Recently I was asked a question in light of the new year, “What can Black women do to be more womanly in 2010?” I thought for a second because truthfully the question sounded kind of strange. I’m not a fashion expert nor do I dabble in makeup artistry so my advice wasn’t going to dwell on those points. Then it hit me like a Mac truck. (Get it? Mac? No? Okay.) The one thing Black women can do in 2010 to be better in general is to be themselves. Now hold on. This isn’t going to be corny, I swear. As many people have already complained, everyone wants to be a barbie now. With the newly found fame of Nicki Minaj, young Black women seem to have found a new leader and model for success. Because of her nicknames of Nicki Minaj and Nicki the Harajuku Barbie, there has been a massive surge of name changes across the world. No, the DMV[1] hasn’t been ambushed, I’m talking about on social networking sites. Those with Facebooks, MySpaces, or Twitters can attest to this. How many Jane Minaj’s do you know? How many people do you follow with the word ‘Barbie’ in their name? That’s not to say that men aren’t being equally as insane with the Joseph WakaFlaka Smiths’ out there. But this is focused on the women. I say all that to say, my answer to that question was be yourself because we can’t be feeding into the gross stereotypes of the past. What stereotypes are those you ask?
Patricia Hill-Collins wrote about the four main stereotypes or controlling images for Black women. These stereotypes are the Mammy, the Matriarch, the Welfare Mother, and finally the Jezebel or the Whore. According to Hill-Collins, these are images that were used to oppress black women. According to Hazel Carby, these images are used “not to reflect or represent a reality but to function as a disguise, or mystification, of objective social relations.” In other words, they don’t reflect the true nature of Black women and simply classify them, it instead makes it appear as though these are the only types of Black women out there. Hill-Collins goes on to say, “The dominant ideology of the slave era fostered the creation of four interrelated, socially constructed controlling images of Black womanhood, each reflecting the dominant group’s interest in maintaining Black women’s subordination.” So these images are meant to keep Black women down. They weren’t meant to empower in any way and still to this day do not empower. While there are four images, I will describe all four but focus on two for the sake of succinctness and relevance to the “be true to yourself” answer I gave.
Mammy
Traditionally, the mammy was the Black mother figure in white homes. “The faithful, obedient domestic servant… represents the normative yardstick used to evaluate all Black women’s behavior. By loving, nurturing, and caring for her white children and ‘family’ better than her own, the mammy symbolizes the dominant group’s perceptions of the ideal Black female relationship to elite white male power. Even though she may be well loved and may wield considerable authority in her white ‘family,’ the mammy still knows her ‘place’ as obedient servant. She has accepted her subordination.”
While this doesn’t address the wannabe Barbies out there, this is still true for older women. We’re told to take care of others before ourselves.
Matriarch
“The Black mother figure in Black homes… the “bad” Black mother… fail their traditional “womanly” duties. Spending too much time away from home, these working mothers ostensibly cannot properly supervise their children and are a major contributing factor to their children’s school failure. As overly aggressive, unfeminine women, Black matriarchs allegedly emasculate their lovers and husbands. These men, understandably, either desert their partner or refuse to marry the mothers of their children. Elite white men see her as the failed mammy. The source of the matriarch’s failure is her inability to model appropriate gender behavior.”
The Matriarch is also doomed to failure (in the eyes of society) because she is solely responsible for her children’s success and when they fail, she fails. This is a problem because if Black women are told they must choose between these four images this is the one most people are going to opt for. Black women have to face a lot of obstacles and because of this, some have developed a tough shell. The problem with that is she then comes off as a strong, insensitive b-word that rhymes with witch, if I may. She is then scorned for not being cordial and political in corporate America even though she is behaving like everyone else. And she is even judged by Black men because the Matriarch often times refuses to let others help her and has that “pull yourself up by your bootstrap” mentality that many claim the poor should have but when it is actually instilled it is a turn off. She won’t let a man help her which emasculates him and makes him have no value in that relationship.
Welfare Mother
“African-Americans can be racially stereotyped as being lazy by blaming Black welfare mothers for failing to pass on the work ethic. Moreover, the welfare mother has no male authority figure to assist her. Typically portrayed as an unwed mother…”
The image of the unwed Black women who is lazy and sucks up welfare is not uncommon in film, TV, and other media.
The Jezebel
“Whore, sexually aggressive woman… central in this nexus of elite white male images of Black womanhood because efforts to control Black women’s sexuality lie at the heart of Black women’s oppression… Provides a rationale for the widespread sexual assaults by white men typically reported by Black slave women.”
The image of the sexually aggressive woman was one that was started to justify rape and the ownership of slave children as property. After all, what emotional worth is one slave baby if a Black woman loves sex anyway and is just going to pop out more? This image strikes home to me the most because so often in the days of Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj and other sexually explicit[2] female rappers women have chosen to take on this persona as, “I’m going to be as forthcoming and outright as men are when it comes to discussing sex.” While they are fighting to be equal and overcome the sexual double standard, they instead reinforce an age-old stereotype and inadvertently oppress themselves. Nobody takes them seriously in the workplace nor in a relationship.
I guess the long version of my answer is not only to be yourself, but also to know who you are, and know what others expect of you as well. Now that we all know these controlling images that we can so often feed into, we can fight the stereotype. Do you think these stereotypes still exist? Are they a driving force in many movies, TV shows, and other media? If you had to answer the question of what can Black women do to be more womanly in 2010 what would you have said?
