Bringing Minority Men Back in

Abstract

In 2007, controversial shock jock Don Imus generated a media firestorm with his on-air reference to the Black players on the Rutgers University women's basketball team as nappy-headed hoes. When his remarks ignited controversy, he attempted to defend himself by stating that while he regretted his words, Black men, particularly Black rappers, call Black women worse and are never censored. This was not the first time Imus, a white man, made such remarks on the air.1 However, in this case his com ments prompted unprecedented media attention, sparked debates on national news outlets and talk shows, encouraged discussions about the presentation of women in hip-hop culture, and ultimately ended with Imus's dismissal from his radio show. This incident and its aftermath pro vide an excellent example of why the intersectional perspective Margaret Andersen champions in her important article, Thinking about Women: A Quarter Century's View, is so necessary for contemporary feminist schol arship that aims to understand race, gender, and class issues. Reflecting on the initial development of women's studies and the changes during its 25-year history, Andersen argues that research on gen der must employ an intersectional perspective, treating gender as a cate gory that intersects with and is shaped by race and class. These categories should not be hierarchically ranked but rather constituted as interlocking and mutually reinforcing. Andersen contends that the experiences of minority women provide a key example of why an intersectional perspec tive is so necessary, given that for women of color race constructs the way gender is experienced even as gender shapes the way they experience racial inequality. Imus's characterization of the Rutgers women's team as nappy-headed hoes illustrates this point powerfully. Race, gender, and sexuality overlap conspicuously in Imus's choice of words. Yet in the wake of his statements, while several prominent African Americans (Reverend AI Sharpton, cultural critic Stanley Crouch, media mogul Oprah Winfrey) publicly denounced Imus as a racist, many noted feminist voices