Some May Believe You Can Not Be A Fan Of ‘Being Mary Jane’

replacement of stereotyped images of black womanhood with those that are self defined, 4) black women’s activism, and 5) sensitivity to black sexual politics. The first three themes correlate to black motherhood and living in a binary environment, one in which black people are the oppressed and white

To begin discussing stereotypes of African American women, one must understand that the stereotypes white women in America face are much different. While, the stereotypes of women as a whole have been negative and perverse, the majority of these views have been reversed since the beginning of the 20th century. Societal norms of white women have transformed from the days of June Clever to a post-feminist era with equality on the rise. However, this revolution of norms has not occurred at the same rate for African American women. Analyzing the stereotypes of Jezabel, Mammy, and Sapphire the transparent myths of black women persist today.

“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”- Malcolm X. Black women have been stripped of their humanity for so long in popular culture that society can’t even see the truth that lies in front of them. Black women can’t express their anger, or they’re just another angry black woman stereotype. Yes, black women are angry, they are fed up with white women flaunting around their culture like it's a fashion trend, black women are tired of having to work twice as hard just to gain respect in the workplace, and most importantly they are tired of being hypersexualized. Through music videos, black women are hyper-sexualized, which maintains the sexual glorification of a black female body, while also strengthening the abhorrent stereotype of the Jezebel, which is linked back to times of slavery. The Jezebel stereotype was the slavers justification for raping and assaulting black women. Black women were depicted as sexually promiscuous and “whores” by nature. This image generated the belief that black women couldn’t be victims of rape because they lust for sexual relations. The hypersexualization of black women is a danger to black women and girls. Black women can still be seen in a Jezebel like an image in hip-hop/pop music videos. Their hardly accoutred bodies are often adorned on expensive cars or caressed by male rappers.

Nowadays, I’m happy to see that more black films are being produced, more faces of every shape and color take over the screen, and however, that happiness is dampened by the roles in which these actors and actresses are given. Stereotypes, like the “angry black woman” or “baby mama”, start to arise, and shed a disastrous light upon black women as a whole. I remember tuning to UPN and watching Moesha, and how she was so incredibly female; she was independent, she went to college, and how she loved the wrong boy, then the right boy, and so on. Her range of being able to simply feel, forever astounds me, because women in my household had to be happy, perfect, put together, and never complained about the work they had to do at home. Even the roles of black men have been upsetting; the con men, the gangster, the dummy, the athlete, the ladies’ man. Where were the roles that my people

In the new season of the popular TV show, Queen Sugar, Nova’s character addressed how a woman of color appeals to black men through the perspective of a feminist black woman. When it comes to black feminism, it touches many issues including domestic abuse, police violence, salary gap, and other sensitive topics that significantly affect the average African-American woman.

“Angry black woman. Baby Momma. Black Barbie. Gold Digger. Unhealthy fat black woman.” -Krissah Thompson, Essence Magazine. All of these phrases in which 901 black women themselves have illustrated other black women in a survey given by Essence magazine and partners. Thirty of the women who participated in the survey kept diaries for almost two weeks to document the media images they saw portraying black women, proving the media and stereotypes are both very persuasive. The media has come a long way in the portrayal of black people and especially black women in our progressive society, yet black women are still being depicted poorly in media because Hollywood, in particular, prey on black women insecurities and Black women themselves label and stereotype other Black women.

Mgadmi, Mahassen. “Black Women’s Identity: Stereotypes, Respectability and Passionless… “Revue LISA/LISA e-Journal. Litteratures, Histoire Des Idees, Images, Societes Du Monde Anglophone- Literature, History of Ideas, Images and Societies of the English-Speaking World, Presses Universitaires De Rennes, 1 Jan 2009, journals.openedition.org/lisa/806. Pilgrim, David.

