Jeopardized Bodies: Representations of Race, Gender, and Mortality in the Notorious R.B.G.

Abstract

We examine the popular “Notorious R.B.G.” image through a lens informed by scholarship on Black masculinity, Blackface, and Black rage. The Notorious R.B.G. is predicated on the juxtaposition of the “small,” “octogenarian,” white body of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the “larger than life,” corpulent, and youthful Black body of Christopher George Latore Wallace (Malone, Rosin, and Thomas). Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., was a renowned rapper tragically murdered in 1997. We argue the Notorious R.B.G. deploys symbolic markers of Black masculinity to further racist oppression while elevating Ginsburg’s aged, white female body. The racial configurations animating the Notorious R.B.G. deflect attention from the mortal violence to which Black bodies are subject within the United States and hamper intersectional advocacy. Ultimately, the Notorious R.B.G.’s constructions of mortality, discrimination, and progressive politics affirm whiteness as it circulates alongside contemporary racial justice movements.

Keywords:

• Black masculinity
• Black rage
• corporeality
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• racial justice

Notes

Acknowledgments

Earlier versions of this research project were presented at the 2016 and 2018 National Communication Association annual conventions. We extend our gratitude to Peter Campbell, Megan Fitzmaurice, Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz, Tiffany Lewis, Casey Kelly, and Vincent Pham for their feedback as we developed this project. We also thank Kristen Hoerl and the anonymous reviewers for their generous comments and suggestions throughout the revision process.

Notes

1 Posts by people of color and women of color who are fans of the meme do exist and provide evidence to the contrary. However, the presence and engagement of these fans does not preclude the predominant references to whiteness, white femininity, and white feminism signaled by NRBG. (See “Welcome Back to Classes”; “We Are So Excited”).

2 From a perspective informed by scholarship on Blackface, her “Gins-burns” read as jokes that nod to “playing the dozens” in Black communities, reinforcing the white performances of Blackness for comedic effect (Garner).

3 Here, we note the alignment between Afropessimism and the claims featured in this section of the article; however, we do not claim that all of the authors cited herein would identify as Afropessimists.

4 We credit this line of thinking to feedback received from Casey R. Kelly, who responded to our work following our conference presentation at the 2018 National Communication Association Annual Convention.