Department of English and American Studies Stereotypes and the Significance of Black Female Self-Representation 2019
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Bc. Patrícia Iliašová Stereotypes and the Significance of Black Female Self-Representation Contextualizing Contemporary Portrayals of Black Women in Popular Culture and Visual Arts Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. 2019 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature I would like to thank my supervisor Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A., for his kind advice, patience and willingness to find time to consult my thesis. Moreover, I would like to thank my friends and family for their support and encouragement. Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5 1 Discussing Stereotypes: An Overview of Major Controlling Images and Their Significance in Maintaining the Oppression of Black Women ........................................ 9 1.1 Race and Misrepresentations................................................................................. 10 1.2 Black Women and Their Stereotypes .................................................................... 12 1.3 Racial Stereotypes Enter Popular Culture ............................................................. 13 1.4 Other Stereotypes .................................................................................................. 17 1.4.1 Hip-Hop Generation Stereotypes ................................................................... 19 1.4.1.1 Working-Class Stereotypes ...................................................................... 20 1.4.1.2 Middle-Class Stereotypes ........................................................................ 22 1.5 Sexuality Controlled.............................................................................................. 23 1.6 Body Images Controlled ....................................................................................... 27 1.7 Motherhood Controlled ......................................................................................... 29 1.8 Work Controlled .................................................................................................... 32 1.9 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................................... 35 2 Why Black Feminism, Why Black Female Images?: A Feminist Perspective on the Importance of Black Female Presence and Representation ............................................ 36 2.1 Finding Their Voice .............................................................................................. 37 3 Modern-day Images of Black Womanhood in Popular Culture and Visual Arts and the Disruption of Stereotypes ............................................................................................... 42 3.1 Sexuality ................................................................................................................ 43 3.2 Body Images.......................................................................................................... 48 3.3 Motherhood ........................................................................................................... 52 3.4 Work ...................................................................................................................... 56 3.5 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................................... 60 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 61 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 64 Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 73 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 80 Resumé ............................................................................................................................ 81 Introduction Black women are getting more recognition than ever in the history of the United States. Indeed, the recent years have shown some remarkable achievements in terms of black female presence and visibility in popular culture and arts. In 2018, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter became the first black female performer to headline Coachella (Alana Abramson). In 2019, Michelle Obama’s audio book of her memoir Becoming was nominated for 2020’s Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, while the singer and rapper Lizzo received in total eight nominations for Grammy Awards, becoming the artist with the highest number of nominations in 2020’s Grammys (Mahita Gajanan). Amy Sherald became the first black female painter to be commissioned to paint the portrait of now-former First Lady Michelle Obama, which was revealed in 2018 (Roberta Smith). These are just a few of the examples of the increasing presence of black women in the public sphere. Despite these recent triumphs, the long-lasting history of black female stereotyping and misrepresentation continues to impact how black women are perceived and represented in the American society. In 2013, Essence magazine conducted a study of black female images and reported that negative stereotypical images of black women are still present in media (Dawnie Walton). Six years later, the presence of stereotypes is still relevant as they continue to influence how black women portray themselves in popular culture and visual arts. The singer Solána Imani Rowe (known as SZA), for example, alludes to the two- dimensionality of stereotypical black female depictions when in an interview with Pitchfork she claims: “I feel like people simplify black women to just an attitude . But there are so many emotions, so much fear and pressure, so much pride” (Matthew Schnipper). The contemporary painter Tschabalala Self is aware of the “fantasies and 5 attitudes surrounding the Black female body” in her work.1 Racial stereotypes continue to be on the minds of these and other contemporary artists and influential figures in popular culture. Therefore, in order to understand how their portrayals are constructed and interpret them, it is inevitable to analyze them in context with the controlling images. To explore the relationship between the stereotypes of African American women and the portrayals of black women created by them, I choose to analyze several black artists and personalities from current popular culture and visual arts and their portrayals of black womanhood. The reasons for choosing the specific artists and their depictions are as follows. Firstly, the portrayals chosen are all performed or created either completely, or with involvement of black women. This thesis chooses these portrayals of black womanhood deliberately, in order to examine the dynamics between the self- representation of black women and controlling images imposed on them. Secondly, each of the selected personalities and the images of black womanhood they present is chosen because of their contemporary significance. Lizzo, as was already mentioned, received eight nominations for 2020’s Grammy Awards, three of them for the song “Truth Hurts,” used in the analysis. Beyoncé is probably the most famous contemporary black female musician and with the release of her 2016 album Lemonade, she became more vocal on the topics of race and feminism. SZA and Janelle Monáe were both nominated for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2018 (“SZA”, “JANELLE MONAE”). In 2018, Cardi B, a rapper, appeared on TIME’s list of 100 most influential people (“TIME 100: The Most Influential People of 2018”). Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the United States, is featured on the same list this year (“TIME 100: The Most Influential People of 2019”). Serena Williams is currently by some considered to be the greatest tennis player ever (“Roger Federer: Serena Williams may well be best 1 quoted on the website of ART OMI. 6 overall tennis player ever”). Shonda Rhimes owns her own production company Shondaland, responsible for widely popular shows such as Scandal (2012-2018) or How to Get Away with Murder, both featuring black female characters in the leading roles (2014-). Issa Rae is the creator of the series Insecure (2016), in which she portrays the main character Issa, a role for which she twice received a nomination for Golden Globe Awards (“Issa Rae”). Mickalene Thomas is a visual artist featured in the recent exhibition Figuring History commissioned by the Seattle Art Museum, along with Kerry James Marhsall and Robert Colescott. Amy Sherald is the artist behind the portrait of Michelle Obama and Tschabalala Self is a young painter from Harlem whose work focuses on depictions of black female body and sexuality. In 2017, the artist was included on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list (“Tschabalala Self,” Forbes). All personalities chosen are from the United States, however their influence often reaches beyond the country in which they reside. Thirdly, I choose those types of portrayals that are nowadays consumed on daily basis and can be accessed instantly. This includes musicians, because music is listened to practically non-stop nowadays and the ideas communicated in music can reach the audiences instantly and repeatedly; television series, because