Zeba Blay is film and pop culture critic who has contributed to many publications. She should be lauded for breaking into the film critic industry which is 77% white male. Surprising, when the films are not watched by a 77% white male audience. Let's put that aside for now.
The book is advertised as an "exploration and celebration of Black Women's identity and impact on pop culture, as well as enduring stereotypes they face..." It is this but it is also a collection of very personal insights into the effects of those stereotypes on Zeba Blay and her mental health particularly. She expounds intimately on her mental health and also on current events, political and otherwise and their affects.The history of black women stereotypes throughout film, music and pop culture is in itself an informative ,fact-based and enlightening read. Throughout the book, I learned that I was not as aware as I should have been of how it impacted the emotional welfare and development of a black girl or woman. Even believing myself empathetic and sympathetic to their hardships I discovered that my empathy only scratched the surface of their emotions. "Black women , walk through the world with a kind of careful intentionality of one who walks on glass, acutely aware of the confinements of their existence in ways that others do not have to be. "- think about that .As hard as one tries, one cannot always imagine what it is like to live in someone else's body and handle the day to day injustices, fears, and even invisibility. "Even Black death is commodified. And this commodification, this meme-fication, always turns Black death into a theoretical problem. an abstraction, rather than something real and true that reverberates through lives." The problem is the constant specter of white violence and its consequences, the reality of it , the fact that [ Black women} are made to feel crazy, the fact that they must fight to exist as white violence continues to exist and nobody seems to care." Who can feel free under these conditions? Joy, freedom, opportunity, peace should not only be available to a finite group of people. Blay likens these fears to be similar to PTSD, affecting every aspect of a Black woman's life, her choices, Where is the empathy ?
I am glad that I read these essays and will hope that it becomes a popular read in ALL circles. Zeba Blay writes" I'm reaching out for a world where we value not just the representations of Black women but Black Women themselves." A book for all of us to read and digest. A wonderful book for Women's Studies, Film Studies, Black Studies, Book Clubs. There is so much here to discuss from so many perspectives.
I leave you with just one more quote:Professor Barbara Fields, a Black women who is an expert on the Civil War, states " If there was a single event that caused the war, it was the establishment of the United States in independence from Great Britain with slavery still a part of its heritage."

I really couldn't get into this one. It is well-written and socially relevant, but it didn't grab me. I am a septuagenarian, and maybe I am so jaded that I need a lot of razzle-dazzle to get my attention. This seemed like a book that many people would love, and I feel a bit aberrant for not being one of those people. Perhaps part of my problem is that I mistook the book for a novel, and that is, of course, my fault and not the author's. I am giving four stars because I do think it's a good book, just not one that ignites my weary old synapses.

This book didn’t feel particularly carefree and was kind of a downer. Not what I was expecting unfortunately. Well thought out and poignantly written, just perhaps a misleading title.

This book was hit and miss for me. I went in unfamiliar with the author and expecting a carefree exploration of black girls and women in pop culture. What I got was chapter after chapter of dour laments on the woeful existence of black women. From the introduction, where Ms. Blay speaks of her suicidal thoughts and agoraphobia in a Covid landscape to a later chapter where she goes on and on about internet trolls, it was just full on Debbie Downer vibes.

As a black woman, I long to see and read truly carefree creative expressions of who I am. I want to laugh. I want to smile. I want to radiate joy and tackle the heavier things from time to time. One bit of pop culture that seems to be getting that mix right is the Black Lady Sketch show on HBO. The satire has depth, but humor isn't sacrificed to make some woke point.

I hope as the book is edited that the bits and pieces of Ms. Blay's humor can shine through more. We are coming out of such a dark period in this nation. Is it too much to hope that a book aimed at black women can be positive?

Culture critic, Zeba Blay was the first person to tweet #carefreeblackgirl back in 2013. Carefree Black Girls is a book of her essays about Black women’s impact on pop culture and “what it means to be a Black woman and truly be ‘carefree.’” She describes this book as “an offering” and not “a history, an explainer, a guide, or a map to Blackness”. It is a is a celebration of Black women and our full and complex humanity.

Blay looks at how Black women, from Josephine Baker to Breonna Taylor, have been represented in pop culture; how affirming it feels to see yourself represented in media; and how representation alone will not liberate us. Like Blay, “I'm reaching out for a world where we value not just the representations of Black women but Black women themselves.”

Essay topics include bodies and weight, sexuality, girlhood and mental health. CW: Suicide, transphobia, disordered eating.

This is a book I can see myself returning to, to see if and how we have progressed as a society.

I’m thankful to Zeba Blay, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an uncorrected digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was beyond beautiful guys! I've never quite read anything like this before!
This book will for sure open your eyes to a whole new world!
CBG is an exploration and celebration of black women’s identity and impact on pop culture, as well as the enduring stereotypes they face, from a film and culture critic!
I loved this book!