by Ashleigh Williams and Michelle Lee
Our nation was
founded on the principle “that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness”. However, throughout the course of history, it has become
evident that these unalienable rights are only granted to white men.
Individuals who are not protected by this particular race and gender category
have been historically subjected to legal sanctions that are indicative of
their subordination in society. Thus, a social hierarchy has emerged in which
groups of individuals are ranked based on their race and gender respectively,
placing black women at the bottom of this system. Due to their low rank in this
system, black women have continuously faced various forms of exploitation in
the public sphere. This public exploitation has been and is currently
manifested in media outlets such as films and television shows. The
exploitation of black women in the media is related to Feminist, Gender, and
Sexuality Studies because it analyzes the representations of a specific group
of women in the media as well as the ways in which oppression of gender and
race intersect. While dominant feminist rhetoric critiques the representations
of women in the media, it does little to recognize the importance of the
intersection of race and gender in our society. This paper will focus on the
intersection of race and gender by employing Black Feminist Theory to analyze
the representation of black women in the media.
Before we begin our
analyses of contemporary representations of African American women in media, it
is important to briefly recount the historical experiences of this group in
order to trace the origins of these stereotypical representations. For their
entire existence in the United States, black women have been subjected to
marginalization based on the white-supremacist, male dominant cultural beliefs
inherent in our society. These cultural beliefs, coupled with the colonial
necessity of expansionism and domination, contributed to the development of
slavery in the United States. Slavery is one of the most important social
institutions that has shaped both the experiences and perceptions of black
women in American society. Within their strictly controlled roles in this
system of oppression, dominant stereotypes about African American women
emerged. These stereotypes were used to evaluate and set the standard for black
women’s behaviors. The two prominent stereotypes that came from slavery are the
mammy and jezebel. The most recognizable stereotype of African American women
is of the mammy, who was a slave that was responsible for caring for the
owner’s children (Banks 2008). The mammy archetype represents the black woman
as a content and loyal domestic servant who puts the needs of her owners’ family
before her own. Opposite of the mammy is the jezebel, who is a hypersexualized
image of the black woman. During this period, it was common for white, male
owners to rape their female slaves. Black women came to be viewed as welcoming
this sexual activity, which eventually led to the belief that all black women
had a heightened and animalistic sexual appetite (Banks 2008). These
stereotypes are reflective of the lack of agency that black women faced under
the oppression of a racist and sexist institution. As African American women
gained more agency throughout the 20th century, new stereotypes emerged. In
contrast to the previous stereotypes, the new stereotypes criticized black
women for having too much agency as opposed to none at all.
After the abolishment
of slavery, African American women actively confronted the issue of inequality
in American society. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, African American women such
as Rosa Parks, Septima Clark, and Ella Baker were instrumental in movements
that sought to advance the predicament of black women in the US. When compared
to previous stereotypes held about African American women, the actions of these
women appeared to the dominant social group as overly aggressive and hostile.
Thus, the image of the sapphire and the super woman were born. The sapphire
characterized black women as angry, loud, controlling, confrontational, and
emasculating (Sims 2006). In the home, she challenged the traditional role as a
submissive wife and vigorously challenged her husband’s authority, while in
public she challenged the existing social hierarchy that placed her at the
bottom. This newfound strength was also caricatured in the super woman image,
which portrayed black women as “rough and tough, yet sexy and caring” (Banks
79). In contrast to more traditional family dynamics, this image portrayed
black women as being protectors of their families and the black community as a
whole. Ironically, this reinforced the belief that black women were the cause
of black men’s lack of power in society. Regardless of the characteristics
ascribed to black women, they were always portrayed as negative. When black
women were viewed as submissive, this was transformed into negative stereotypes
that justified their degradation. This was not the case for white women during
the same time period. The submissiveness of white women was seen as a positive
attribute and was considered the feminine ideal. As black women gained their
voices to obtain recognition, they were now considered to be aggressive. A new
body of knowledge emerged, collectively referred to as Black Feminist Theory,
to recognize the experiences of black women and to dispel these negative
stereotypes.
