We are crawling will we ever walk. : The Image of the Black Woman
The images that are portrayed by African American men and women in society are images that continue to tear the Black community apart. With this being said, whose image is being tarnished more? As we all know, black men in America have been be portrayed as being defiant, criminals, irresponsible, and never take life situations seriously. Film such as, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” portray black males as being a happy servant and never evolves passed being a servant. Forward to one hundred-seven years later, actors such as Jamie Foxx are portraying black males as being intelligent and able to solve life problems, like in the film “Law Biding Citizen.” The image of Black males is one that has made more progress on television screen than that of black women. Films such as, “Gone with the Wind” depict Black women as being servants that are poorly educated, desexualized, and their life revolves around their master. For years, the media portrays Black women as being overly sexualized or desexualized, not educated, independent, or dependent. These are all traits that have stirred-up controversy and have tarnished the image of Black women. The classification of Black women in the media comes in multiple forms, everything from the welfare-queen (a woman that depends on governmental assistance) to sister savior (a woman that is highly religious and virtuous). The film “For Color Girls” has received raved reviews for its ability to capture the struggles that Black Women endure. The characters in this film come in the form of the young naive black girl to the overly independent workaholic. Now, what people fail to realize is that the characters in this movie are highly similar to the characters in the film, “The Women of Brewster’s Place” a film the was created twenty years prior to “Four Color Girls.” Why is it that two decades later Black women are still portrayed in the media as battered women? My answer to this is Black women allow it happen.
With the existence of music videos, the image of black women is being tarnished in another dimension; an example of this is in the video by rap group NWA “A Bitch Iz A Bitch” Black women are being sprayed with firehose. This is beyond insulting and disrespectful, many Black women, and men died fighting for equality and were sprayed with firehoses just so future Black men and women can have a chance to see a generation without segregation. Thirty years later, NWA makes a mockery out of the struggle in their song and video.
But the insult of Black women gets worst. In an article for Vibe Magazine, rapper Slim Thug expresses his view of Black women:
"Most single Black women feel like they don’t want to settle for less. Their standards are too high right now…My girl is Black and White. I guess the half White in her is where she still cooks and do all the shit that I say, so we make it"
This is just one example of how Black men and the media portrays Black women, it is very rare to see a Black man being quoted on complimenting a Black woman. The unsettling thing is it gets worst. Not only does the media subliminally tell Black women they are allowed to be viewed only as a servant or whore but they are turning Black women against each other. In the Willie Lynch letter: Making of a Slave, Lynch tells readers( mainly slave masters) that they should turn the slaves with a lighter skin tone against the slaves with darker skin tones, many years later after slavery, black women are still under a mental enslavement as well as the men. Rapper Wayne falls into the mentality of Lynch when he says in his song, “Right above It”: How do you say what's never said? Beautiful black women, I bet that bitch look better red" Not only does he refer to black women as bitches but also he implies that Black women with a brighter skin tone are more beautiful than the ones that are darker. Songs such as this one stirs up a separation between black women and cause us to fight and work against each other. In my opinion this is mental and self-esteem slavery. Even in magazine and television ads, the percentage of lighter Black women is more than that of dark Black women. How have Black women stooped so low to the point where we have no voice in the media?
The image and identity of Black women is one that is definitely inferior to the one of Black males. Although both sex have struggled over the years, Black women have yet to see growth in the media and it will never see growth unless Black women come to together and demand for respect. Black women have be battered and suppressed for generations and I for one refuse to let my nieces and future daughters live in a generation were Black women only represented in the image of a servant or a slut.