The practice of the White ignorance of not seeing Black women as humans creates their invisibility as well as produces racialized images to justify their beliefs. The dominant ideology of the enslaved Black women as less-than human continued when slavery ended and they entered the workforce. To maintain control of domination the Mammy image was created to keep Black women in a subservient passive role of the obedient servant who knows her place and accepts her subordination. Collins (2000) explains further, Whites expected Black women to assume the Mammy image and did not see them as their equal. The Mammy image is the public face of what Whites expect Black women to assume for them. “Juxtaposed against images of White women, the mammy image as the Other symbolizes the oppositional difference of mind/body and culture/nature thought to distinguish Black women from everyone else” (Collins, 2000, p. 73). Today, as Black women are working in professional fields, the terminology has changed from Mammy to the

Of the six main Eurocentric constructions of black womanhood, each are categorized and constructed to bring about a stereotypical image of the Black woman. African American women are depicted in a few cliché categories; that of Mammy, Jezebel (or sexual siren), Sapphire (or likewise called Matriarch), and the Welfare Mother (Queen). The conduct and attitudes represented in these stereotypes can have harming impacts on and in view of African American

Black women in the media need to be shown as a powerful group of females. The media should show women as positions with authority, individualists who rebel against the harsh stereotypes, and heroines who people look up to. Some TV shows like Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder have shown dominant black female protagonists, but this is not enough to create a change. Sadly, a stereotype still remains for black, affluent, and happy women. The article “For Black Women, everything is a Feminist Issue”, Mikki Kenall talks about problems black women face daily. “There is an assumption that being a good (black) feminist involves making a specific set of pre-approved choices that may or may not be relevant to the individual making them”.1 This statement explains that even though you are a black lady with manners, you have untrue expectations to fill for yourself and people around you for what is considered

American culture has developed stereotypes in relation to both African American women as well as Asian Pacific American women. For instance, Ammons suggests that historical caricatures of Black women include the Mammy, Aunt Jemima, and Jezebel; modern stereotypes include Sapphire, the matriarch, and the welfare queen (264). Consequently, as these labels suggest, in most instances Black women are typecast as fiery, strong, and not in need of any help. Therefore, if something does happen to them where they are a victim of sexual violence, they may not be seen as an actual victim and rather as someone who can take care of themselves (Ammons).

Phyllis is Mary’s other neighbor and friend that she has known for many years. She is very set in her ways, and believes that she is a great mother because she uses parenting books to help raise her daughter, Bess. This makes her come off as somewhat stuck-up. She is the only married one of the friends, and she likes to talk about her relationship with her husband, Lars. The Mary Tyler Moore Show equally presents Mary beginning her life as an independent woman and finding a “‘family’ among her co-workers and her neighbors” as Geof Hammill states in his post about the show on Museum of Broadcast Communications’ website.

Entirely self-sufficient and all around powerhouse, Mary Jane is devoted to a family that doesn’t share her motivation. Unlike the traditional female gender role known to us such as Clair from the Cosby Show, Mary Jane juggles her life, her work and commitment to her family. We find out how far she’s willing to go to discover the puzzle piece that she and society insist is missing from her single Black female life in the episode “Huxtables Have Fallen.” Having that of a progressive

This text along with many other texts relating to Black feminism: love, sex, and relationships, gives a perspective on sexuality and a woman’s right to not submit to the traditional expectations of the above. The text looks at the misinterpretations of single Black women, or women who are portrayed as unmarriable or not wanted. An interesting part of the text, is one that features Being Mary Jane and her desires for marriage and children or rather it leads to question if its simple “Black girl brainwashing. In the following season, she pursues, what some of us would consider to be the American Dream and that is to be married and with children, as a failed attempt, Jane chooses to focus once more on her career. During the third season, she explores

1. My thoughts while reading the Patricia Hill Collins book the first time can be neatly summed up on one word. Wow. The thoughts were really deep, and it took me several read-throughs over the course of several days to completely understand some of the concepts that she was getting at, as well as my feelings on the subject. I was a little unnerved at how these stereotypes worked to frame the social constraints surrounding black women, and how they so neatly created a ‘no win,’ situation for black women. There wasn’t a really ‘positive,’ stereotype in which a black woman could do everything right while actually achieving anything of great importance. Even the mammy stereotype that is really the ‘ideal,’ cast for black femininity in popular culture limits achievements of black women, instead relegating them to the role of ‘servitude to the dominate class.’ The Black Lady stereotype was somewhat better, but still not truly equal as it implied.