English 223 Images of Black Women in Film and Television

8/7/2019 English 223 Images of Black Women in Film and Television

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Instant Replay: What the Quote Means

Professor Washington·s comments highlight five importantpoints:

1. Historically, images of Black women have been created byWhite controlled media and they have often been negative.

2. These images are often political. In other words, there arespecific (negative) reasons why White media would want the

world to see Black women in a particular way.3. Real Black women typically don·t act or look like the women

in these movies and tv shows.

4. As long as ́ othersµ (men, Whites, etc.) control the moviebusiness, the images of Black women, and the perceptionsAmericans have of Black women, will always be wrong.

5. Black women need to take control of their own images. Untilwe do, there will always be stereotypes«..and worse!



Stereotypes & Caricatures

� In serious dramas, Black women are often stereotyped.² Stereotype: (n) a simplified image which ignores the complexities of

that person or group and which is repeated so often that it isaccepted as true.

� Worse, though, in comedies, Black women are often madeinto caricatures.

² Caricature: (n) an image which exaggerates and mocks oneparticular characteristic of a person, usually a negativecharacteristic.



Stereotype #1: The Noble Black Mother

Defining Characteristics:� She is middle aged or older, and wise.

� She is the caregiver who also cooks and cleans, etc.

� She is fiercely protective of her children, often sacrificing herself toprepare them to live in a sexist, racist, or violent world.

� She has high moral character and is the moral compass of the

family. She never loses faith in her family.� She is the keeper of the family·s traditions.

� She is the peacekeeper and referee. Even when she has to say thedifficult thing, she softens the blow with humor.

� She holds the family together.

Possible Characteristics:

² She may be overweight to depict her lack of sexuality.

² Example: Florida, Good Times; Mrs. Younger, Raisin in the Sun



Protective: At the wedding reception for her youngest daughter, Bird, MamaJoe notices a woman dancing provocatively with Bird·s new husband. Sheimmediately intervenes to protect her daughter·s marriage.

Keeper of Traditions: Mama Joe insists that the family share a big meal everySunday, just as her family did when she lived in Mississippi.

Peacekeeper: When Maxine and Teri, the two older daughters, begin to argue,Mama Joe interrupts them: ´Maxine, you make those biscuits. Teri, you stoprunning your family down.µ Then, laughing: ´You·re already on husband#2.µ

Wise: Ahmad, the narrator of the film, says, ´That·s just like Big Mama,always knowing what to do to set things right.µ

Ahmad says she was ´the rock of the Joseph family, the one who held us alltogether.µ

The Noble Black Mother:

Mama Joe inS

oul Food



Stereotype #2: Gun-toting Granny

Whereas the Noble Black Mother is an honorable stereotypeseen in dramas, in comedies, she becomes a caricature, agranny-gone-wild!� She is elderly or pretending to be elderly.

� Her masculinity is part of the humor. She is often played by a maleactor (or male character) disguised as a woman.

� She is very unattractive, which adds to the insult. No one in thecommunity thinks it strange that a big Black person is a woman.

� She practices a strange version of tough love or makes oddparenting decisions .

� She is more street wise than granny-wise.

� She has bad or illegal habits such as smoking, carrying a weapon

Examples: Madea (Tyler Perry), Big Momma (MartinLawrence)



Stereotype #3: Sapphire

The Sapphire (or Castrating Black Woman) is an angry, aggressive, andoverbearing woman who constantly belittles her mate by reminding himthat he is not an adequate protector or provider.

� She takes the idea of ´strongµ in strong Black woman to an extreme. Shedoes not believe she needs anyone, especially a man.

� Although she claims not to need a man, she does have a man in her life.Unlike many of the other stereotypical representations, the Sapphirestereotype necessitates having a man. She is only a Sapphire when shecan be verbally and sometimes physically abusive to a man. Her man issomeone whom she can mistreat and insult.

� She is evil, bitchy, mean, and spiteful towards men. She criticizes theman in her life very harshly and makes fun of Black men, in general.

� She is usually not very well liked, but some of her ´friendsµ may tolerateher.

