Moya Bailey
Biography
Moya Bailey is an American writer, scholar, and activist whose work examines race, gender, sexuality, disability, digital media, and representations of Black women. She is an associate professor in Communication Studies at Northwestern University and the founder of the Digital Apothecary. She also co-founded the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective and serves as Board President of Allied Media Projects.
Bailey coined the term misogynoir in 2008, combining misogyny and noir to describe the specific anti-Black racist misogyny experienced by Black women. She has since developed the concept through scholarship, writing, teaching, and public advocacy. Her books include #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice, co-authored with Sarah J. Jackson and Brooke Foucault Welles, and Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women's Digital Resistance.
Her creative and community work extends beyond scholarship. She co-created Quirky Black Girls with Alexis Pauline Gumbs, works with the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network, and completed the short documentary You Just Watch & See in 2025. She is also completing the docuseries Misogynoir in Medicine, which examines Black women's health.
BQW Impact
Bailey's writing has contributed important language and frameworks for understanding the experiences of Black women, particularly at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, disability, media, and health. Her concept of misogynoir has become an influential framework in scholarship, activism, and media criticism concerning anti-Black sexism.
Her work also centers Black queer perspectives and creates space for marginalized communities to develop their own narratives and forms of resistance. Through writing, research, organizing, and documentary work, Bailey connects Black feminist thought with contemporary digital culture, health equity, and community activism.
Notable Works
#HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice (2020)
Co-authored with Sarah J. Jackson and Brooke Foucault Welles, this book examines how social media hashtags create networks for racial and gender justice activism.
Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women's Digital Resistance (2021)
Bailey's first single-authored book examines how Black women use digital media to resist and transform representations of misogynoir.
Digital Apothecary
Research and creative initiative founded by Bailey examining the human and environmental impacts of digital media platforms.
Quirky Black Girls (2008)
Network founded by Bailey and Alexis Pauline Gumbs that developed online and in-person spaces for self-identified Quirky Black Girls and Black feminist conversations.
You Just Watch & See (2025)
Short documentary featuring Bailey's late cousin Dollie and exploring family, memory, and representation.
Misogynoir in Medicine
Docuseries examining Black women's health.
Learn More
Bailey's official website features her biography, writing, projects, documentary work, and current professional activities.
Northwestern's faculty profile documents Bailey's academic work, books, research areas, and institutional affiliations.
New York University Press provides information about Bailey's book examining Black women's digital resistance and the concept of misogynoir.
Creator-specific interview discussing the origins of misogynoir, Bailey's scholarship, and the Digital Apothecary.