Carefree Black Girls by Zeba Blay
Review of Carefree Black Girls by Zeba Blay
Carefree Black Girls by Zeba Blay (2021). Published by St. Martin Griffin’s.
I’ve known of Zeba Blay for a couple of years now; I’ve been of fan of her through Fariha Roisin, another film critic and writer. They started a podcast together, which I personally have not listened to, but I’ve gotten the chance to go through both of their work throughout the years and loved what they’ve done. And so when I heard that Blay had a new book out, I took the chance to download it as soon as I could, and I devoured it within a day and a half.
I do want to make a disclaimer: I am not Black, so I can never ever claim to understand the situation that Black people face on everyday basis. I can sympathize with it due to my understanding as a brown girl (but I’m white-passing), but I really do enjoy books like these to dig deeper and reflect upon how I’m consuming media and news through a filtered lens. I will never be perfect, as no one is, but I’m trying to undo the damage of my education and upbringing.
I think books like these are critical to read in today’s society along with doing the actual work on being actively anti-racist. I came in with little expectations on the actual content of the book, and I was very impressed with what I came out with.
Let’s begin the review.
Zeba Blay looks at Black women in popular culture with a personal lens.
Blay typically writes film and pop culture criticism, which is what this book is a blend of. It’s what she does best, and I think that truly shows through with this book. I felt that the topics she touches up are less academic-based and more geared for accessible understanding, which I appreciated as a reader.
Although I am an aspiring academic, I think approaching these topics with more accessibility is the way to go because some people have really thick skulls when it comes to these kinds of topics. People tend not to want to look past their preexisting judgements, and when what they’re reading is too complicated, it tends to burrow them deeper into what they already believe.
She also approaches the topic with a personal lens. Blay was the first person to use the hashtag Carefree Black Girl, which went viral and was both praised and criticized. When she started the hashtag she didn’t think much was going to come out of it, but still it blew up and became bigger than it already was.
What was originally a picture of just herself posing in the mirror became something that antagonized her and led to hate and love. And a big part of this was because she was a Black girl—people would not have come after the way they did because she was a Black woman just to practice a simple act of self-love.
She discusses how she came from a family of journalists, naturally leading her into a career of writing, and when she gets accepted into a prestigious Critics Academy she finally gets the leeway she needs to slip into the film industry. That’s where she meets Roisin for the first time and they begin the podcast. The rest of her career is history from here.
It’s this film education she brings up when bringing up the initial concept of stereotypes embedded into American society with the rise of the film and entertainment industry in American society. Classic icons like Josephine Baker are brought up here, and their legacies on culture. She then progresses into contemporary American pop culture and icons like Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, and Rihanna. She analyzes the personalities they must adopt in order to quote-on-quote make it in this industry.
This is a double-edged sword because while they are successful, they manage to build and create new stereotypes in a society that has racism embedded into it. While this isn’t a revolutionary topic, it shows that it may be impossible to never truly be a Carefree Black Girl.
The one point driven home is that it’s so hard to be a Carefree Black Girl in a society that objectifies you, then doesn’t care if you live or die. She talks about this awareness that begins in her childhood with the Spice Girls, the racism faced, and the feeling that you don’t belong wherever you go just because of the color of her skin. It starts from a young age, but it never truly escapes you. It’s haunting, something that follows you everywhere you go.
Overall Thoughts
It’s a necessary read, and I really enjoyed it overall. I highly recommend any woman reading this, and as much as I wish for a man to sit down and actually read this, not too sure if he would (when I say this, the average white guy). I have continued to be a fan of Blay all of these years, and this book only solidified that admiration I’ve had for her work. Definitely pick a copy of this book up if you get the chance.
