How I Became a Scholar of Black Girl Fantasy
These stories had deep histories, centered Black women, and belonged to us. We only had to be brave enough to claim them.
It was my love of comics and Lois Lane that led me to my undergraduate thesis research topic, my decision to apply to graduate school, and my eagerness to try my hand teaching a self-designed course called Superheroes in Society while still in college. I was thrilled as I gave impromptu lectures on the various storylines, histories, and authors behind the mythic character I loved—a nosy but talented writer with a big heart, an eye for justice, and a soft spot for a superhero. But with her traditionally violet eyes, dark hair, and white skin, Lois and I couldn’t be further apart in looks. The particular traits I saw and admired in her—abrasive, nosy, sharp as a tack—were traits that had been often perceived differently in me, a Black girl. In the comics, Lois’s antics are met with mild exasperation, but mostly admiration; my own decisions and backbone often garnered calls home from my irritated high school teachers. Lois is often characterized as “spunky” or “feisty”; I register as a disruption, even a threat.
.and
many
Black Panther AtlanticWorld of WakandaBlack Panther World of Wakanda
us
needing
World of Wakanda
The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger GamesBlack woman Black woman Black woman Black woman
know .
Electric Arches 1919Ghosts in the Schoolyardand
A Song Below WaterLegendborn CinderellaIs Dead
Ravynn K. Stringfield is an American Studies Ph.D. candidate at William & Mary. Her research centers Black women and girls in new media fantasy narratives. She is also a blogger, essayist and novelist. Ravynn's work has been featured in Catapult, ZORA, Shondaland, Voyage YA Journal and midnight & indigo. For more about her, visit her website, ravynnkstringfield.com, or follow her on Twitter: @RavynnKaMia.
Enter your email address to receive notifications for author Ravynn K. Stringfield
Success!
Confirmation link sent to your email to add you to notification list for author Ravynn K. Stringfield
More by this author
Black Women in Fantasy Saved Me Where Academia Failed
What I needed was a lifeline—a project that would make this whole thing feel worthwhile. Monica Lynne led me to that answer.
What ‘Fast & Furious’ Can Teach Us About Women Who Reclaim Their Power
Letty Ortiz reflects back the best of our hero’s characteristics with fewer of the hang-ups.
Zendaya is Not Your Mama’s Mary Jane
The Black leading ladies of superhero media haven’t always gotten the best deals. But like much of the comic book–inspired world, one change could shape the mythos for decades to come.
More in this series
Ernest Hemingway and Me: Reflections of an Insomniac Writer
“Insomnia is the bitter digestif to a long day of living.”
What I Learned from Maxine Hong Kingston
I told Kingston how much her book meant to me as a half-Chinese woman, as a writer. It showed me my own life was worthy of examination, even exaltation.
All That Glitters: On The Clique Novels and My First Lessons in White Privilege
While kids my age were falling in love with the fantastical, I did not. I wanted to read about rich white girls behaving badly.