Breaking Boundaries: Black Magazines Reconstructing Black Female Identity A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at George Mason University By Anita N. DeLoach Bachelor of Arts Georgia State University, 2007 Director: Rutledge Dennis, Professor Department of Sociology Summer Semester 2009 George Mason University Fairfax, VA DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to God, who gave me the determination and strength to complete this project. Without him, none of it would have been possible. I also want to dedicate this thesis to my husband, Brandon, for his unconditional love and support throughout this process. To my family, I love you all dearly and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Lastly, to my closest friends whom allowed me to bounce ideas off of them and prayed for me every day. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Dennis Rutledge, Dr. Joseph Scimecca, and Dr. Gregory Guagnano, members of my committee, for their wonderful help and support during the writing of this thesis. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract........................................................................................................................ v Chapter 1…………………………………………………………………………….. 1 Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………………. 2 Significance of the Study……………………………………………………………. 4 Chapter 2…………………………………………………………………………….. 9 Theory and Black Women’s Magazines…………………………………………….. 12 Chapter 3…………………………………………………………………………….. 15 Chapter 4…………………………………………………………………………….. 29 Chapter 5…………………………………………………………………………….. 35 Chapter 6…………………………………………………………………………….. 43 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………….46 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………...48 References…………………………………………………………………………….75 iv ABSTRACT BREAKING BOUNDARIES: BLACK MAGAZINES RECONSTRUCTING BLACK FEMALE IDENTITY Anita N. DeLoach M.A. George Mason University, 2009 Thesis Director: Dr. Rutledge Dennis The mainstream media has aided black women’s subordination by depicting black women in limited and negative positions. In previous studies, the Mammy, Matriarch, Welfare Queen, Strong Woman and Jezebel models have been identified as the most commonly used stereotypical images of black women. Magazines such as Ebony, Essence, and Black Enterprise have as one of their objectives the restoration of racial pride, providing opportunities for black women to define themselves, presenting unlimited job options and increasing unheralded expectations for black women. The purpose of this study is to determine if contemporary popular black magazines reinforce existing racial stereotypes or dispel them by presenting alternative images. The contents of Ebony, Essence and Black Enterprise, were examined from 2000 to 2008 to investigate the presence or absence of the Mammy, Matriarch, Welfare Queen, Strong Woman and Jezebel images. A major finding of the study was that articles in Essence dispelled approximately 29.5%, articles in Black Enterprise dispelled approximately 38.2% and articles in Ebony dispelled approximately 32.3% of the stereotypical images. Based on the total number of stereotypical images addressed in all of the magazines, the matriarch was dispelled at a higher percentage in both Ebony and Black Enterprise. In Essence, however, the strong woman stereotype was dispelled more than any of the other stereotypical images. Dispelling the stereotypes provides evidence that the magazines do in fact adhere to some of the basic principles of Black feminism which are voice, self- definition, and resisting oppression both in practices and in ideas that justify it. CHAPTER 1 Historically, Black women have been, and still are, represented in mainstream media by negative and damaging stereotypes like the Mammy, Matriarch, Welfare Mother, Strong Woman and Jezebel. In An Introduction To Studying The Media, Tim O’Sullivan, Brian Dutton and Phillip Rayner (1994, p.113) note, “the concept of representation embodies the theme that the media construct meanings about the world- they represent it.” The media’s importance as a source of information and ideas has increased in recent years, and it often presents people, places, and issues to the public as if they were truths or “real” social realities. It has the authority to shape perceptions of the world, and for the purposes of this thesis, circulate images of Black femininity which relate to the intersecting ideologies of race, class and gender. Simone Cottle, in Ethnic Minorities in the Media (2000, p.2) further explains: the media occupy a key sight and perform a crucial role in the pubic representation of unequal social relations in the play of cultural power. It is in and through representations, for example, that members of the media audience