Chloe Bailey Doesn't Owe Anyone An Explanation On What She Does With Her Body – Neither Does Any Black Woman
Black women shouldn't have to apologize for being sexy!
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock It’s been almost eight years since the world was introduced to pop-duo ChloexHalle.
Back in 2012, the two sisters started off uploading covers on YouTube, which ultimately began the start of their success.
They’ve released three studio albums, have starred on the hit show Grown-ish, and have even toured as the opening act for Beyoncé!
But within the last year, the sisters have started venturing onto their own paths. While Halle is in the UK filming for the live action remake of The Little Mermaid, both singers have mutually started their own Instagram pages.
RELATED: If Hollywood Is Going To Hire Black Actors – They Also Need To Hire Black Hairstylists
For Chloe, her page has been up for two weeks, and has successfully gone viral. Half of the responses to the 22-year-old singer's Instagram page have been positive feedback from her loyal fans, while others have been negative.
A lot of the negative comments and hurtful words seemed to have started once Chloe started posting things that people deemed as “overtly sexual.”
Chloe participated in the TikTok #BussitChallenge, and people attacked her in the comments.
She posted a clip of her dancing in her bedroom to celebrate one million followers, and her comments were flooded with hurtful remarks targeted towards her body.
RELATED: 10 Resources By BIPOC Folks That Will Make Your Activism More Intersectional
And this isn’t the first time a Black woman has been targeted for embracing her sexuality and owning her body.
Nicki Minaj has been the recipient of people judging and policing her body, when in reality she just embraces her sexy. Same for Megan Thee Stallion, who has been on the receiving end of slut-shaming comments, especially when she and Cardi B made their song, "WAP."
We can also take it back to when Janet Jackson performed at the Super Bowl with Justin Timberlake and she had a nip-slip — which wasn’t her fault. Yet, she was shamed for that.
Even Lizzo, who has frequently gotten on social media to promote body positivity, especially among fat Black women, has been targeted by online haters.
There have been multiple instances where videos of her have gone viral on Twitter, and people have made her the brunt of inexcusable jokes.
And that seems to be the detrimental effect of misogynoir – a level of discrimination that only Black women face.
The term misogynoir was coined by Moya Bailey to describe “the specific hatred, dislike, distrust, and prejudice directed toward Black women.”
We don’t see this kind of policing on bodies when it’s white women like Kim Kardashian, whose career took off after filming a sex tape.
Or Bella Thorne, who was able to create an OnlyFans account to share explicit pictures of herself. Society seems to almost capitalize off of almost every other body with no problem, but God forbid, when it’s a Black woman, it's an issue.
This over-sexualization of Black women has been something we’ve had to live with even when too young to grasp the concept.
From how we dress, to how we dance, to even the hair styles we do. It’s always “you look too grown” and “you can’t leave the house looking like that – people will stare.”
Chloe has since taken to her Instagram where she went live to talk about all of the negative attention she’s been receiving since starting her own page.
"When I perform, and make music, and dance, that's when I get to tap into the sexier side of myself," she explained during her livestream "That's where I find my confidence. So it really means a lot to me when I can finally get to a place where I share who I really am because I've been really insecure for a long time."
Chloe even began tearing up as she explained why being strong is so important to her as a Black woman: “I'm really happy that I get to share that with you all. I think it's so important and so special when a Black woman can be strong and stand in her power in every single way.”
Except, Chloe shouldn’t have to apologize for embracing the parts of her that have long made her feel insecure – and neither should any Black woman.
As Black women, we are the sole owners of our bodies, and should be able to do whatever we want with them without commentary about our character or judgement from a society that seems to have an opinion on anything we do.
Our sole purpose is to not exist for anyone else’s gaze other than ourselves.
This policing of Black women’s bodies needs to stop. What we do with our bodies and what we choose to share online isn’t meant for anyone but us.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Chicago. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram