Title
What's in a name? Who are you calling a B?
Document Type
Video
Publication Date
2015
Abstract
The political is personal. The personal is political. And, it all starts and ends with language. In this talk, Michèle asks the audience to think carefully about how coded and gendered words negatively impact not only women, but society at large. With one word, we have the power to affirm or destroy, to liberate or create sub-hierarchies that continue to dehumanize others. Michèle Alexandre came to the United States at the age of 15, not speaking a word of English. Less than two years later, she earned a scholarship to Colgate University. In college, she earned the distinction of valedictorian of her class, making her the first black female valedictorian in the history of Colgate University. She has earned a Watson Fellowship, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a Fulbright fellowship. At The University of Mississippi School of Law, she is now the Professor of Law and Leonard B. Melvin, Jr., Lecturer. Michèle is the author of Sexploitation: Sexual Profiling and the Illusion of Gender (Routledge, 2014) and of many law review articles and op-eds. When she is not working with her students, speaking at different conferences, or writing, Michèle enjoys time with family and friends, running, and binging on Orange Is the New Black.
Relational Format
video recording
Extent
0:13:22
Recommended Citation
Alexandre, Michèle, "What's in a name? Who are you calling a B?" (2015). TEDxUM. 45.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/tedx/45