A Counterhistory of the Ratchet: Black Aesthetics in the New Millennium
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Date
2024-08-07
Authors
Thompson, Jalen
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Framing my discussion in the 1990s and early 2000s, my dissertation—“A Counterhistory of the Ratchet”—explores what I term “the ratchet aesthetic” as both an aesthetic language that rejects the politics of respectability and a reading method for redressing performances of Black female hypersexuality and excess in film, television, and music video. In Black southern vernacular, “ratchet” is a term used to describe people and behaviors that are deemed socially deviant. This includes being loud, disruptive, sexually explicit, angry and a host of other non-respectable actions. The term is often used as a way to police the boundaries of respectable Black femininity. Following the work of scholars in hip hop feminism and Black feminist cultural criticism, I argue that Black femme cultural producers adopt excessive performances of Blackness that elicit an expansive viewing experience of emotions, feelings, and beauty and that challenge the viewers’ perception of Black femme expression.
Chapter 1 “Preliminary Thoughts on the Ratchet Aesthetic” situates the ratchet aesthetic as an intervention in Black aesthetics. Chapter 2 titled “The Televisual Ratchet Aesthetic” analyzes Martin Lawrence’s drag embodiment of the character Sheneneh Jenkins from the television series "Martin" (1992-1997). By looking at the performance of Sheneneh’s ratchet aesthetic, I argue Lawrence’s performance as Sheneneh undermines the heterosexist and gender specific logic of the series. Chapter 3 titled “The Cinematic Ratchet Aesthetic” uses the 1997 film "Black American Princesses" (or "B.A.P.S.") starring Halle Berry (as Nisi) and the late comedian Natalie Desselle (as Mickey) to investigate the visual iconography of the Black American Princess in American culture. With a creative team including two-time Academy Award winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter and celebrity hair stylist Kim Kimble, I argue that through wardrobe, makeup, hairstyling, and nail art the film immortalizes distinct stylistic conventions of working-class excess in the latter half of the 1990s and progresses a narrative of refinement over the course of the film. Chapter 4 titled “The ‘Real’ Ratchet Aesthetic” looks at the career of the reality television star Nene Leakes from the Real Housewives of Atlanta (2008-present). I explore Leakes' blonde embodiment as a form of ghetto fabulous identity formation. Finally, my coda “The Ratchet Aesthetic in the Twenty-First Century” ends with a discussion of the rapper and reality television personality Sukihana and "baddie" culture to explore the kinds of futurity the ratchet aesthetic offers in the progression of the new millennium.
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Keywords
baddies, black feminism, black performance, Martin, ratchet, Real Housewives of Atlanta