Portrayal Of Black Female Sexuality

In Deborah E. McDowell’s essay Black Female Sexuality in Passing she writes about the sexual repression of women seen in Nella Larsen‘s writings during the Harlem Renaissance, where black women had difficulty expressing their sexuality. In her essay, she writes about topics affecting the sexuality of women such as, religion, marriage, and male dominated societies. In Toni Morrison’s short story, “Recitatif” there are examples of women who struggle to express their sexuality. The people in society judge women based off their appearance, and society holds back women from expressing themselves due to society wanting them to dress/act a certain way.

The stereotypical misrepresentations of African-American women and men in popular culture have influenced societal views of Blacks for centuries. The typical stereotypes about Black women range from the smiling, a sexual and often obese Mammy to the promiscuous Jezebel who lures men with her sexual charms. However, the loud, smart mouthed, neck-rolling Black welfare mother is the popular image on reality television. These images portrayed in media and popular culture create powerful ideology about race and gender, which affects daily experiences of Black women in America. With few healthy relationships portrayed in the media, Black women are left to make decisions based on the options

There are hardly any films involving African-Americans that accurately represent black culture and it is something that has rarely been accomplished in the mainstream film industry. In the 30s, black film had an extraordinary presence as they were shown to large segregated audiences. However, by the 80’s black film was seen as simply comic relief with no true depictions of real life. In 1986, She’s Gotta Have It was introduced by director, editor and actor Spike Lee who wanted real people with real lives in his work. The film offers a new perspective on sexuality and the double standard that is applied to men and women. This portrayal allowed audiences to visualize African-Americans as any other race when it comes to loving one another and

These stereotypes depicted “drug dealers, prostitutes, single mothers, and complacent drag queens” (Harris, 51). In the 1980s, African American filmmakers began to make a name for themselves. These films are “social commentaries, indictments of racism and depictions of ‘everyday’ American lives” (Harris, 51). Compared to the traditional representations of blacks and blackness, New Black cinema takes on this cultural intervention and the recoding of blackness. Harris describes this as “revising the visual codes surrounding black skin on the screen and in the public

Both Laura Mulvey and bell hooks describe the idea of the “gaze” in film. In both of the theories presented by Mulvey and hooks, the “gaze” is the way in which viewers are subjected to a particular perspective because of their social standing. In Mulvey’s case, she argues that the “gaze” in which the audience is forced into is that of the “male gaze” while hooks argues a more nuanced “gaze” including the “oppositional gaze”. While some of Mulvey’s argument is accurate, hooks argues that it leaves out important other factors, in particular, race. Both arguments have many similarities and differences, and can be seen exemplified in many films, such as Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It.

Schulman, Gary I. "Race, Sex, and Violence: A Laboratory Test of the Sexual Threat of the Black Male Hypothesis." American Journal of Sociology 79.5 (1974): 1260. Web.

Spike Lee and John Singleton write their films about inner-city violence and black youth. Although they grew up in different parts of the United States (John Singleton in Los Angeles and Spike Lee in New York) they have something to say to society. They both strive to expose the realities faced by African-Americans, especially those in inner-city ghettos. With Spike Lee starring as Mookie and John Singleton embodying Tre, both directors showcase their perspective on American society via their characters.

Throughout America’s history there have been many struggles with equality amongst the many racial identities that live in this “melting pot.” Acceptance of the many races is a continuous goal in the war on racism in America. Once accepted, many racial identities go under huge scrutiny by the media, society, and their other racial counterparts, etc. Black Sexual Politics by Patricia Hill Collins is a critical analysis of blacks in America and blacks as a race. The book analyzes this race on various levels, and these levels include, but are not limited to the following: the concept of “new” racism, gender ideology within the race, and the potential for progression of

“No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have Black women… when Black people are talked about the focus tends to be on Black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.” - Bell Hooks

Some Like It Hot describes the gender differences by showing women as objects, who are looking for men with a good financial plan who can take care of them. The way Some Like It Hot portrays sexuality and gender has been influenced by American stereotypes, but also influenced by the expectations of Marilyn Monroe. The article provides examples of gender essentialism by talking about one of the beginning scenes at the booking agency where

Summary In Jacqueline Bobo’s article “The Color Purple: Black Women as Cultural Readers” she explains the examination of differences in thoughts on media whether it be film or text by people of different races, genders, and social class. “The Color Purple” is a text written by Alice Walker that was not as popular after its debut in 1982 in comparison to its film made just three years later by Steven Spielberg. “The Color Purple” expresses black men and women in a different light than what some are familiar with.

There are certainly many different ‘types’ of feminists with varying beliefs on various topics. Pornography is one of the most widely disputed of these topics, and has long caused controversy among feminists. Two clear, and distinctly different, sides have been taken by Andrea Dworkin as well as Linda Williams.

In African American studies, the scholarship of gender and sexuality is largely based in the intellectual tradition that grew out of the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. With a discourse that historically examines the behaviors, conditions, and attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on class oppression, sex, and gender identity as social constructs found to be inextricably bound together, the inclusion of gender and sexuality in African American studies reaches back to include the work of such diverse social and cultural activists as Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells, and Sojourner Truth. Working to situate the rights of all black people in a place of woman-inclusive equality, the scholarship moves forward through the work of activist intellectuals that include Elise Johnson McDougald, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who urged political action for black women as a form of physical and political protection. Moving forward, the fight for academic inclusion of African American studies broadened the examination of race, gender, and sexuality beyond the feminism that writer Alice Walker suggests emphasizes women's natural contribution to society (Walker, 2005).

I am ___________ and I work as a research assistant in the Global Community Health Promotion Network. We are contacting your organization to see if you are interested in helping with our research study. This research study aims to investigate the sexual experiences of Black women and how they can be utilized to create an effective and culturally-relevant HIV Prevention program that emphasizes pleasurable safe sex and sexual empowerment. We would like to recruit women through your organization to participate in a focus group session. For participating in the focus group, women will be compensated $35 for their time, and given a gift bag with sexual health items including condoms and informational resources. We would also like to explore the

Within the history of representation of the Black Woman on network television, content creators have reinforced images and ideals that a dark-skinned sister is no more than a deviant sexual object used for men’s pleasure. She is represented as a woman with an innate fire within her, but rarely ever the object of unbiased love and affection. Many scholars and media critics blame the lack of representation of Black female sexuality on screen and other media for the high rates of divorces and even rates of spousal abuse. Others point to the Black woman herself as the cause and the problem of many unhappy, unmarried Black men in America. This essay will explore present research about the ways in which the stereotypical representations of sex and relationships at home and by Black characters in American mainstream media is harmful to the overall healthy sexual development of young Black Women.