Challenging Misrepresentations of Black Womanhood: Media, Literature and Theory
2022; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 10; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.5406/23260947.10.1.05
ISSN2326-0947
Autores Tópico(s)Gender, Feminism, and Media
ResumoDespite the progress made by the civil rights and feminist movements, and most recently, #metoo, Black women are still finding it difficult to navigate society. We still face obstacles that challenge our very womanhood and our Blackness in addition to identity markers concerning sexuality, class, religion, ability, and others. One such obstacle is being able to define one's self truthfully in light of institutions that continue to misrepresent us; one such institution is the media. As Marquita M. Gammage points out in the introduction to Challenging Misrepresentations of Black Womanhood: Media, Literature and Theory, even First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama suffered humiliation and degradation at the hands of those who wanted to argue that her Blackness, womanhood, and physicality made her unfit for the role.Gammage continues her introduction with a discussion of the most familiar and pervasive stereotypes of Black women—the Mammy, the Jezebel, and the Sapphire—who together unfairly and untruthfully comment on Black women's mothering, sexuality, and behavior. She continues by defining and explaining the nuances of African womanism, Africana womanism, Black feminism, and Kawaida womanism. As a self-identified liberal feminist and womanist, I found this discussion to be fascinating, albeit brief. She also points out that, with more Black creatives in positions of power than ever before, Black women are starting to tell stories rooted in their own experiences and truths. However, Black ownership of media outlets is lacking. As Gammage states, “This causes us to question whether the images of Black women have changed over time or remained the same, and what role personal narratives and self-definitions play in reshaping our understanding of Africana women” (3). Gammage and Alameen-Shavers's collection presents a range of topics and methodologies, all concerning “the power of self-definition” to argue “agency, communalism and self-determination as the primary attributes of Black womanhood” (3). Topics include educational contexts and Black mothers; the intersection of Black women, sports, and poetry; Black ladyhood; politics; and reality television.One of the most intriguing essays in the volume is Alameen-Shavers's “‘Black Women are Genius!’: The Image of Celebrated Black Motherhood in Stand-up Comedy.” Shavers explores how Black male comedians such as Tommy Davidson, Earthquake, and Deray Davis actually replicate hurtful images of Black mothers through their comedy. Alameen-Shavers puts the word celebrating in quotation marks (54) because Black male comics “glamorize their mothers for being verbally violent, physically violent, inattentive and uncompromising; for lacking empathy . . . all established stereotypes of Black womanhood created to oppress Black women . . . result[ing] in more fuel for the opponent” (70). Alameen-Shavers's chapter examines a unique topic and shares a thought-provoking analysis. For instance, she critiques the stand-up comedy of Lavell Crawford for his attempts to make the rape of Black women a laughing matter; these “jokes” are “based on a set of controlling images attached to Black womanhood that deems Black women to be sexually immoral and irresponsible” (65). This brand of humor simply replicates stereotypes about the sexuality of Black women, suggesting that we are so sexually loose and savage that we cannot be raped. This is a horrible untruth about Black women that is painful to see Black male stand-up comedians (re-)produce.Another enlightening chapter, written by Gammage, is “Representing the Black Woman as Immoral and Abandoning the Black Family: A Cultural Analysis of Twenty-First Century Television Dramas Starring Black Women.” As an African American media studies scholar who often explores televised portrayals of Black women, I was eager to dive into the analysis, and it did not disappoint. Gammage's study focuses on three television shows that feature Black women protagonists, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and Being Mary Jane. Gammage discusses the importance of morals and culture through the perspective of the African Diaspora, and how these programs “[have] been used to reinforce stereotypes that characterize the Black family as a burden to the American public and unfit for citizenship. Therefore, the media advances an anti-Black ideology by representing Black women as unworthy of and uninterested in committed relationships, love, marriage or communal unions” (153). These stereotypes persist, although Gammage indicates that “African American families value the extended family network, marriage and child-rearing, and they do this based on their cultural understanding of familyhood” (153). Gammage argues that these negative and untruthful portrayals harken back to the misinformation put forth by The Moynihan Report, which faulted Black women for the supposed failures of the Black family in American society.While I was not surprised by Gammage's findings, I was thrilled to read a little about the cultural practices of the Igbo people of Nigeria and other Pan-African societies. In her discussion of moral character and its importance for African families, Gammage states, “Mothers are responsible for instilling good moral character in their children and disciplining them when they display bad attributes . . . thus patience, love and discipline regarding children are crucial morals among Africans throughout the world” (139). Applying this theoretical framework to an African American context, Gammage points out that the character Annalise Keating on the television show How to Get Away with Murder suggests just the opposite about Black motherhood. “Instead of holding [her students] accountable for their actions, Annalise has aided them in covering up their criminal actions. While there are depictions of Keating looking out for her students, her involvement in their lives seems to result in madness” (151). Gammage insists that these negative portrayals further stereotypes of African American women that “inhibit [our] ability to exist, on television, as [contributing members] to the overall well-being of Black communities . . . ” (152).Challenging Misrepresentations of Black Womanhood would make an excellent reader for several college courses, especially those that focus on Black communication, the portrayals of Black people in the media, feminisms, and explorations of identity and intersectionalities. The chapters are brief but thorough and easy to understand; they would not discourage an upper-level undergraduate or early-career graduate student. The book could assist those who are building literature reviews on a range of topics, such as the portrayals of Black women in sport or reality television. The book also threads the various frameworks of Black and African(a) womanism, which provides the analyses with a unique perspective. Lastly, the book makes one consider one's own responsibility to women impacted by rape, domestic violence, and other forms of assault.
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