If We Bury the Ratchet, We Bury Black Women

Over the years, “ratchet” has become a derogatory term for Black women who are deemed unintelligent, loud, classless, tacky, and hypersexual. Black women who are labeled “ratchet” are subsequently dismissed, resulting in a dehumanizing form of exclusion. Furthermore, research on “ratchet” women is often met with contempt, even in feminist circles. However, womanism has emerged as a theoretical “safe space” for “ratchet” women as well as an effective framework for theorizing Black women on reality television. This article uses the womanist methodology of dialogue to counter the misogynistic tendency to erase “ratchet” women from social discourse. “Dialogue permits negotiation, reveals standpoint, realizes existential equality, and shapes social reality. Dialogue is the locale where both tension and connection can be present simultaneously; it is the site for both struggle and love.” Unlike other critical theories, womanism reminds us to pay serious attention to Black women’s pain and to love them deeply.