(Ellen Gallagher, Dirty O’s, 2006 (detail), © Ellen Gallagher)
There’s something curious that happens to Black girls on their way to puberty: We disappear into an imaginary telephone booth and emerge as miniature superheroes. Hit by a speeding bullet of outside forces—race-based sexism and society’s impossible expectations—former civilians begin to take cover behind an ancient mask of impenetrability. Out secret identity—sweet, innocent, approachable—becomes just that, a secret. It’s the identity we share with only a trusted few, the small circle we’ve vetted and deemed worthy.”
…
Silently, the mask can speak volumes. It can say, Don’t talk to me, touch me, or trap me. It can say, I have power over every situation, even when she so clearly does not. This is our coolness coat of arms, our impenetrable shield. What some might call the bitch face, I call the survival side-eye.
“Reserve” by Helena Andrews in Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness
