Stereotypes Of African American Women During The Civil War

This paper is going to look in to the role mass media plays in how women of color and adolescents see themselves. My sources will give insight to how black women are directly and indirectly affected by the media. Stereotypes of black women shape how they see themselves but also how others see and treat them. Although mass media affects black women, ethnic media is shown to play a much bigger role in determining our self- image. Ethnic media can have a negative or positive affect based off how strong your ethnic identiy is. Others tend to have their standards on what being black and beautiful means. This leads to colorism in the black community. Women of color have had stereotypical images that demonized and dehumanized them throughout history.

When thinking about black actresses in the 1930s through 1950s, a few names may come to mind like Nina McKinney, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, and Hattie McDaniel. However, many other black actresses have graced the big screen including Suzette Harbin, Theresa Hams, Ethel Moses, Mae Turner, and Hilda Simms just to name a few. Many of these talented actresses differ in their career paths, but they all endured some form of racism and sexism which made it laborious for them to thrive in their careers. By the Way, Meet Vera Stark represents the hardships of black actresses during the 1930s through 1950s. The protagonist, Vera Stark, persistently tries to prove to the people around her that she has star quality for show business. However, she does not reach her potential because of her race. Although she obtains some gigs, the gigs demean black women during that time. The offensive parts for black actresses vary from mammy to slave woman to seductress. The following roles offered black actresses’ opportunities to one day acquire star making roles. Unfortunately, those roles did not apply to black actresses. Only white actors and actresses experienced that fortuity. By the Way, Meet Vera Stark exposes Hollywood’s misconduct of black actresses and further explains the lack of black representation today. Indeed, roles for black actresses have increased since the 1930s through 1950s; however the roles have become more stereotypical like the obnoxious black woman, the token black

All African-Americans have been portrayed in stereotypical roles since their arrival into American society for the entertainment and amusement of others. Many people find it difficult to appreciate the diversity of the African American women. So instead of trying to do this, they create identities based on negative stereotypes. There are several negative stereotypes associated with the African American woman. The Mammy archetype is the one chosen to be analyzed in this essay. Collins described the mammy as “-the faithful, obedient domestic servant. Created to justify the economic exploitation of house slaves and sustained to explain Black women’s long-standing restriction to domestic service…” (72) She is commonly seen trying to soothe

Firstly, a brief background of Early Black cinema is important to note. In 1915 The Plantation Genre (form of genre) came about with the release of Birth of a Nation an overtly anti-black film, which included three main mythic stereotypes. These included the “unlawful slave” who represented black slaves as unpredictable, cunning and violent; this representation was used as reasoning for whites sustaining control. The “subordinate slave” stereotype, which represented blacks as dependable, loving and accepting of their position; this allowed white audiences to displace any guilt about slavery. Additionally, there’s also what is known as the “clown entertainer” which included characteristics of innate humor and the

Patton, 1993). Hence, the Mammy in the white household is seen as an intelligent servant to the white family, solving wisely and even god-like every duty she has to fulfill. Unsurprisingly, she constantly balances between the white and the black community, being a spokesman for the black minority (cf. Atkinson 2004, 2). Although the black servant is a slave within a white household, the Mammy is portrayed as being content with her way of living, having a satisfying master-servant relationship and feeling not inferior, but rather seeing herself as a member of the family (cf. Jewell, 1993: 38). In acquiescence with Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, the image of the Mammy has been applied to create an atmosphere of racial harmony within the slave system (cf. 2008: 13). Hence, the role of the Mammy in the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century is established in effort to create an image of the Mammy contrasting to the stereotypical image of the African American slave, who is inferior to the white

Media always find a way to portray women as sexual object. What’s so upsetting to me is how society portrays women and its always one particular group that stands out the most. Just take a great guess on what group you think stands out the most. Yes you guessed it right, Black women in media always have a very negative view. Media supports negative stereotypes about African American women by showing them in an objectifying darkness. I feel society has to bring down a particular group and that group is black women. The images of black women is very negative falling typically into the stereotypical categories as “Gold Diggers, Mammy’s, Jezebels, Baby Mamas, Uneducated Sistas, Ratchet, Angry Black Women, Unhealthy Women, and my all-time favorite,

If a movie of this sort had such an emotional impact on me, it is no wonder people embraced these ideas back then. The use of new and popular media methods in those days was more than adequate in transferring the black inferiority ideas to the general public. Beginning at the early 19th century with the happy, dancing, toothless, drunken Negro with big, bold and white lips to the image of the mid 21st century African-American, the media has always used these images to convey inferiority. These images implied inherent traits in the black community. This whole community was represented in the new media as one who can not be collateralized and integrated in to society without being happily enslaved. Most of these images had great commercial values that made it all the more impossible for the rest of the nation not to embrace the African American stereotypes.

