Stereotypes Of African American Women According To Collins
According to Collins, African American women have been stereotyped throughout history as mammies, matriarchs, welfare recipients/mothers, and hot mamas/Jezebels/whores. She states that these stereotypes stem from slave era and were created as a form of manipulative domination by the white elites. She states that “these controlling images are designed to make racism, sexism, poverty, and other forms of social injustice appear to be natural, normal, and inevitable parts of everyday life”. To this day, Collins believes that objectifying black women allows white people to treat them as inferior and also keeps the black women mentally subjected to the white elite’s domination. The first African American woman stereotype is the mammy or domestic
…show more content…
There are a lot Black single family homes and, therefore, a lot African American women who are the head of their household. These female led households are a result of socio-economic and racial oppression. As opposed to the mammy, who is the Black mother in a white home, the matriarch is the mother figure in an African American home. Contrary to the mammy, the matriarch is seen as unfeminine; an aggressive woman who emasculates the males around her and, hence, ends up being left alone by her male companions. While the mammy is a good mother, the matriarch is a bad mother. This is because the matriarch has to work outside the home in order to financially support her family. Thus, the white elites see her as failing to fulfill her traditional motherly duties and as responsible for the academic/social failure of her children. But the truth is that Black children are handicapped by Putnam’s “opportunity gap” since they are likely being raised in disadvantaged low income neighborhoods. Sadly, the idea of the American dream hurts the matriarch lead homes since the matriarchs and their children lack the opportunities available to those in wealthier neighborhoods. Though matriarchs are women in control, Collins states that they are a result of racial oppression where gender roles were forcibly reversed by the destruction of the Black family caused by slavery. Interestingly, both mammies and matriarchs spend long hours away from their own
There are a lot Black single family homes and, therefore, a lot African American women who are the head of their household. These female led households are a result of socio-economic and racial oppression. As opposed to the mammy, who is the Black mother in a white home, the matriarch is the mother figure in an African American home. Contrary to the mammy, the matriarch is seen as unfeminine; an aggressive woman who emasculates the males around her and, hence, ends up being left alone by her male companions. While the mammy is a good mother, the matriarch is a bad mother. This is because the matriarch has to work outside the home in order to financially support her family. Thus, the white elites see her as failing to fulfill her traditional motherly duties and as responsible for the academic/social failure of her children. But the truth is that Black children are handicapped by Putnam’s “opportunity gap” since they are likely being raised in disadvantaged low income neighborhoods. Sadly, the idea of the American dream hurts the matriarch lead homes since the matriarchs and their children lack the opportunities available to those in wealthier neighborhoods. Though matriarchs are women in control, Collins states that they are a result of racial oppression where gender roles were forcibly reversed by the destruction of the Black family caused by slavery. Interestingly, both mammies and matriarchs spend long hours away from their own