Sexuality across representation and discourses
The Mammy is one of the oldest controlling images for black women. The Mammy was typically described as a woman who took care of the white slave owners children. She is typically depicted as a desexualized overweight woman, she is made to be unattractive. She is the complete opposite of conventional beauty standards based upon Eurocentric features. In contrast, she is a dark-skinned, older, and overweight woman, typically made to be unintelligent. She is the polar opposite of a white, blonde hair, blue eyed, skinny, straight hair woman. Her image was created to perpetuate the myth that black women were unattractive and unintelligent. They created a desexualized character to protect the idea that white men, particularly slave owners, were not attracted to black women and therefore could not rape them. The Mammy was seen in several movies, commercials, and mainstream media. For a long period, the only role black women could receive in the media was the Mammy image. The most famous example being Aunt Jemima. When asked why Aunt Jemima products were so successful, a historian suggested: “Aunt Jemima’s ready-mixed products offered middle-class housewives the next best thing to a black servant: a “slave in a box”. The Mammy can even be seen today in characters such as Medea. Most stereotypes we see in this age can have some roots in the Mammy character such as the “Sister Savior”, as described in Stephens article.
(This image is from an old Aunt Jemima package, found on google images)
This image is the Jezebel. Another very old controlling image used to stereotype black women’s sexuality. The Jezebel is the antithesis of the Mammy, and is an image we see much more often than the Mammy now, and also has been shaped into several other images. African sexuality was viewed as erotic, when colonizers came to the continent and saw Africans nudity they mistook it for lewdness and promiscuity. This archetype was created to justify the rapes of African slaves. The Jezebel is characterized as a woman with an insatiable sex drive who drives men to temptation (stemming from the bible’s Jezebel). In essence, black slaves could not be raped because they desired sex so much, therefore slave masters were simply giving them what they desired. This image continues as we see black women hyper-sexualized and fetishized for their black features as well as assumed to be more sexually promiscuous and “freaky”. The Jezebel can be seen spread through common stereotypes such as the “Freak”, Gold Digger, Welfare Queen, and Video Vixens. This image has been used as a tool to control black women’s sexuality as well as hyper-sexualize and fetishize black women. Black women are sought after for their mythical sexual behaviors and eroticism because of such stereotypes.
(image found on Google images : searched Jezebel Archetype)
The Diva is a sexual script given to African American women. She is described as fair skinned, slim, and straight hair. She comes from middle class. In essence she is independent, however she chooses to men who are higher in status to therefore elevate her own. Men still shape who she is as a person despite this proclaimed independence. I used a picture of myself because in description is it an image that I fit. My sister, my mother, and myself, prided ourselves on being “Diva’s” throughout my life I have basically been considered a Diva. As an African American, your womanhood cannot be fully shaped without a man’s placement in your life. The idea that even someone who is essentially independent but still depends upon a man is damaging. It teaches adolescent black girls that they aren’t complete until a man makes them complete. Also, your status in society is contingent upon the men you sleep with, which is not true. Of the sexual scripts prescribed to black women, the Diva seems the lesser of the evils, however it is still extremely problematic.Â
Another sexual script is the Earth mother. The Earth mother as described by Stephen “...appears to have a more developed sense of self as expressed through an Afrocentric political and spiritual consciousness that is obviously part of their everyday discourse and worldview. Traditional views of beauty are openly challenged by the Earth Mother’s beauty expectations and ideals embedded within an Afrocentric framework.”
I took this picture for my snapchat. As I’ve grown and become more politically aware of my existence and my place in the world I’ve moved towards spirituality. I have also chosen to embrace my hair and rebel against Eurocentric beauty standards. I have also embraced brujeria and african styled “witchcraft”. I love stars and crystals and all things magical. This has scared people within my culture as well as men. Stephens describes that the spiritual mother has a lower pool of eligible men because of their beliefs. Spiritually aware women tend to scare not only men but many people in the black community and that is because we defy notions that stem from colonialism. We reject patriarchal and racist standards.
This is me and my best friend. The next sexual script is the “Freak”. She is sexually promiscuous in her own right, she is “overtly” sexual.
I am not at all saying either my friend or myself are freaks. However something Stephen did not point out is how darkskin women are constantly hyper-sexualized in comparison to lightskin women. Much like how black women are typically described to be more sexual and less pure than white women. This same standard applies across racial groups depending on who is fairer skinned. My actions sexually do not hold the same weight as a dark skinned woman. Not only that, behaviors from darker complected women also tend to be seen as either more aggressive or sexual, even if that is not their intention. In the media the freak is typically a dark skinned woman. If it is a light skinned women her behavior is not overtly sexual. Lightskin women typically are portrayed to be gold diggers rather than a freak. Where freaks are seen as worse than gold diggers because they love sex just for pure satisfaction rather than for rewards. This idea that women simply enjoy sex, in the same way that men do, is a foreign idea to people, especially the black community.
(This picture is from cosmopolitan magazine)
This is a picture of Blac Chyna. The next sexual script to describe black women is the Gold Digger. This woman uses sex in order to gain material or monetary value. She relies completely on men for her livelihood. Gold digger is something that can be used for all women, but the demonization of the black gold digger is specifically unique. Celebrities like Amber Rose and Blac Chyna have become infamous for “using men” to acquire wealth. White women such as the Kardashians and many other women don’t receive as much hate for the same nature. The hate many people carry for Blac Chyna can be seen as direct hatred towards black women. When young white women marry men in their 80s they don’t receive the same energy, in fact its fairly common. No one blinks an eye when we see an affluent older white man with a younger trophy wife. But when a black women does the same its an issue. In most cases, it is not clear that a woman is a gold digger. Blac Chyna for instance became famous because of her relationship to famous rapper Tyga who is also the father to her child. She stayed with him until he left her for another woman. When she moved on she received rampant backlash for moving on to Robert Kardashian. While I may not know the ins and outs of their entire lives the initial treatment of Blac Chyna who was faithful to a man before he was even famous and was dumped after is rise to fame makes it clear how people view black women and their sexuality as a whole. When families like the Kardashians can use their sex appeals and scandals to rise to fame as well as increase their wealth, black women cannot.
The next sexual script is the Baby Mama. This photo is of me, my son (Zaiden), and Zaiden’s dad. The baby mama is described as a women who traps men and is the mother to a man’s child and NOTHING more. This happens when an illegitimate child is born. The baby mama is believed to purposefully get pregnant in order to force a man to stay in her life, as well as provide financially. I grew up in an urban area. Most women with children are considered baby mamas, however people often tell me I don’t fall into this scope. But I am the mother to a child, one I had before marriage. People tend to exclude me from such categorization because “I’m doing something with my life” or my child’s father is white so it doesn’t really count. The way I see people treat and talk about young black mothers but try to exclude me from the group is infuriating. This image has been long depicted upon my community with images such as the “welfare queen”. I know many men who were raised by single mothers and absent fathers and they still carry this stereotype in their minds. They forget their mother was probably called a baby mama. Black mothers, specifically young ones are constantly demonized, while white young mothers are glamorized with tv shows such as teen mom, or even the treatment of Kylie Jenner vs the way black moms are treated.
(This image was taken from twitter)
This is Cora Simmons, a character consistently depicted in Tyler Perry films and plays. She is the “sister savior”. She represents traditional views and the religious foundation of African Americans. She is moral, obedient, and saved. Being African American and growing up in the church this script is something that is common to see. In movies there is always a saved grandma or middle aged woman who is the moral compass and gives the gospel. This depiction can stem from the mammy because it is a desexualized caricature which is the care taker.