During a time when
marginalized groups, such as African Americans and women, were fighting for
equality, black women felt that the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s
Movement did not represent their interests. Thus, the Black Feminist Theory is
a body of knowledge that grew out of, and in response, to both movements.
According to Black Feminist Theory, black women disproportionately experience
oppression because they are the least protected by their social group (that is,
race and gender status). The sentiment among black women at this time was that,
‘“black’ was equated with black men and ‘woman’ was equated with white women”
(Collins 24). Thus, black female thinkers developed theory to adequately
address the way in which race, gender, and class were interconnected in their
lives. This analytical viewpoint employs an intersectional analysis, which is
described as a “multilayered analysis of how multiple oppressions result in
different experiences for different groups of women” (Luna 351). The
experiences of black women are different in that they do not fit within the
boundaries of traditional race and gender oppressions, so in order to fully
understand their experiences, we must look at the intersection of racism and
sexism (Crenshaw 1991). A core tenet of Black Feminist Theory is that the
intersecting oppressions of race, gender, and sexuality could not be justified
without the existence of negative stereotypes such as the mammy, jezebel,
sapphire, and superwoman (Collins 2000). Furthermore, Patricia Hill Collins
states that “these controlling images are designed [by the dominant social
group] to make racism, sexism, poverty, and other forms of social injustice
appear to be natural, normal, and inevitable parts of everyday life” (Collins
69). This is reflective of black women’s status in the social hierarchy and is
created and maintained by images throughout popular culture. Media has the
power to influence and shape of cultural myths about an ethnic group, and in
this way, the representation of African American women in the media can be
viewed as “a valid historical document reflecting predominant attitudes,
conscious or unconscious, in American culture” (Sims 2006). For this analysis,
we are critiquing two contemporary films and a performance from the annual MTV
Video Music Awards show. These examples illustrate 1) the survival of these
negative stereotypes over time, 2) their widespread usage throughout media, and
3) the acceptance of these stereotypes as valid.
Scary Movie is a horror-comedy
spoof film that parodies several late 1990’s films such as I Know What You
Did Last Summer and The Sixth Sense. I chose to analyze this film
for two reasons. First, Scary Movie was one of the highest grossing films in
2000. In fact, Dimension Films heavily stressed to the public that they would
not produce a sequel to the film, but due to the film’s immense popularity,
they released four sequels. Additionally, the cast is primarily white,
featuring only one African American actress. This is important for my analysis
because the film discretely sends a message about how African American women
interact with white people.
The scene I will
analyze takes place in a crowded movie theater. Brenda (the African American
actress) is on a date with her boyfriend to see a Shakespeare film, and they are
the only African Americans in attendance. Brenda’s boyfriend goes to the
restroom, leaving Brenda alone for a few minutes. As soon as she is alone, she
whips out some fried chicken that is wrapped in aluminum foil and a bottle of
hot sauce. She begins eating her snack, all the while loudly commenting on the
film. Around her, the moviegoers are growing angry because of her rowdy and
obnoxious behavior. Eventually, one of the moviegoers grows tired of her
loudness and tells her to shut up. Brenda begins to scream at the man even more
loudly and even extends her insults to those who did not confront her.
Throughout this scene, she is rolling her eyes and her neck, putting her hands
in people’s faces, and displays an extremely bitter and negative attitude. The
confrontation ends when Brenda believes her boyfriend has returned from the
bathroom. In actuality, it is the serial killer that has been haunting the town
for weeks. As the serial killer is taking his knife out to kill Brenda, a
moviegoer takes the knife from him and stabs Brenda himself. Everyone in the
theater gets in on the action, taking turns stabbing, beating, or kicking her.
Brenda staggers to the platform directly in front of the screen and collapses.
The theater erupts in applause in celebration of her death, and the moviegoers
continue to watch the film as if nothing happened.
