article via huffingtonpost.com
The pop culture landscape is littered with lazy images of black women ― the nurturer, the hussy, the angry bitch. Hovering around the all-encompassing myth of the “strong black woman,” those paper-thin characterizations fail to represent real women in all their complexity and vulnerability.
Despite the monolithic representations that appear so often in TV series, advertisements, films and the imaginations of those who digest them, artists have long worked to provide images that speak to the depth and sweet fallibility of all human beings ― black women included.
An exhibition at the Alexandria Museum of Art, titled “Beyond Mammy, Jezebel, & Sapphire: Reclaiming Images of Black Women,” deconstructs the limiting categorizations mainstream culture allows black women. The artists on view reveal the shoddy nature of the stereotypes in favor of challenging, poetic and thorough visualizations of black culture ― the myth, the archetype, the self-portrait and beyond.
Characterizations commonly ascribed to black women in America are both historical and insidious. The Mammy ― a big-bosomed, jolly mother figure ― was written fictitiously into history to make slavery appear more humane. Her illusory existence suggested that there could, in fact, be such a thing as a happy slave. Today, the Mammy is often framed as a sexless, selfless nurturer.
Then there’s the Jezebel ― an overly sexualized, promiscuous black woman ― with a similarly atrocious origin story: her image was used to justify the sexual violence systematically inflicted upon black women in the antebellum South. Its influence persists to this day, making it more difficult for rape allegations by black women to be taken seriously.
And finally, the show addresses the image of Sapphire, named for the one-dimensional character on the radio and TV show “Amos ‘n’ Andy” ― an angry black woman. This cultural generalization, too, is a corollary of slavery and oppression. It calls back to a time when history overlooked the atrocities committed against black families and suggests instead that black women are inherently hostile, a foil to the delicate femininity of white women.
Alison Saar, “Cotton Eater, edition 1/6,” woodcut on found sugar sack quilt, 72 x 34 in., 2014.
This necessary exhibition is one of many recent shows attempting to overwrite the stale stereotypes that restrict black women in media and culture. In the U.K., an exhibition called “Unmasked Women” investigated the relationship between black women and mental health, specifically how the hackneyed idea of the “strong black woman” prevents women from seeking help for physical and mental maladies.
To read full article and learn more about exhibition and artists, go to: Black Women Artists Tackle The Dangerous Stereotypes That Have Never Defined Them | The Huffington Post
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[…] And finally, the show addresses the image of Sapphire, named for the one-dimensional character on the radio and TV show “Amos ‘n’ Andy” ― an angry black woman. This cultural generalization, too, is a corollary of slavery and oppression. It calls back to a time when history overlooked the atrocities committed against black families and suggests instead that black women are inherently hostile, a foil to the delicate femininity of white women. Continue reading → […]
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Reblogged this on Random Ramblings; Myriad Musings and commented:
I like this…excellent!
Reblogged this on Espiritu en Fuego/A Fiery Spirit and commented:
We are all complex multi-faceted human beings not one dimensional stereotypes created by society, the media & the oppressors.