� She is very talkative³always has a sarcastic comment or smart remark.When she isn·t talking, she may roll her eyes or suck her teeth. She oftenhas her hand akimbo.

� The Sapphire has no typical physical features.� Example: Pam, M artin



Stereotype #4: Badass

The Badass is an exaggeration of the Sapphire, in many ways. She is aphysically strong and smart Black woman who fights her way outof most situations. She can take care of herself without having aman.

� She takes the idea of ´strongµ in strong Black woman to an extreme.She is capable of fighting and winning against most men.

� She is physically attractive, usually with an Afro and veryprovocative clothing. She is typically single.

� She may be a detective or police officer or private investigator.� She spends time with drug dealers and other criminals.� The Badass was popular in Blaxploitation films made during 1969-

1974.� The Blaxploitation (black + exploitation) genre got it name because

many Black critics felt that while these films had Black story linesand actors, they projected the wrong role models for black youth

and were just money makers for Hollywood.� Examples: Cleopatra Jones, Foxy Brown



Stereotype #5: The Butch

The Black Butch Lesbian is also an exaggeration of the Sapphire inthe sense that she is attracted to women and therefore does notneed a man. In that sense, she is a caricature.

� She is a homosexual woman who does not hide her sexualpreference.

� She is hard and masculine in her appearance and demeanor.

� She is an independent thinker who often does not seem to carehow she is viewed by society. Thus, she may not follow therules.

� She may be hard drinking and rough acting.

� Critics have argued that she is a caricature because the Black

Butch Lesbian is obviously sexual, and Black women aretypically stereotyped as being overly sexualized.





Good job/Financially Independent: Teri is an attorney whoearns a high salary. When her husband wants to pursue a careeras a musician, she is able to support the family. She wears niceclothes, has a nice home and car.

Married: She is married to her second husband, Miles.

Attractive: She is tall, light complected with light colored eyes,and thin.

Trouble seeing problems: Her husband has an affair with Terri·s

cousin but Terri refuses to see the signs. Her first boyfrienddated her sister behind her back.

The Superwoman:

Teri in S oul Food





Stereotype #8: The Welfare Queen

The Welfare Queen is the corruption of the matriarch. Whereas amatriarch is very caring, the Welfare Queen is a bad parent.

� She is a woman who has many children but does not have theeducation or professional experience to support the children on herown.

� She has no husband or committed man in her life. However, shewants one.

� She supports herself with government assistance. The implication is

that she has children in order to get more money.� She is considered lazy. Not only does she abdicate her financial

responsibilities to her children, she often does not carry out herother responsibilities to the children, who are left to fend forthemselves for food, help with school work, etc. As a result, herchildren may be bad mannered, may wear dirty clothes, and oftengrow up sooner than they should.

� In short, she is the head of the household but cannot bring up herchildren properly.



Stereotype #9: The Cassandra

The Cassandra (or The Victim) is a Black woman of good character who, because

she rejects an immoral or illegal offer, or because she makes a single choice,suffers extreme consequences. The consequences may be the result of anotherperson·s wrath or her consequences may seem to be meted out from God. Herlife begins to unravel and she is marginalized.

� At heart, she is a good person. She may even seem ´too good.µ� She is usually young.� She makes one bad choice ²or she refuses to do the immoral or illegal thing³

for the right reasons and must suffer the consequences.

� Or, she may be a victim of her circumstances. She may have been born intoproblems or she may have married into problems.

� Although her values lead her in one direction, her circumstances or actionslead her in the opposite direction. She may feel very conflicted. Her life maybe a constant struggle.

� She loses control of what happens to her because of the consequences of theone bad choice (or because she refused to do the one bad thing).

� She has a tragic or unfortunate end which can be traced back to the one bad

choice.� Example: Delia in ´Sweatµ





Stereotype #11: The BAP

The Black American Princess is typically a young Black womanwho comes from a very privileged background.

� She is very intelligent and has probably attended an eliteschool.

� If she works, it is in a high powered field and because shechooses to, not because she needs to.