The Southern Sambo, Mammy, and Jim Crow are three major stereotypical characters of African Americans in past and present popular culture that served their own purposes, held their own characteristics, and completed their respective actions. As a whole, each character completed the task of negatively portraying Blacks in popular culture. Although these characters were made centuries ago, many of them have either transformed or adapted to times in order to remain relevant even in the twenty-first century. These characters served as the foundation of a weapon used for the subconscious oppression of African Americans in a free society.

The history of African Americans in early Hollywood films originated with blacks representing preconceived stereotypes. D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, stirred many controversial issues within the black community. The fact that Griffith used white actors in blackface to portray black people showed how little he knew about African Americans. Bosley Crowther’s article “The Birth of Birth of a Nation” emphasizes that the film was a “highly pro-South drama of the American Civil War and the Period of Reconstruction, and it glorified the role of the Ku Klux Klan” (76). While viewing this film, one would assert that the Ku Klux Klan members are heroic forces that rescue white women from sexually abusive black men. Griffith

Stereotypes are instilled in us at a young age by our previous experiences and by our parents. Whether they are positive or negative, African American females have to deal with these on a daily basis. Stereotypes often influence the way people view themselves and the way others view them. These are represented in American media, such as commercials and other advertisements.

According to Tukachinsky, Mastro, and Yarchi, prior to 1930, the role of Blacks on screen were seen involving mostly in criminality and idleness (540). That role still persists until the present, with Blacks usually have to withstand to “longstanding and unfavorable media stereotypes including sexually provocative females and aggressive male thugs” (Tukachinsky 540). 1970’s movies such as The Mack, Black Caesar and Coffy have reinforced this stereotypic image of the black community. The

Between 1980 to 1990, 8% to 12% of African-Americans completed four or more years in their college education (Educational Attainment, by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1960 to 1998). For many African Americans in the 1980’s, it was very hard to Imagine graduating from college, let alone graduating from two Ivy league Universities. One very influential woman did just that, her name is Michelle Obama. Alma maters of Michelle Obama includes Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Upon graduating from both of these Universities, Mrs. Obama clearly defied the odds against her. During her time at Harvard, she met Barack Obama. Soon after, they got married and she became a lawyer in the Chicago offices of the law firm Sidley & Austin. Years after,

I have always believed deeply that the role of a mother holds complexities that I have come to appreciate. It amazes me how innate characteristics are completely unravelled once a woman gives birth. As people have certain ideas of how a mother acts and presents herself, there is a unique depiction particularly of African American mothers during the 20th century. At the Mothers in Movies event, we were presented with different clips to analyze and discuss. The compilation of these clips surfaced different ideas held of African American mothers during the 20th century, such as conformity to social norms, aggressiveness, and tough love.

Who and what that gets included, altered, or deleted to fit into an acceptable version of American history is often due to the different views, options, memories, sources, and perceived importance by the historians themselves. These variations, modifications and conflicting perceptions can spin into stereotypes that can be mistaken as fact, instead of fiction. One of Southern history’s most common know stereotype is of the black Mammy. This paper will discuss the depiction of the African-American slave mythological figure - Mammy, and also her opposing character, Jezebel. Mammy’s origins are deeply embedded in the antebellum American South. Historians and scholars state clearly that the Mammy and Jezebel characters are and were fictional, but how and why they evolved, and also the degree of their roles, slightly differs from historian to historian. This paper will primarily look at the works of historians Jessie Parkhurst (1938), John Blassingame (1972), Eugene Genovese (1974), Catherine Clinton (1982), Deborah Gray White (1985), Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (1988), Jo-Ann Morgan (1995), and Kimberly Wallace-Sanders (2008).

From the very beginning of the early stages in American cinema, African Americans had a presence on the silver screen. The twentieth century created a new era of cinema that consisted of films produced for and targeted to an all-Black audience. “Race films” which existed in the United States for over thirty years (1913-1948), were films produced by African Americans that focused on Black themes and highlighted the talents of African American directors, producers, scriptwriters, and actors.