are variously invited to construct a sense of who ‘we’ are in relation to who ‘we’ are not, whether as ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’, ‘colonizer’ and ‘colonized’, ‘citizen’ and ‘foreigner’, ‘normal’ and ‘deviant’, ‘friend’ and ‘foe, ‘the west’ and ‘the rest’. By such means, the social interest mobilized across society are marked out from each other, differentiated and often rendered vulnerable to discrimination. At the same time, however, the media can also serve to affirm social and cultural diversity and, moreover, provide crucial spaces in an through 1 which imposed identities for the interests of others can be resisted, challenged, and changed. Racism requires ideological justifications, and controlling images of Black women in the media participate in creating them. At the same time, Black women use these same sites within Black popular culture to resist racism, sexism, and class exploitation (Allen, 2001; Dates and Barlow, 1993). Just as the media creates and sustains negative images of individuals and groups, it is also important in the construction of a just society in that it affects employment, how individuals view one another, and how individuals and groups view themselves (Cottle, 2000; O’Sullivan, 1994). Statement of the problem Negative images of black women serve to support an oppressive patriarchal system that degrades and denigrates them according to race, class, and gender. Collins (2000), Dates and Barlow (1993), Lont (1995), Rooks (2004), Woodard and Mastin (2005) have all conducted studies examining negative images of black women in white mainstream and there findings confirm that the pejorative images do maintain an oppressive patriarchal system based on race, class, and gender. Patricia Hill Collins (2000, p.69) notes, “These controlling images [mammies, matriarchs, welfare queens, and hot mamas] are designed to make racism, sexism, poverty and other forms of social injustice appear to be natural, normal, inevitable parts of everyday life.” In ideal theoretical terms, stereotyping is a means by which support is provided for one group’s differential (often discriminatory) treatment of another (Rhinehart, 1963). Tim O’Sullivan et al. (1994, p.126-127) explains, “If black Africans could be represented as 2 uncivilized and savage in the 19th Century, then slavery and exploitation of blacks by their white rulers could be justified. In contemporary society, old people are frequently portrayed as physically and mentally infirmed, asexual and unable to adapt to social change. Such ‘ageist’ sentiments contribute to a lowering of the social status of the aged, including a lowering of their self-esteem”. The same is also true for stereotypes about black women. If Black women are frequently portrayed as ignorant, lazy and promiscuous, then discriminatory practices against them based on racism and sexism can be justified (Lont, 1995; hooks, 1989). Such racist and sexist sentiments contribute to a lowering of the social status of Black women, including a lowering of their self-esteem. In addition to the aforementioned, the media’s continuous treatment of black women as the objectified other, places women in boundaries inhibiting their potential and aiding in permeating their inferior position (Allen, 2001; Collins, 2000; Dates and Barlow, 1993, Kaiser, 1979; Kamalipour, 1998; Lemons, 1977; Lont, 1995; Rhodes, 1993). Mainstream magazines in the United States, often ignore Black Americans, and fail to recognize their talents and experiences, as well as their concerns on certain issues (Allen, 2001; Collins, 2000; Dates and Barlow, 1993, Kaiser, 1979; Kamalipour, 1998; Lemons, 1977; Lont, 1995; Rhodes, 1993). The media is controlled by the white dominant population. Thus mainstream magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair (two of the most popular mainstream magazines based on revenue), which focus on topics related to human interest, politics, fashion, celebrities, sports, and entertainment, tend to highlight views which represent class and race values and views of the white dominant population (Allen, 2001; Collins, 2000; Dates and Barlow, 1993, Kaiser, 1979; Lemons, 3 1977; Lont, 1995). Mainstream magazines frequently reinforce stereotypical images as they portray women based upon the dominant societies notions of ‘the perfect woman’ (thin, beautiful, natural), women as sexual objects (seductive and typically naked), ‘the homemaker’ (dependant on a spouse for income and occupying private space while the man works in public space) (Collins, 2000; Kitch, 2001; Lemons, 1977; Lont, 1995). These portrayals do not reflect a view of women as equal partners in relationships, but as women trapped into subordinate positions in society (Collins 2000; Collins, 2004). More importantly, these magazines seldom