African bodies have traditionally been depicted as both oversexualized and desirable. The tale of their sexuality chronicles a racist history of exploitation and exaggerated imagery. Their bodies are not their own, they belong to the viewer(power structure), the white heterosexual male. Fear and desire simultensously play in the psyches of Western viewers.  The sexuality of black women has experienced a narrative of exploitation that aligns with the colonization and exoticizing. Colonization remains the largest force behind the racists notions of black sexuality, and these notions prevail in the current perception of beauty. The legacy of colonization is aligned with the ideological values it brought; the ideas of beauty and how black women fall in and outside these standards.  Art has become the most important counteract to these ideologies

Pariah: The film explores the internal and external perceptions of black female beauty; Western culture’s perceptions of beauty clash with Alikes’ and create a confusing atmosphere that combats her growth.

Taylor: Document 11 examines the increasing globalization of art and the influence on cultural identity.

Thompson: This piece discusses how black womanhood has entered cycles of discovery and repression, particularly in regard to historical events like colonization.