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A review by tanya_tate
Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black Women in Pop Culture by Zeba Blay
3.0
Book Stats
Stars: 3.5 Stars
Start Date : 02/7/24
Ending Date: 02/11/24
Genre: Non-Fiction Essays about Race, Feminism etc
Form: Digital E-Arc/ Audiobook
Page Count: 240
Publishing Date: 10/19/21
Point of View: Collection of Essays
My Blog:https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2024/02/11/carefree-black-girls-by-zeba-blay/
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ee092c7a-a313-456e-a034-20b56b4f469f
In my backlog of Netgalley arcs that I never got a chance to read and review but since it's Black History Month ,Why Not?
Carefree Black Girls is a collection of essays written on topics of race, colorism, mental health, girlhood, problematic faves, and everything else in between for the Black Woman and Black Girl in today's society. Zeba Blay, having written about pop culture for many years( which she was the first one to be credited with the term Carefree Black Girls) looks through the lens of her own experiences growing up a black woman as well as other black women who are a part of Black Culture/ Black Excellence.
There are Eight Essays along with an Introduction which I'm going to rate individually so I can get a collective rating.
Introduction: 4.0 Stars- This was a solid introduction which the author told about her motivation about why she decided to write these essays.
Bodies: 3.0 Stars- This one was pretty much about Lizzo , fatphobia and fake body positivity in today's society. How black female bodies who are more curvier are treated compared to bodies that are slimer. This was ok for the most because I am a big girl myself so I relate but for some reason this essay went on too long. Like the first part was about Lizzo and towards the end it felt like a little bit of a tangent which I felt a lot of essays as I listened tended to do.
She's a Freak: 3.0 Stars- Honestly this one really could have been good if it didn't feel like a tangent again towards the end. This was about the sexualization of black women of young age which she talked about Megan the Stallion and how she owns her sexuality. Also brief talks about the double standard of black woman sexuality and black male sexuality.
Man,This Shit is Draining.: 5.0 Stars- Talking about the work field and how it's draining to report on certain topics that the author does which she gets hate mail and racial slurs thrown at her. This one gets a 5 stars because that last part when she went on F- bomb laced rant telling these people what they can do, I felt that shit. lol
Extra Black:2.5 Stars- Talks about Colorism in Hollywood and how Black Skinned Actresses are more quicker to get roles than Dark Skinned Actresses. This one needed more research and felt like she skimmed over things that really could have hammered her message down more. She did briefly talk about Old Hollywood but I think she really could have used that to her advance. She could have really nailed it home on the fact that actresses like Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, because of their light skin didn't play the Maid/ Mammy roles compared to Hattie McDonald, Butterfly McQueen and others who were darker skinned. That while yes ,Lena and Dorothy were still discriminated against because they were black so they still couldn't get major roles, they still were in a better position than Hattie and Butterfly. She just skimmed over it briefly but she did mention that Lena didn't get a role that later a white actress did get because she would be the love interest of White Male Co-Star. Like Come on this is Old Hollywood during the Jim Crow Laws. We knew that was not going to fly. Thank God for Virginia Vs. Loving...
Cardi B is So Problematic: 1.0 Star- I don't think I needed a whole freaking essay about Cardi B and Problematic things she has done and said. Also dealing with her beef with Nicki Minaj. This should have been left on the cutting room floor. With Lizzo, I understood since we were talking about Body Positivity. With Cardi it just felt like it had no sense of direction. Do we want to talk about Transphobia in the Black Community which needs to be talked about for real? Do you want to talk about Racism? Do we want to talk about Allyship and what to do to help the Black LBGTQ Community? Do we just want to go on a tangent about Cardi for 45 mins and just tack on Transphobia, Racism, Allyship in there somewhere? Because I didn't need this one at all. She could have just done an essay about trying to be an Black Woman Ally or done research about the Ball Culture and its impact on the Black Queer Community.
GirlHood:2.5 Stars- This felt all over the place which I was trying to figure out the correlations with Girlhood but I did like the fact of her being a Spice Girl Fan. The first part with her talking about growing up being a fan of Spice Girls and relating to Mel B is relatable to girlhood but the last part... I don't even know. I really thought it would be tied back into the She's a Freak Essay on how black girls get called "fast" or get sexualized because some girl bodies developed so quickly that sometimes they lose the innocence of girlhood. Like being 10 or 12 years old and because your body is developed a grown ass man is looking at you. I really thought she could have gone that route with it.
Strong Black Lead: 5.0 Stars- The Strongest of the essays for some reason. I enjoyed this one and how the author talked about her mental health.
Free of Cares: 4.0 Stars- This was a pretty good essay to end it and tie in the name of the Book.
Final Rating: 3.5 Stars
I just feel like with a lot of these essays, she really could have made her arguments stronger by getting examples from the past to back up her examples of the present. Yes ,I know she's in her 30's like me but most of these essays feel like a tangent or a rant and not a well thought out essay about a topic she's compelled to talk about. Honestly her best two Essays were the essays dealing with her personal experiences more than trying to link it with pop culture. Maybe she should have done a collection of essays more forcing on her experience being a black woman alone and just left the pop culture element out of it.
