To begin, a matriarch is a woman who dominates her family, often correlated with mammies. The racial caricature of mammies started in the Antebellum era, it was a black slave woman portrayed as being happy, even overzealous to be a slave. She takes care of the masters kids although she has children of her own that is often neglected. Images of her were often portrayed with a wide smile, overweight, and dark complexion. Catherine Clinton, a professor of American History at the University of Texas stated, “The Mammy was created by white Southerners to redeem the relationship between black women and white men within slave society in response to the anti-slavery attack from the North during the antebellum period.” This stereotype moved to the big …show more content…
These mammies often has their heads covered or wrapped, over religious, irrational, has greasy faces and has an oversized bodley figure such as giant breast. The first mammie to appear in front of an audience was in the 1914 short film, entitled Coon Town Suffragettes a blackface version of “Lysistrata”. That opened the door for actresses like Hattie Mcdaniel known for Gone with the Wind (1939). In our contemporary moment, African American men are taking over the mammy roles. From Martin Lawrence’s “Big Mama” to Tyler Perry’s “Madea”, women have let go of the mammie character. Currently, African American women in pop culture are playing the roles of a matriarchs, such as within the film Claudine (1974) starring Diahann Carroll, and James Earl Jones. A single mother of six kids who clashes with the welfare system as she hides her job as a maid working for a wealthy white family. Which did not make things any better, especially with the claims the Moynihan’s report made about African Americans on welfare. Moynihan’s report also named “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action” was published in 1965 written by Daniel
Historically, the job of women in society is to care for the husband, the home, and the children. As a homemaker, it has been up to the woman to support the husband and care for the house; as a mother, the role was to care for the children and pass along cultural traditions and values to the children. These roles are no different in the African-American community, except for the fact that they are magnified to even larger proportions. The image of the mother in African-American culture is one of guidance, love, and wisdom; quite often the mother is the shaping and driving force of African-American children. This is reflected in the literature of the African-American as a special bond of love and loyalty to the mother figure. Just as the role of motherhood in African-American culture is magnified and elevated, so is the role of the wife. The literature reflects this by showing the African-American man struggling to make a living for himself and his family with his wife either being emotionally or physically submissive. Understanding the role of women in the African-American community starts by examining the roles of women in African-American literature. Because literature is a reflection of the community from which it comes, the portrayal of women in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) and James Baldwin's Go Tell it on the Mountain (1952) is consistent with the roles mentioned above.
The Author of this book (On our own terms: race, class, and gender in the lives of African American Women) Leith Mullings seeks to explore the modern and historical lives of African American women on the issues of race, class and gender. Mullings does this in a very analytical way using a collection of essays written and collected over a twenty five year period. The author’s systematic format best explains her point of view. The book explores issues such as family, work and health comparing and contrasting between white and black women as well as between men and women of both races.
Warren, Nagucyalti. "Black Girls and Native Sons: Female Images in Selected Works by Richard Wright." Richard Wright - Myths and Realities. Ed. C. James Trotman. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988.
Collins, Patricia Hill. "Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images." Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge, 2000. 89. Print.
...mpact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America. By Paula Giddings. New York: W. Morrow, 1984.
This novel also looks at social norms overseeing gender in the southern states around the 1960's. White women in the book are valued by the amount of children they can reproduce for the black women to raise. Even though getting a job is difficult for these black woman, the white women have a hard time seeking out a job as well. But these black women sacrifice their lives to be major workhorses surrendering their own families to work for white employers. Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter confront the roles put upon them by society and receive fulfillmen...
From the earlier forms of fetishizing over Saartjie Baartman in Europe, the dehumanization of black women as “mammies,” to Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s controversial Moynihan Report in 1965, African and African American female identity has been under the direct possession of white people. White Americans have continued to define the black female’s position within society by creating her narrative based on inequitable economic and societal conditions as well as gender norms that have outlined what it means to be a “true” black woman. Her behavior and body has been examined [and understood] through her direct contrast to white women, her role in supporting the white race
This source goes generally explains the history of colorism and how it relates to slavery. It is relevant because it shows how black woman were sexually exploited by their slave masters. This unfortunate occurrence then is lead to the conception of a mixed race child. The subject of sexual exploitation goes hand and hand when talking about woman affected by colorism. Women of a darker skin tone are often perceived to be promiscuous, single mothers who have children with multiple men. Most would assume that the fathers of the children are not involved with in their lives; which is parallel to what occurred during slavery. During slavery, when the child was old enough, he or she was able to work and live in the slave masters house. These mixed race children were referred to “house Negros.” They were clothed, fed, and treated differently than slaves that did hard, physical labor in the fields. This can be compared to the treatment of people of color today. People of a lighter skin tone are thought to have more access to social opportunities than people of a darker skin tone. My mother is a figure in my life that has faced these social issues of sexual exploitation and discrimination as a black woman. She has had a career in a professional setting and although these statics that black women face are not in her favor she has still managed
Ruiz, Delia. Women of Color in Modern Society. New York, NY: Harper and Row Press,
Smith, J, & Phelps, S (1992). Notable Black American Women, (1st Ed). Detroit, MI: Gale
A stereotype can have multiple meanings, but one of the most prevailing definitions is that it assumes that groups are representable through a consolidated
These findings led Moynihan to draft and publish a government report titled “The Negro Family.” “The Negro Family” illustrated how debilitating the present society was for black families but offered no possible
* Robinson, V. Roberts and M. S. Barranger. "Hansberry, Lorraine Vivian: (1930-1965)". Ed. Darlene Clark Hine. Black Women In America. New York: Carlson Publishing Inc., 1993. 527-8.
In her essay entitled “Reflections on the Role of Black Women in the Community of Slaves,” Angela Davis sought to dispel many of the myths surrounding the roles of black women during slave times and that of the black matriarchal figure. Davis challenged the idea of a black matriarch, stating that “…the slave system did not — and could not — engender and recognize a matriarchal family structure. Inherent in the very concept of the matriarchy is power” (Davis 201). Under the circumstances of slavery, the figure known as a “black matriarch” could not possibly exist, because someone who was oppressed by slavery could not hold any true power.
middle of paper ... ... Greenberg, H. R. & Greenberg, H. R. "Rescrewed: Pretty Woman's Co-opted Feminism. " Journal of Popular Film and Television 195605th ser. 19.1 (1991): 1-8.