For centuries, black women have been the backbone of society. They have toiled and sweated for men who have shown them little to no appreciation. Black women have always been expected to give and not to be given. They have always been an invisible part of society. In the late 1800s, when black suffrage was being fought for, "black" was used in reference to just black men. Black women had to make their suffrage second to black men's suffrage. They had to fight for their men's suffrage before they fought for theirs. In doing so, black men were made dominant over black women politically.
            Black men have been made to dominate black women not only politically but, also, socially. Society accepts the hypersexuality of black men but polices the sexuality of black women. A black woman’s body is oversexualized by the media. Her body is written about, sang about, and drawn as an object for sexual pleasure. Her natural body features are only appreciated when they are on a woman of another race’s body. Once she accepts that art and black art, in particular, will always sexualize her, she decides to do same. She decides to take her sexuality into her own hands. She finds her voice and decides to speak from her perspective then society tells her to shut up. Society disrespects her and polices her body. It tells her black men who sing about her body are rappers but when she sings about her body, she is a whore. She cannot demand the same respect as the men who rap about her body. A black woman who sings about her body does not deserve the same respect as the black man who sings about her body according to society. Her talent is not recognized as much as the black man's talent. A black woman is not treated the same as a black man by society. As low as black men are pushed down the food chain, black women are pushed even lower.
             Black art has been a medium for black expression. Black women and men have been able to share their perspective with the world through black art. They have been able to show the world how it feels to see the world through black eyes. Yet again, black is being equated to man. It would be great if the perspective of black art was able to include and value the view of a black woman.