As a black woman, have you ever wondered why you’ve feared coming off as “sassy” in the face of your white peers? 70% of us do, and it’s no coincidence.
The images that we see of ourselves (and others) in the media are extremely powerful. For people of color, the lack of diversity behind the scenes allows stereotypes dominate popular culture and inform the way that other races perceive us. We see them manifested in television shows, movies, newscasts, comic books– the whole nine yards. But, where do they come from?
In her recent episode of MTV Decoded, Franchesca Ramsey highlights 3 stereotypes of black women that needed to end circa when they began.
The Jezebel, The Independent Black Woman and The Mammy.
She breaks down where these stereotypes came from, how they evolved and even how we’ve used them in shows made for the black community such as Martin. Ramsey also gives examples of where these stereotypes exist in current television programming.
Hopefully one day black women on TV will be as diverse as we are in real life.