Stars: 3.5 Stars
Start Date : 02/7/24
Ending Date: 02/11/24
Genre: Non-Fiction Essays about Race, Feminism etc
Form: Digital E-Arc/ Audiobook
Page Count: 240
Publishing Date: 10/19/21
Point of View: Collection of Essays
My Blog:https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2024/02/11/carefree-black-girls-by-zeba-blay/
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ee092c7a-a313-456e-a034-20b56b4f469f
In my backlog of Netgalley arcs that I never got a chance to read and review but since it's Black History Month ,Why Not?
Carefree Black Girls is a collection of essays written on topics of race, colorism, mental health, girlhood, problematic faves, and everything else in between for the Black Woman and Black Girl in today's society. Zeba Blay, having written about pop culture for many years( which she was the first one to be credited with the term Carefree Black Girls) looks through the lens of her own experiences growing up a black woman as well as other black women who are a part of Black Culture/ Black Excellence.
There are Eight Essays along with an Introduction which I'm going to rate individually so I can get a collective rating.
Introduction: 4.0 Stars- This was a solid introduction which the author told about her motivation about why she decided to write these essays.
Bodies: 3.0 Stars- This one was pretty much about Lizzo , fatphobia and fake body positivity in today's society. How black female bodies who are more curvier are treated compared to bodies that are slimer. This was ok for the most because I am a big girl myself so I relate but for some reason this essay went on too long. Like the first part was about Lizzo and towards the end it felt like a little bit of a tangent which I felt a lot of essays as I listened tended to do.
She's a Freak: 3.0 Stars- Honestly this one really could have been good if it didn't feel like a tangent again towards the end. This was about the sexualization of black women of young age which she talked about Megan the Stallion and how she owns her sexuality. Also brief talks about the double standard of black woman sexuality and black male sexuality.
Man,This Shit is Draining.: 5.0 Stars- Talking about the work field and how it's draining to report on certain topics that the author does which she gets hate mail and racial slurs thrown at her. This one gets a 5 stars because that last part when she went on F- bomb laced rant telling these people what they can do, I felt that shit. lol
Extra Black:2.5 Stars- Talks about Colorism in Hollywood and how Black Skinned Actresses are more quicker to get roles than Dark Skinned Actresses. This one needed more research and felt like she skimmed over things that really could have hammered her message down more. She did briefly talk about Old Hollywood but I think she really could have used that to her advance. She could have really nailed it home on the fact that actresses like Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, because of their light skin didn't play the Maid/ Mammy roles compared to Hattie McDonald, Butterfly McQueen and others who were darker skinned. That while yes ,Lena and Dorothy were still discriminated against because they were black so they still couldn't get major roles, they still were in a better position than Hattie and Butterfly. She just skimmed over it briefly but she did mention that Lena didn't get a role that later a white actress did get because she would be the love interest of White Male Co-Star. Like Come on this is Old Hollywood during the Jim Crow Laws. We knew that was not going to fly. Thank God for Virginia Vs. Loving...
Cardi B is So Problematic: 1.0 Star- I don't think I needed a whole freaking essay about Cardi B and Problematic things she has done and said. Also dealing with her beef with Nicki Minaj. This should have been left on the cutting room floor. With Lizzo, I understood since we were talking about Body Positivity. With Cardi it just felt like it had no sense of direction. Do we want to talk about Transphobia in the Black Community which needs to be talked about for real? Do you want to talk about Racism? Do we want to talk about Allyship and what to do to help the Black LBGTQ Community? Do we just want to go on a tangent about Cardi for 45 mins and just tack on Transphobia, Racism, Allyship in there somewhere? Because I didn't need this one at all. She could have just done an essay about trying to be an Black Woman Ally or done research about the Ball Culture and its impact on the Black Queer Community.
GirlHood:2.5 Stars- This felt all over the place which I was trying to figure out the correlations with Girlhood but I did like the fact of her being a Spice Girl Fan. The first part with her talking about growing up being a fan of Spice Girls and relating to Mel B is relatable to girlhood but the last part... I don't even know. I really thought it would be tied back into the She's a Freak Essay on how black girls get called "fast" or get sexualized because some girl bodies developed so quickly that sometimes they lose the innocence of girlhood. Like being 10 or 12 years old and because your body is developed a grown ass man is looking at you. I really thought she could have gone that route with it.
Strong Black Lead: 5.0 Stars- The Strongest of the essays for some reason. I enjoyed this one and how the author talked about her mental health.
Free of Cares: 4.0 Stars- This was a pretty good essay to end it and tie in the name of the Book.
Final Rating: 3.5 Stars
I just feel like with a lot of these essays, she really could have made her arguments stronger by getting examples from the past to back up her examples of the present. Yes ,I know she's in her 30's like me but most of these essays feel like a tangent or a rant and not a well thought out essay about a topic she's compelled to talk about. Honestly her best two Essays were the essays dealing with her personal experiences more than trying to link it with pop culture. Maybe she should have done a collection of essays more forcing on her experience being a black woman alone and just left the pop culture element out of it.