When I first saw the
film, I thought it was hilarious! But after taking this course, I have
developed a feminist perspective that is hard to overcome. Now, watching this
film is deeply troubling for me. The first thing that is problematic in this
scene is the fact that she is eating fried chicken and hot sauce. One of the
most static stereotypes about black people in general is that they enjoy this
particular food, and this scene is playing on this belief in a comedic way.
Also, Brenda’s character is the epitome of the sapphire image. The sapphire has
been historically portrayed as a woman who is “tart-tongued”, one who
often “violently and rhythmically rocks her head” when speaking, and who flies
through “irrational states of anger” (Sims 32). This description of the
sapphire recounts Brenda’s character in this scene almost flawlessly. Brenda
irrationally gets upset with the other patrons in the theater due to her tart
tongue and dramatically rolls her neck and eyes throughout the argument. She
has an extremely bitter attitude for no logical reason. Additionally, Brenda’s
demeanor is in direct opposition to the European ideal of a docile, submissive
woman. This masculinizes Brenda, and in a sense, black women as a whole and
portrays them as extremely volatile and confrontational. As a result of these
depictions, black women are then viewed as masculine, and therefore,
undeserving of affection from men. Furthermore, Brenda’s abrasive character
makes the consumer feel sympathetic to her boyfriend because he is charged with
the difficult task of putting up with Brenda’s confrontational attitude. This
further suggests that black women are viewed as undesirable to both white and
black men. This masculinization of black women can also serve to justify
their subjugation in society.
Sapphires, and
specifically Brenda in this scene, are notoriously hard to get along with, and
this is illustrated by the fact that she engages in a heated argument with an
entire theater of patrons. This sends the subliminal message to consumers that
African American women are confrontational, bitchy, and hard to deal with. This
message is further ingrained when the moviegoers murder Brenda because they are
only able to achieve peace when the obnoxious black woman is killed. The murder
itself suggests that the only viable solution to the problem of bitchy black
women is to permanently silence them. All other methods will only result in an
increase in her rage.
Additionally, it is
important to note that in this scene, Brenda is considered to deserve the
violence that ends in her death due to her confrontational nature. The viewers
grow to genuinely dislike her, so no one minds that she is brutally murdered in
the theater. In fact, her murder calls for celebration! This sort of
justification has been and is currently widely used in society in general.
Because of black women’s particular characteristics, the dominant social group
has a perfectly sound justification for subjecting this group to violence and
oppression.
The second film I
will analyze is Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman. I chose this
film because it, like the previous film I discussed, was immensely popular and
was one of the top grossing films of 2005. The main character, Madea, was so
popular that she is the star of seven sequels that collectively make up
the “Madea” film franchise. For the purposes of this analysis, we will focus on
the representation of the mammy archetype through Madea’s character in Diary
of a Mad Black Woman.
The film centers on
the struggles of a woman, Helen, who is going through a particularly ugly
divorce. After her husband violently throws her out of their home, she goes to
Madea’s house for safety. When Helen arrives, it is very late in the night, and
she catches Madea by surprise. Madea kicks the door open, yielding a loaded
pistol. Once everything is straightened out, Madea welcomes Helen into her home
and invites her to stay overnight. When Helen enters the home, Madea’s brother
calls out “Who that is knockin’ on the door this late?”. Madea tells him not to
worry about it and to go back to sleep. However, her brother presses further,
telling her “I’m serious! I’m putting my foot down!”, to which she replies
“Kunta Kinte put his foot down and it got chopped off. Now take yo ass to
bed!”. The next morning, Helen enters the kitchen and runs into Deborah,
a methamphetamine addict whom Madea looks after. Madea is busily bustling around
the kitchen to prepare breakfast, all the while her breasts and butt are
exaggeratedly swinging around. After Deborah leaves, Helen asks Madea why she
is taking care of her. Madea tells Helen that she feels an obligation to look
after people and that it’s a part of her nature.
