Misogynoir: Where Racism and Sexism Meet—An Understanding of Anti-Black Misogyny

BWOS is proud to host best-selling author, Moya Bailey on Friday, October 6, 2023, at 12 pm ET. When Moya Bailey first coined the term misogynoir, she defined it as the ways anti-Black and misogynistic representation shape broader ideas about Black women, particularly in visual culture and digital spaces.

She had no idea that the term would go viral, touching a cultural nerve and quickly entering into the lexicon. Misogynoir now has its own Wikipedia page and hashtag and has been featured on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time. In Misogynoir Transformed, Bailey delves into her groundbreaking concept, highlighting Black women’s digital resistance to anti-Black misogyny.

Moya Bailey is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. Her work focuses on marginalized groups’ use of digital media to promote social justice and she is interested in how race, gender, and sexuality are represented in media and medicine.

She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever-growing network of activists and organizers.

She is a co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice (MIT Press, 2020) and is the author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance (New York University Press, 2021). She was an MLK Visiting Scholar at MIT for the 2020–2021 academic year.