Images of Women in Popular Culture: Media Images of Black Women
Author(s): jennie ruby
Source: Off Our Backs, Vol. 18, No. 8 (aug-sept 88), p. 18
Published by: off our backs, inc.
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nwsa_
Media
of Black
Images
Brenda J. Verner conducted the
of Com
workshop on The Politics
batting the Contrived Image of
Media.
in American
Women
Africana
She has produced three slide shows,
"Public Property," "Through a Glass
and
Darkly,"
Minstrel
"The
Show,"
collection
based on an antiquarian
of media images in popular culture.
she presented in
The slides
this workshop represent the "His
an Exog
introduced
Verner
Viewpoint."
the slide show with a discussion
the importance of the media in
and
enforcing
are
are
Ricans
Puerto
as white:
also
represented
"if you are
Verner
white,"
you
light,
one
quoted
Puer
to Rican as saying.
It is "a con
spiracy to make you think white
are
people
said.
Verner
everywhere,"
powerful
on the
tool
erate
of
we
and
tie,"
black
"smart
this
uses of the word
the only positive
term
The
black.
are
dress"
to
used
"African"
be synonymous with Black, but now
in the news we hear of Black Afri
cans, which of course implies that
there are White Africans.
In the news coverage of South
Africa now the term South African
refers to the whites, and Black is
used to refer to Black South Afri
Cans*Another
Verner
expression
is "The White Man."
pointed out
means
''The"
Man.
"the
man":
only
about
Verner
instances
an entire
the
news
out
pointed
several
never
media
The
show Black people in Egypt, for
example, and Egypt is never
as
to
referred
of
part
Culture's
Monika
Women
in America."
Messages:
Feminism,"
counterpart
Presented
Response
as a perfect
Verner's
It was disturbing,
presentation.
however, that although virtually
all of her slides were of white
women,
Franzen
made
no mention
of
who she was leaving out. Her first
two slides were in fact of American
Indian women. Although she noted
this fact, she did not comment on
the specific ways these images
Indian
stereotyped
ply called
them exemplars
of
representations
focused
but
women,
American
sim
of early
women.
The bulk of the presentation
on
cartoon
images
of
women
in family magazines from the late
1800s to post WWI. Franzen com
mented
that
these
came
magazines
into
the home weekly,
and consti
a strong
tuted
source
of social
page 18/august/september
of advertise
she
is an
truth.
America
we
then
are
people
not
would
said.
When a group is identified
color,
trained
by
how
to treat that group. Black boys
are taught by the media to chose
white
men
frequently
pictured
boys,
they
and
and
are
women
Africana
girls.
less
are
th?.; Black
very
infrequently shown with Black men.
A Prince video shows Prince singing
"I want you" and pointing over the
heads of a group of Black women to
a white woman, whom he finally
described
how
are
manipulated
in
visual
adver
tising to project a subliminal
image of what is most important.
The position of most importance is
The next
in the center of a page.
most important is to the visual
right, and third is the visual
A typical fashion shot will
left.
thus show a white model in the
and
on
the
a
and
right,
to
overcome.
of the car
A primary target
was
for suf
the
struggle
was
entitled
One cartoon
frage.
and
showed
"The Age of Brass,"
some
one
women:
smoking,
brassy
men take
care
of babies,
making
some holding a sign saying "Vote
for the Man Tamer." The theme that
women would no longer take care of
children once they got the vote was
a frequent one. The image of a
distraught man holding a crying
infant while the woman marched out
the door in business clothes was
considered
apparently
And frightening.
of
the
cartoons
hilarious.
The clear
was
to
was
apparently
show
vote
The
donment
tional
of and
roles.
One
writing
stitution
of
Enslaved
a red
wear
to
ple
a
wearing
red
or
bandana
red
clothing.
Black children were depicted
wearing ragged clothes and with
bowed legs indicating malnutrition,
and as "pickaninnies" coming out of
a cotton ball.
Black boys were
as
shown
frequently
"chicken":
several slides showed a boy being
A fa
frightened by a chicken.
vorite theme of these illustrators
a
was
Black
frightened
eyes
person,
wide and hair standing on end: "A
Black person being scared white,"
Verner
commented.
Boys were shown wearing a pink
shirt or even a dress.
Black girls
were displayed
in seductive poses,
or
naked
like
things
"I'se
boys were
emasculated,
The
and
prematurely
were
tions
while
children
Another
saying
for you."
waiting
demeaned,
cowardly,
were
and the girls
The
sexual.
illustra
far
from
d wuiiidn
Miuwtfu
and
red,
wearing
one
life-like:
writing
a
nuvci
her husband and neglected
were
showed
in chaos
a woman
around
,
her.
in bloomers,
much taller and larger than the men
in the picture: clearly an intimi
wed
A bloomer-girl
figure.
dating
ding was also supposed to be hilar
ious: the bride and bridesmaids
were all in bloomers, and all
than
larger
role-reversed
and
taller
The
was also
depicted:
the
men.
workplace
a tall
woman in
over
a cigar
towers
smoking
A large
a timid
male
stenographer.
a bevy of
on a bus protects
woman
from
workers
male
office
cowering
a
suit
bv other
women.