There are several
problematic issues with Madea’s character in this film. First and perhaps most
problematic, her character is played by Tyler Perry dressed in drag. Therefore,
Madea has subtle, masculine qualities that arise from the fact that it is a man
dressed in drag. For example, she hovers over all the women (and some men) in
the film, has rough hands, broad shoulders, and a deep voice. Additionally,
Madea is a heavy-set woman with extremely large breasts and a large backside.
Combined, these characteristics form what bell hooks refers to a “masculinized
sub-human characteristics” (hooks 1996). The mammy’s voluptuous body was in
stark contrast to the thin, often corseted frame of white women at the time of
the inception of this archetype. This masculinization of the mammy image was
used to maintain the white supremacist and patriarchal idea that white women
represented the femininity in its purest form (Collins 2000). Thus, the mammy’s
large frame represents the antithesis of the American conception of beauty,
femininity, and womanhood.
Additionally, Madea’s
speech pattern reveals a “bossy, domineering, and uneducated character”, which
is consistent with the historical mammy archetype (Sims 2006). Throughout the
previous scene I described, Madea says “chillins” instead of “children” , “yo”
instead of “your”, and generally does not speak proper English. This serves to
show that African American women are uneducated and provides justification for
keeping them on the periphery of society and denying them certain privileges.
Furthermore, Madea demonstrates a domineering and abrasive nature when she
answers the door and almost shoots her granddaughter. Immediately following
that, she emasculates her brother when he attempts to exert power over her. Her
attitude demonstrates that black women are in stark opposition to the docile
and submissive feminine ideal that is perpetuated in society. The mammy’s
placement at the periphery of society indicates that she is deemed to be of a
lesser status that the dominant social group.
Lastly, Madea is the
caretaker of the community and does this by feeding people and giving them a
place to stay. The scene I previously described is pretty typical of her
actions throughout the film; her life seems to revolve around domestic work.
One of the most salient characteristics of the mammy archetype is that she is
content and happy carrying out the domestic needs of the family that she works
for (Collins 2000). In this way, African American women were viewed as only
suitable for domestic work and have been historically shutout from other career
paths. As Evelyn Nakano Glenn stresses in her essay, "Women and Labor
Migration", women of European descent did not have to work outside the home
because their husbands earned enough that this was not necessary. Ethnic
families did not enjoy the same luxuries, and thus, ethnic women needed to
secure work outside of the home. The only positions that were available to them
were domestic work, and their concentration in this field “reinforced their
degraded status in society” (Glenn). Domestic work became “more or less
synonymous badges of inferiority” (Glenn). In conclusion, Madea’s statement
that it is “in her nature” to care for people perpetuates the idea that black
women are only suitable for careers in the domestic sphere. Thus, the
stereotype that African American women are unworthy of employment outside of
the household is perpetuated by Madea’s uneducated speech pattern and by the
fact that she is content with doing housework.
What is to be said
about the fact that both films are comedies? Would these comedies have been so
successful if the black actresses were white? I believe that part of the
success of both the films stems from the fact that an African American woman is
the source of the comedy. African American womanhood has been the source of
public ridicule and humiliation for decades. Both of these films propagate
ideas about the inferiority of black womanhood to traditional femininity.
Additionally, both Brenda and (especially) Madea exhibit speech patterns that
suggest that the women are uneducated. Due to this publicly accepted mockery of
black womanhood and intelligence, therein lies the justification for the
oppression and subjugation of this group.
