Mammy Essay

African American women are stereotyped as the “Jezebel” archetype. African American women’s historical background causes the

At this time period, the mammy image served the political, social, and economic interests of mainstream white America as proof that blacks -- in this case, black women -- were contented, even happy, as slaves. It was true, Pauline did feel happy working for the white family. Although, her motives are contrary to popular belief. It is there and there only that she feels as if she is a part of something valuable. The uncompromising perpetuation of white ideals, formed a clear difference between her and others in her mind.

The second mythology placed on black women was that of Mammy. ”Mammy was the woman who could do anything, and do it better than anyone else.” (White, 47) Mammy was basically the super nanny of the plantation who lived in the house, she would oversee the kitchen, manage the household and at sometimes raised the white children. Mammy was also so respected that she often served as friend and advisor to the master and mistress. (White, 48) Mammy was often called around the clock to and was expected to be available for assistances and nursing at anytime. From the chapter it could even be concluded that Mammy was asexual, maternal, and virtuous with nonexistent sexuality, the complete opposite of Jezebel. The Mammy mythology is as misleading as the Jezebel image. The image

Minstrel performers where as the film described, a group of white Caucasians that would perform with black face paint and mock African Americans. This form of entertainment grew popular and provided one of the strongest depiction of the Sambo. Right next to the Sambo was the Zip Coon, a dandy, and a buffoon, a Zip Coon would attempt to imitate whites. But with poor grammar and with little to no intelligents the Zip Coon's attempts proved to be a nothing more then a racist mockery. Therefor creating a generalization of Stupidity with in the African American population and creating a notion of Racial inequality. Also with the Sambo and Zip Coon was the Mammy. The mammy is described and viewed as a jolly, obese, African American women, the strongest Mammy depiction was first evident in the film Judge Priest in 1934. The Uncle figure was depicted in similar nature as the Mammy but in male form and a depiction called the Pickaninny provided a generalization of silly and worthless African American Child.

Along with the Mammy stereotype, the portrayal of Black women as being lecherous by nature is also a continuing stereotype. Lewd, hypersexual and loose are a few descriptive words associated with this stereotype (Thomas et. al, 2004). The Jezebel is everything the Mammy is not. Physically, she is seen as being a mixed-raced woman with Eurocentric features that those who fall into the physical characterization of the Mammy try to achieve. She has light-skin, less kinky hair, smaller lips and a more slender nose. Although the Jezebel fits the Eurocentric beauty standards, this image “branded Black women as being sexually promiscuous and immoral” (West, p. 294) due to the sexual violence committed against them during slavery. Hutchings et. al (2010) argues that, “explicit racial cues are not necessarily a thing of the past and under certain conditions they can be

Very few weaknesses exist within Kirsten Buick’s article. Because of the divisions in the article, there is no clear thesis. Each section in the article seems to have its own thesis statement. Additionally, Buick’s conclusion paragraph, only two sentences long, does not adequately wrap up the article. Despite these minor flaws, the article is very well written and organized. Buick provides more than sufficient data to back up her argument. She provides quotes from other writers and columnists, art historians, and Edmonia Lewis herself. When discussing Lewis’s sculpture Hagar in the Wilderness, Buick provides text from the Bible on Hagar. After providing a visual analysis of each sculpture mentioned, Buick explains their cultural significance. For example, Buick mentions the relationship between mother and child in Lewis’s The Freedwoman on First Hearing of Her Liberty and explains, “with the end of slavery, mother and child were no longer property that could be

By employing themes such as psychosexual fantasies, race, gender, and violence, artist Kara Walker reconstructs and explores the history and effects of American slavery on American culture. Although being called names like notorious, revolting, anti-progressive, and shameless, she continues to be a pioneer of bringing the unspeakable aspects of American slavery that are not commonly discussed and are left out of the history books to the foreground of public discussion.

Aunt Jemima/Mammy - Mammy represented as a defense to slavery. She was born in ante-bellum America and was portrayed as fat, pitch-black, and happily obedient to her master and mistress. Mammy was docile, loyal, and jovial, and understood her value of society. She was considered the antithesis of white ladies, white ladies being fragile and beautiful. She was also classified as sexual. In her own family, she was the leader, an indication that black people cannot make it through society if a female was needed to give orders.

