Women Content Creators and Productive Vulnerability
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