Aside from films,
television is another source of media that is used to reflect the public
exploitation and negative portrayal of black women in society. From her backup
dancers to her sexual gestures and attire, Miley Cyrus’ recent performance in
the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA’s) is a prime example of how popular
culture on television shows can create and maintain black women’s social status
and oppression. At the start of her performance, Miley appears dressed in a
skimpy teddy bear one-piece, which she later takes off to reveal a tight nude
bikini. Two pigtail buns and continuous dramatic exposures of her tongue finish
off her childish yet scanty look. As she starts dancing and “twerking out” to
the introduction music, the stage is set with a big robotic teddy bear and she
is accompanied by backup dancers dressed also as teddy bears who,
interestingly, all happen to be black voluptuous women. Throughout the
performance, she is seen making sexual gestures to not only her body, but the
bodies of others. In one shot of her performance, the camera captures her
shaking her face in and slapping the exposed fleshy butt of one of her backup
dancers whose face is covered with a teddy bear mask. As her performance
transitions into a collaboration with Robin Thicke, she is seen wearing a foam
hand which she uses as a sexual prop to fondle his body and her own. Despite
him being twenty years her senior, she continues to grind on him and makes
sexual facial expressions and bodily gestures.
Following this highly
publicized event, many critics accused Miley Cyrus of “slut-shaming”, a term
used to admonish women whose behaviors seem more sexual than what is socially
acceptable. Because everything about her VMA performance was so drastically
different from her former innocent Hannah Montana days, people were
quick to point out her newfound promiscuity and sexuality, which was evident in
her costume and dance. Few, however, pointed out the racial implications from
her performance. Interestingly enough, it was rumored that in the making of her
new album, Miley Cyrus had actually requested music that sounded “black”. If
this was the case, then it seems like her VMA performance was a reflection of
what she narrowly thought best represented the epitome of black music and
culture. Thus, it may not be her own sexuality, but rather, the hypersexuality
and objectification of black women that is being exposed through her
performance.
Throughout history,
hypersexuality and objectification have been negatively attributed to and used
against black women. According to Black Feminist Theorists, the emergence and
prevalence of the jezebel image has been used to justify both of these concepts
in which black women are seen as animalistic in their increased sexual appetites
and thus seen as objects to satiate white man’s sexual desires (Banks 2008). In
this specific example regarding Miley Cyrus’s VMA performance, from a Black
Feminist Theoretical lens, it can be said that the hypersexuality of black
women is presented in the dramatization of Miley’s dancing. “Twerking”, a dance
that involves a shaking of the hips and butt, was first introduced to American
popular culture through songs and music videos by black artists. In fact, the
act of “twerking” has also been compared to the dance of traditional Africans.
By showing off her “twerking” skills on stage while surrounded by black women
backup dancers, Miley demonstrates that she too can be black and sexual and
ultimately be like a black woman. Her dance is an imitation of what she thinks
all black women are supposed to be like and do. This reinforces Black Feminist
Theory because as a part of the dominant social group (white), she is helping
to construct and reinscribe not only a constricted view of black culture, but
also the hypersexual image of black women and their bodies as the embodiment of
sex and as sexually deviant (Collins 2000).
The objectification
of her black backup dancers serves to further hypersexualize black women and
negatively portrays them as jezebels. In choosing all black women backup
dancers with noticeably voluptuous butts, it seems that Miley views their
curves as a part of their black womanhood and their bodies as sexual objects.
This supports the Black Feminist view that recognizes the commodification and
exploitation of black women’s bodies as “markers of status” that place them low
in the social hierarchy that relies on race and gender (Collins 2000). In
addition, the sexually suggestive slaps and gestures towards one specific
backup dancer, who is seen with her face covered in a teddy bear mask,
demonstrates the devaluation black women’s bodies. The faceless body of that
one backup dancer is not seen or respected as the body of a woman but instead
is used as a prop for entertainment purposes. The way in which the backup
dancer exposes her butt and lets Miley publicly slap and play with it, also
promotes the idea that black women are hypersexual and that they “want” it.
This view of all black women as jezebels who “want it” due to their supposed animalistic
sexual appetite is the same view and justification that was held by white men
who raped black women throughout slavery (Banks 2008). Thus, this very
hypersexual and racist nature of this performance contributes to the oppression
of black women by maintaining negative images.