� She is very articulate and well spoken� She is typically prim or prissy.

� She is upper class and comes from a family that has money.

� She often has no sense of racial consciousness.

� This stereotype is rare in films and television because themedia prefers to present African Americans asunderprivileged.

� Examples: Whitley, A Different World





Stereotype #13: The Black Best Friend

The Black Best Friend is a one dimensional, undevelopedcharacter whose main role is to support the White maincharacter.

� She provides comfort or motivation to her White friendwhen she needs it.

� She doesn·t seem to have her own family or friends. She

seems to have no life except for her friendship.� Some critics have complained that this character is a

variation of the Mammy stereotype because, like theMammy, she exists only to give care to her White friendabout whom she cares more than she cares about herselfor her family or her friends.

� Examples: Barbara Baran (Wanda Sykes), N ew Adventuresof Old Christine



Stereotype #14: The Pollyanna

The Pollyanna is a Black woman who is unusually optimistic orunrealistically positive, even in cases where she has noreason to be optimistic.

� She always sees the positive side of situations.

� She sees the best in others and expects them to behave in thebest way.

� She smiles a lot and rarely complains or gets angry.

� She may be taken advantage of by other characters, but she isgenerally well liked and may even be well respected.

� She may seem child-like, naïve, or mentally unsophisticated.

� Other characters often protect her since she can·t see oraccept the harsher realities of life.

� Example: Synclaire (Kim Coles), Living Single









Stereotype #18: The Exotic or Non-Racial

The Exotic is a caricature of the Rebel Outsider in the sense that she doesn·tquite fit in with her community because of her appearance or specialskills.

� Race is not a defining characteristic. In fact, her race may not be evidentexcept for the fact that the actress is African-American.

� She may be futuristic. Example: Aunty Entity (Tina Tuner) in M ad M ax.

� She may have the ability to see the future or speak to the dead. Example:

Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) in Ghost� She may have special abilities: Catwoman (Halle Berry)

� She may appear racially ambiguous. In other words, you may not beable to tell that she·s black. In terms of the plot of the film or show, herethnicity may not be significant or barely mentioned. Example: Alex(Jennifer Beals) in Flashdance



Stereotype #19: The Black Madonna

The Black Madonna is a Black woman who upholds all the qualities of truewomanhood. She is a younger version of the Noble Black Mother

� She is a caring and devoted mother who loves her children deeply.

� She also has a strong marriage and she loves her husband very much.

� She is physically attractive and even sexy, but only mildly so and onlywith her husband.

� She is a good cook, takes good care of her home, and probably does notwork outside the home.

� Although it would appear that this is a positive stereotype, it actually isvery destructive because it suggests that a Black woman can only findtrue happiness when she subordinates herself to a man.





Why Does It Matter?

What do these stereotypes tell us?

Those who control the media tend to see Black women in negative lights. Mostso-called positive characterizations are those that keep Black women intheir place. In movie after movie, Black women who try to have careers andfamilies are punished. Their husbands cheat on them or desert them. Theyare unable to have children. The list of tragedies goes on and on. Incontrast, Black women who focus on their husbands and children and donot pursue careers are happy and have solid families. The message is clear:

If a Black woman wants happiness, she should stay in her traditional place.But it·s just a movie. Does it matter what happens on a screen?

Yes, it matters. A January 2011 study of young girls in Fiji, where very fewfamilies own television sets, showed that those girls adopted the standardsof beauty seen on tv. Even when they did not own a tv, they interactedwith others who did and those values rubbed off on them. Peer mediaexposure was just as powerful as viewing the shows firsthand. So, the

concepts promoted on tv and in films affect both viewers and non-viewers.Many people who watch films with Black women will believe that this ishow Black women really look and behave.



As long as Black women remain objects of their storiesrather than subjects, as long as we have so few femalewriters and directors, we will continue to see thesestereotypes of Black women.

Hopefully, from this point forward you will watch musicvideos, commercials, television programs, and movies witha critical eye and a new awareness of how certain values ,beiliefs, certain images are perpetuated.

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English 223 Images of Black Women in Film and Television