War
World
I, however,
the image of women at work outside
the home changed.
Suddenly there
was Rosie the Riveter, a positive
tradi
Another
During
woman.
of a strong
After
image
a return
amidst
of messages
war,
women
in the home,
back
placing
the
one
of the most honest cartoons had the
caption "I don't know whether I
want
to
go
back."
The next presentation
continued
on
in this
next
page
1988/off our backs
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illus
and
camera.
men's
shoes,
were
in
dressed
tacky,
and thinking they
Even then, Black
not to
message
more
than one
the
given
women:
black
marry
showed the theme of a Black
slide
woman
"Waiting
"Mammy"
of the
image
at
was
the
Church."
another
consistent
woman.
In
Africana
the mid 1930s she was shown in
and movies as the
illustrations
maid to a white family and domestic
She
teacher to the white children.
was shown caring tenderly for the
white children, while in her own
house the story was quite dif
ferent.
Her neglected children cry
around her feet while she does the
white family's ironing.
It was not until the 1970s
that Black magazines came into
existence celebrating
images of
women:
black
that
a woman
showed
picture
"and women"
into
the Con
on a billboard.
illustrations.
were
made
water
with
cartoons
the
Illustrations
of Black women
showed them as ugly, with large,
bunyoned feet stuck into broken
men
The
harassment
symbolic of women entering all
aspects of public life to the aban
reversal
that Blacks
Blacks
to
trations we had seen thus far,
Verner showed several photographs
of Black women. The audience
gasped and then applauded a photo
of a neatly dressed young Black
girl standing hand on hip and
looking confidently straight into
gaudy clothes,
were beautiful.
turns up in the frequent
of
contrast
down
intent
all that was held dear in human
life would be lost if women got the
vote.
exaggera
For
bandana so they could easily be
identified
in the fields and easily
spotted if they tried to escape.
Thus many images depict Black peo
to Feminism
that it would have been
difficult
toons
association
melon
in
An
a watermelon.
for
Verner commented that it was
to tell an illustration
difficult
of a white woman from a photograph
in this same period, the 1890s.
By
the
presented,
ster
"assigned
Americans.
led to the lie
kill
album
watermelon
brought
from Africa,
and
Blacks
Africans
reinforce
constantly
stereotypes^-otherwise
learn
Verner
racism,
presen
to
it served
to Brenda
media
Responses
pressure
several days later as part of the
workshop session "Decoding Media
Culture's
learn racism
The
center
tation "Pictures From the Past,
Messages for the Future" could well
have been called
"The History of
White
verner
j.
Africa._
slide
Franzen's
how we
images
of
in
in which the character
country is manipulated
media.
brenda
on
appear
postcards
out
pointed
of African
stereotype
Verner
me."
white.
always
and
would
embraces.
The
com
Verner
By extension,
"I am Woman"
when the
song
mented,
talk
she wasn't
"I knew
came
out,
ing
to
example,
to
seeds
ones identified by skin color in
stead of place of origin.
The term
white is only used in contrast to
Black.
"In the black," "black
and
almost
assigned
stereotype
on some
tion
based
only
women made ugly
space,
personal
In the slides
eotypes"
the
viewer's
is
ments
Verner
in a lit
are
the
not allowed
covers.
"The color of our skin is a
guage.
negative in the Engish language,"
said,
larger
Until the 1950s, for example, Ver
ner pointed out, Black people were
Verner
said.
White
society,
women have been working
toward
women
Black
lannuape.
changing
also
of
lan
the power
recognize
Verner
face
person's
than life; that is, it appears
closer to the viewer than you would
The image vio
get in real life.
person
mind-manipulating
earth."
Words are powerful
a
presents
lates
"We face the problems of
types.
imaqes projected by people not of
"The media is the
us,' she said.
most
picture showed a child with even
the soles of the feet solid black.
black model on the left.
Another technique is the ex
treme close up (ECU). The ECU
thus producing the subconscious
impression that the viewer is very
And that
close to that person.
stereo
propagating
Culture
Popular
Women
from
Women
African
of
tory
enous
in
of Women
Images
Essence,
Encore.
Elan,
And finally, Black models appeared
on the cover of Vogue and MS.
Verner ended her talk by com
on
menting
including
dren
have
sion after
mentary
altered
on
a white
cul
current
TV
mother.
the talk
Michael
features
attesting
valuation
popular
some
shows,
one in which Black chil
Discus
included com
Jackson,
were
seen
whose
as
to the continued de
of African Americans in
ture.
by jennie
"I don't have
time to take
my car to
a mechanic."
ruby