OWN and the ANA Seek to Advance Meaningful Representation for Black Women

Sustained activism calling for a change in the way Hollywood tells stories has made it impossible to continue to operate and create in the same way In short it is no longer acceptable for the industry to drag its feet in the face of pressure to do a better job in telling stories by and about Black women But not all stories and representations are welcome ones The challenge is to make sure in the urgency to tell stories that represent Black women that we donamp8217t lose sight of the necessity that those stories are grounded in authenticity and nuanceOn a mission to keep the industry on track enter OWN and the Association of National Advertisers ANA SeeHer Movement and their recently released Inclusive Storytelling GuideIn 2019 OWN and the ANA39s SeeHer movement set out to establish guidelines for Hollywood This joint roadmap would serve as a best practices document to help steer Black womenamp8217s portrayals across media The expectation quickly became that they were in essence creating a potential industry leading document for assessing whether Black women were properly represented This is a crucial step forward as the Storytelling Guide39s core conceit is to finally distinguish between quantity and quality when it comes to representationAn increase in Black women characters is not as important relative to the quality of those characters Evaluating representation for Black women merely on the quantity and visibility of roles doesnamp8217t go far enough It requires a commitment to going deeper and exploring the quality of what is being presented and ultimately consumed by audiences The quality of Black female characters can go a long way toward addressing the myriad stereotypes and false notions that are far too prevalent in the cultureUsing the hashtags WriteHerRight and SeeHer the Storytelling Guide is a powerful document that asks creators to explore a series of questions that interrogates affirmation and aspiration It is intersectional in raising questions specifically to address women broadly Bechdel test while also being intentional to the specific concerns of Black women Those questions uncover just how meaningful a role potentially is relative to the entire productionIs there a Black female lead or coleadAre there other Black women in the community surrounding the Black female lead or colead Is there a range in complexion among the women includedDo the Black female characters have any positive and healthy relationships with key people in their livesDoes the story incorporate multigenerational experiences among Black women Is there a convincing family resemblance that incorporates key features such as complexionThese questions and many others are meant for creators producers writers etc to be aware of the wide range of possible Black women representation expressions It is not a checklist but it is thoughtprovoking and rooted in nuance Nuance is a term that shows up again and again because it pushes back against monolithic representations A primary focus on quantity rather than quality means it is easier to check the box and say quotwell donequot That lends itself to the lowest common denominator and could potentially be rife with stereotypes and assumptions The Storytelling Guide poses openended questions that examine several issues ie colorism and ageism leading to richer characterizationsOn the other side the Storytelling Guide poses questions that can lead to pitfalls and misconceptionsIs your primary female character a sidekick or best friend to a white protagonistDoes the story normalize inequality abuse or violence against Black womenAre the Black female characters presented as people who need to be spoken for or rescued by a amp8220White Savioramp8221 tropeThese prompts and others ask creators to examine choices that have long been normalized throughout the industry Challenging and calling attention to what has been done is just as important as plotting a new path forwardThe partnered work of OWN and the ANA SeeHer movement is perfectly situated to make the entertainment industry more thoughtful and accountable The Storytelling Guide is a quotmusthavequot working set of ideas that put the onus where it should be on creators With this wellcrafted report it is safe to say no one can use the excuse they weren39t quotawarequot of the issues or didn39t have the quotright tool kitquot to do better It is all right there for the taking now is the time for it to continue to translate to our screensClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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OWN and the ANA Seek to Advance Meaningful Representation for Black Women

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Philip McKenzie

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