One of the obstacles that African American writers had to face during the eighteen and nineteen hundreds was effectively communicating with white audiences. The white audience ranged from supporters of abolition and black rights to past or present slaveholders. Authors had to reach southern and northern audiences and have an appearance of humbleness to attract some and action to attract others. One of the methods that was used to make their writings attractive across audiences was metaphor. This literary device allowed them to code meaning to present information in the dosage that each type of audience needed. This paper will explore “the loophole of retreat” in Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and “the Veil” in W.E.B.

Slavery is a contradictory subject in American history because “one hears…of the staid and gentle patriarchy, the wide and sleepy plantations with lord and retainers, ease and happiness; [while] on the other hand on hears of barbarous cruelty and unbridles power and wide oppression of men” (Dubois 2). Dubois’s The Negro in the United States is an autoethnographic text which is a representation “that the so-defined others

Through the story of Shoe Boots, who was a Cherokee warrior and Doll, an African-American slave who was his long-term lover. Tina Miles presents us a fascinating tale about the Cherokees, the Whites and the Blacks. The relationship between Shoe Boots and Doll had indeed been a very unusual relationship at the time. The more acceptable intermarriages were between the Cherokees and the Whites. It was through their relationship that, Tina Miles was able to show us a different perspective. Unlike the others, she didn't just focus on the Whites and the Cherokees. Instead, she showed us this new element; The blacks. She showed us issues that had arisen as the Cherokees had adopted attitudes and actions of the White supremest regarding race, slavery, gender and economy. This story shows that through the British and American colonization of the southeast had led to the introduction of African slavery and racial prejudice among the Cherokees and

The issue of slavery in the United States has been hotly debated for centuries. Historians continuously squabble over the causes and effects of America’s capitalistic, industrial form of slavery. But two of the most heavily discussed questions are whether the institution of slavery destroyed African culture in America, and whether it reduced slaves to a child-like state of dependency and incompetence. Anthropologist Melville Herskovits, and historian Stanley Elkins both weigh in on this debate: Herskovits with, The Myth of the Negro Past, and Elkins with, Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life. In, Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life, Elkins asserts that African culture was all but destroyed by a repression of the slaves’ rights, at the hands of their masters. He claims that complete dependence on their masters and a lack of collective cultural identity and family bonds, reduced slaves to a child-like state of helplessness and ignorance, and childish behavior called the ‘Sambo’. Herskovits takes a different stance in this debate. In, The Myth of the Negro Past, he claims that African culture was not completely destroyed by slavery, and that the ‘Sambo’ stereotype was no more than a myth or at least a gross generalization. He uses slave revolts and the persistence of African culture in American in music, dance, and language as evidence to prove this.

Looking at the female slave as a mother, we find that she fetishizes her relationship with her child. Fueling her state of distortion further, we suggest that the mother believes her infant son’s existence is another mistakes. Boldly, the mother takes on the unprecedented role of God and makes a multitude of distasteful decisions about her infant son. Like deeming his fair skin unbearable, predicting that as an adult he will claim a “master-right” over black slaves, and finally ending his life. By all accounts, the mother is unable to make sensible decisions about anything.

This dissertation proposal focuses on the importance of the Black church in the United States and its influence on the religious nature of Black fictional female characters in the literary works of Harriet Beecher Stowe's (1852), Uncle Tom's Cabin, and James Baldwin's (1953), Go Tell it on the Mountain. I will focus on these two texts because they specifically display religious representations of Black female subjectivity, which takes us into a brief dialogue of sentimentalism. For example, Stowe feels that she “must speak for the oppressed - who cannot speak for themselves” (Uncle Tom's Cabin in a letter to Lord Denman, January 20, 1853). As another example, James Baldwin’s characters are slightly removed (a generation or two) from the signing

Indeed, the cross of White supremacy and main stream Americanism seeks to impose the archetypes of Jezebel, Sapphire, and Mammy on to the institution of Black womanhood. And through these archetypes comes the intention of limiting the Black feminine and perpetuating the ethos of Whiteness. Ultimately, it is in the pressured service of Simon that one witnesses the mandated participation of the Black feminine to adhere to standards and ideals of being that they themselves did not form. Just as Simon bore the cross for Jesus, Black women are bearing the cross of white ethnocentrism for the sake of myths perpetuated by the White ethos—attempting to live and thrive within a culture that does not accept genuine Black femininity which is self-defined and self-determined.