Though there are
numerous genres of television shows, I specifically chose to critique this
example, a performance from the MTV Video Music Awards, for set reasons. First
and foremost, MTV is a television channel that is geared towards the youth and
teens. The annual Video Music Awards gives artists a chance to perform their
music while also showcasing their contribution to the popular culture of that
year. What is displayed on this show, like any other show, reinforces society’s
ideals. Nevertheless, Miley Cyrus’s performance this year was especially
representative of the survival of these negative stereotypes of black women
over time. From the content and nature of her performance, it is evident that
the jezebel image of black women is still ingrained in our popular culture and
media and thought of as a form of entertainment. The widespread usage of these
stereotypes throughout media is also very visible. Miley Cyrus’s performance
was not the only one that contained negative stereotypes of black women. The performance
that followed Miley’s, which included rappers 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar, also
included primarily black women in skin tight clothing who were either dancing
provocatively or holding up props. However, Miley’s performance was the one to
be criticized and spread throughout other media outlets because it was the
epitome of public exploitation of black women. As a white woman, she not only
hypersexualized but racialized these black women, thus contributing to the
negative oppressive connotation of her performance. Lastly, MTV’s most recent
announcement selecting Miley Cyrus as the Best Artist of 2013 supports the
acceptance of these stereotypes as valid. The fact is, despite what her
performance entailed, her music is still widely popular and loved by many.
Therefore, this mirrors the leniency and overall acceptance that many feel
towards the oppression of black women.
In order to fully
understand the power of these images, we must first unravel the definition of
violence. The Oxford Dictionary defines violence as “the exercise of physical
force as to inflict injury on, or cause damage to, persons or property”
(Collins 921). However, this definition glosses over the effect that power
hierarchies have on what is defined as violence. According to Patricia Hill
Collins, violence is not only committed on an individual-to-individual basis,
but it is committed through social hierarchies on a group-to-group basis. Some
forms of speech are designed to belittle and humiliate the victim, to
communicate to them that they are worthless, and to demonstrate their
subjugated “place” in the social hierarchy. Collins argues that physical
violence needs a climate of fear and terror to operate, and this climate is
created and maintained by verbal assaults. Thus, the definition of violence
needs to be broadened to include speech and forms of institutional violence.
For example, African American women fall victim to sexual assault, but due to
the stereotype that black women are hypersexual, they are often not considered
victims of violence (Collins 1998). In this case, the dominant group’s speech
has contributed to the incidence of violence against African American women by
creating the idea that they welcome acts of sexual aggression, yet, speech
remains outside of traditional definitions of violence (Collins 1998). Once we
adopt Collins’ redefined concept of violence, we are able to begin to unravel
the effects of these images on the perception of black women in society.
For some individuals,
the only exposure they have to black women are those on the screen, so the
images constructed by the media serve to demonstrate what “real” black women
are. However, the “real” representation of black women has effectively been
erased from history. In order for one group to dominate another, the
subordinate group must be objectified to justify their domination. As bell
hooks asserts, “as objects, one’s reality is defined by others, one’s identity
is created by others, one’s history is constructed [by those in power]”. The
historical representation of African American women as jezebels, mammies,
sapphires, and superwomen were created “not to reflect or represent a reality,
but to function… [as an] objective of social relations” (Collins 70). These
repeated, fictitious representations of black womanhood came to be and still is
considered a valid history of black women in broader society. The intricate and
complex history of African American women has been completely erased by the
dominant group and replaced with images that further their agenda of
domination. In order for us to prevent this pattern from spreading onto our
future generations, more must be done. The emergence of Black Feminist Theory
has addressed this interconnection between race and gender; yet, films,
television shows, and other media outlets continue to display these negative
portrayals. The immense popularity of these images is reflective of the fact
that these stereotypes are deeply ingrained into and accepted by our culture.
Though we do not know the exact measures it will take to rid society of these
stereotypes, what we do know is that it’s going to include a complete
transformation of our existing social structures to undo the effects of
generations of oppression.
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Crenshaw, Kimberle.
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