The Role Of Black Women In The Film Imitation Of Life?

After watching Imitation of Life, it becomes quite clear that the race and gender of a person affects them gravely. These intersectional forms of oppression help to determine how society will treat a person, and how a person may treat/view themselves. Debuting in 1959, issues displayed within this film are still present within society in 2015. As woman are discriminated against, so are Black people, and while being a White woman in a patriarchal society holds some restrictions and privileges, being a Black woman in an racist patriarchal society welcomes constant hardships of struggles. Both within this film and in reality, issues concerning the way both White and Black women are treated and the roles they are allowed to play on screen (during

Annie’s role is that of the stereotypical Mammy. The Mammy as a controlling image influences Black women deeply, for she is the caregiver to White children while neglecting her own, she cooks and cleans after a White family and is happy while doing so, thus as she works hard as men do, she is not viewed in the same feminine lens. Collins describes how this image was created to justify the exploitation of Black women doing domestic services, “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” (71). Therefore even as Annie takes care of her daughter and Lora’s, Annie is eager and accepting of her subordination. Collins further states “Black women who internalize the mammy image potentially become effective conduits for perpetuating racial oppression. Ideas about mammy buttress racial hierarchies in other ways. Employing Black women in mammified occupations supports the racial superiority of White employers” (72). This is seen within the film, both by the role Annie symbolizes and the fact that this role was offered to Black women during that

Simone sings “my skin is yellow, my hair is long, between two worlds I do belong. My father was rich and white, he forced my mother late one night. What do they call me? my name is Saffronia”. Although she knew her mother, she didn’t know her father nor was there mention of rape, but Sarah was still confused about who she was. Coming from two different worlds, since society treats both races differently, was difficult for Sarah to experience. Internally, for Sarah to have a chance in society being from two worlds, it seemed she would only make it if she accepted one part of herself externally, while denying and dismissing the other side both externally and internally. Having that particular state of mind does great harm to someone, and as all female characters suffered emotionally, it seems the character Sarah Jane, would be the most remembered. Furthermore Simone sings on “my skin is tan, my hair is fine, my hips invite you, my mouth like wine. Whose little girl am I? Anyone who has money to buy. What do they call me? my name is Sweet thing”. Although Sarah was not displayed directly as a prostitute within the film, she was a dancer at Harry’s Club and at the Moulin Rouge. As Sarah attempted to escape the issues from having a Black mother, she did so by using her body/sexuality as a way to stay distracted from her actual