Ayesha Curry is not here to be the face of respectability politics against black women.
The author, host of the new Food Network show "At Home With Ayesha," and wife of basketball player Steph Curry has been featured in a popular Internet meme that plays up her wholesome, modest image.
Users on Twitter and Instagram have repurposed a screengrabbed image of Curry from her cooking show with captions like:
Curry became the center of debate surrounding respectability politics and slut-shaming last year, when she posted a Tweet that some people believed unfairly shamed women who dress in revealing clothes:
In an interview published by Essence on Wednesday, Curry said that while she doesn't find the memes personally hurtful, she also does not condone them.
“I wonder why people are so hateful sometimes. I just don’t get it. I want people to know these memes aren’t coming from me and I didn’t endorse them," Curry told the magazine.
"I have a feeling whoever is making them is mostly men trying to pin women against each other and that’s something I don’t stand for, especially with us Black women. I just wish we could support each other a little bit more. I want everybody to succeed.”
Curry may have been criticized in the past for slut-shaming, but she brings up an important point -- the fact that men seem to be using her to pit women against one another. Not cool.
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