P.S. If you type in “black women” into Google the second entry is “Jezebel Stereotype”. Interesting.
[1] I think that’s the first time I used the acronym DMV to mean Department of Motor Vehicles instead of DC, MD, and VA.
[2] This isn’t a debate on the merit of female rappers who rap equally as sexually explicit as their male counterparts. That is a discussion that cannot be covered in a quick and sweeping sentence.
i liked the article and where your goin' brings up a lot. i do kinda feel slighted in that all though you were discussing the stereotyping of black women you never talked about how black women should be thought of or presented actual representations of black women, or model black women who disprove the stereotypical appeals that are out there. however over-arching theme and ideals behind the article make sense, i jus wish there was a bit more, a solution to the problem that be but thats jus me llz. most people should know or probably do know that the thoughts, ideals, and representations of black women in terms of stereotypes are false and while no one is perfect what should be recognized is that black women are true gifted beautiful strong loving and intelligent.
I see what you're saying. Maybe a part two is in order to spread the good news of women who defy these stereotypes.
oh i searched "black women" in google…smh @ the 2nd result
1. The 20 Sexiest Black Women Over 40 – AOL Black Voices
2. Jezebel Stereotype – while it is an educational link, its still crazy that that is what pops up as opposed to the third link which is described below.
3. African American Women's History – Black Women's History
Pingback: Black Women Stereotypes | FreshXpress.:.The PULSE of Young Black America
"What can Black women do to be more womanly in 2010?"
When I read that question, I thought about what a woman's tradition role is without being offensive to modern women who hate to be labeled or restricted. In my opinion, my answer to this question would be to let a man (or their man if they have one) but a man. Do not emasculate him.
It was hard for me to understand that at first but I got defensive instantly but what a world of difference it makes when it comes to being a woman and letting go. As a woman, we can wear different hats but being "womanly" seems to indicate something intimate. It's "womanly" to let or allow a man to be manly lol whatever that may mean in 2010.
I appreciate your incite on this subject. You have many views similar to mine. I have an organization named ANKH EXPRESSIONS. We strive to inform individuals in oue community of stereotypes such as these in an effort to irradicate negative self-talk which leads to self esteem. My business partner and I are both mental health professionals, who strive to nake a difference in the balck communtiy by using our education, our resources and our gifts to uplift and empower others to wmpower others. We believe heavily in the great Martin Luther King Jr's concept of beloved community. Please follow us on Twitter, become a fan of our facebook page and or subscribe to our blog at ankhexpressions@blogspot.com. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you, as the exchanging of ideas is the first step to change.
Joi Love
ANKH EXPRESSIONS
I love the name of your blog! Wonderful to see that there are others who read Dr. Collin's work. Keep up the good work. I am a stereotype fighter I would love it if you would check out my blog the Angry Black Women Watch <a href="http://www.abww.wordpress.com” target=”_blank”>www.abww.wordpress.com. I give black women haters the smackdown everyday.
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You're essay was extremely interesting, however your final excerpts commenting on lil kim and niki manaj. I dont believe they fall under the jezebel image, at least lil kim, although used as more of a maketing exploit, she did however gain quite a bit of respect from both men and women alike, well for awhile anyway. I mean she was basically saying, what i'm sure many black women felt or at least some only thought , openly and boldly. i don't believe countering these overtly sexualized historical representations of black women by going to the other extreme, and repressing it entirely, or casting black women off who choose to express their sexuality as some heretic or tragic example.
Regardless of the images that have berated , and exploited us, we ultimately decide the detriment it will have on us. Do we become figureless, a-sex, beings, pious and righteous, respectable and virtuous, as well as inhuman, vacant girls going against our very natural instinctual drive in attempting to discredit caricatures created to discourage and oppress us centuries ago…
For years these messages followed me , from the black community, hoes do this ladies do that, that i was wrong for wanting to feel sexy, to be sexy, to play with my sexuality, and growing curiousity. We've seen from other groups what total repression and denial can do to girls, causing a sense of shame and fear alongside confusion and distorted messages… We start screwing things up, until as we've seen, a rising number of girls younger and younger with cases of stds and babies, because they were taught their feelings and expressions that were even to remotely sexual were meant to be hidden and kept secretive.
Fuck all that, interesting to learn, and attain awareness through these figures, but whether you're tramping it out or reserved to the point of sainthood , if we're going against ourselves and our own desires we continue to give these images the power to harm us,
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I really enjoyed this article and thought it was quite interesting. I feel as though not only African American females go through stereotypes, but also females of different race. I loved the part where you said "be who you are". That is the main problem; we try to fit in with the crowd so that we won't be the outcast. For black women, some men do not see the qualities within us. We have men that look in the past and call us what they feel is right. Honestly, i think the four main stereotypes of black females is not completely true. My main target is Welfare Mother, I see now in this generation more whites and Spanish women are on welfare. Does that make them lazy unwed mothers? It is hard to rise above the negativity that surrounds black females. Welfare is open to anyone, not just blacks. Stereotypes comes in many different ways where they have good and bad ones. Black is Beautiful; we can't change the color of our skin because it is who we are. African American females are leaders who can empower you to many things in life.
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