The Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire, The Three Main Sterotypes that Actresses of Color Can't Seem to Escape

Video Link: https://youtu.be/2teqoyPe3TU

I did not have to search far to find several videos that addressed the issue of the poor representation of black women in television and film. Whilst on Youtube I found a video created by Al Jazeera English titled “Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire: Stereotyping Black Women in Media”. One quote that stuck out to me whilst watching the video was when one of the guests stated that the lack of representation was due to “lack of diversity behind the camera, at the writer’s desk, and in the director’s chair”. The video began with discussing the three main stereotypes displayed in black women characters in television and film: the mammy, the jezebel, and the sapphire also known as submissive, sexy, and sassy. The Mammy is the most familiar character, she is a maid, normally heavier in weight, and takes care of a white family. She is asexual and has no life outside of taking care of the family. An early example of a Mammy would be the one from the movie Gone With The Wind, she prioritized the white families’ needs over her own and her only goal was to make them happy. The Jezebel is the next common stereotype that is typically oversexualized. Her only power is in her body and in the influence she has over men. The Sapphire character is known to have a “sharp tongue” manipulative woman. This character, if married, emasculates her husband. She is a sassy woman who has a low tolerance for disrespect. Examples of this character would be Sapphire Stevens from the Anderson Andy show.  As Beverly Tatum stated in The Complexity of Identity: Who Am I? “The parts of our identity that do capture our attention are those that other people notice, and that reflect back on us” (Tatum 2).The history behind these stereotypes was also discussed in the video. These stereotypes are rooted in the trans-atlantic slave trade when sterotypes where used to comodify black bodies and justify slavery. After slavery, menstural shows began, menstural shows were shows that made fun of African Americans for comedy. It involved white actors and actresses wearing blackface. These shows created and popularized the negative stereotypes we see today. Once the popularity of menstrual shows started to slow down, blakface made its way into the film and commercial industry. For example, Aunt Jemimma, the popular black mammy famous for pancake mix was actually a white woman in blackface. Negative stereotypes have evolved throughout the years, the mammy is now known as the welfare queen and the sapphire is now known as the sassy or token black friend. In the video actresses complained about directors often telling them on set to “give them more sass” or “spice that up more”. The film and television industry are run and controlled by white males which also contributes to the lack of representation of women of color. Not enough people of color are in charge and this needs to change. An excellent example of positive black women representation is the popular show Insecure written by Issa Rae. The cast and crew are made up of people of color which shows and plays a role in the positive representation that viewers are able to see season after season. 

Whilst watching this video I was reminded of several key terms from the popular piece Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Friere however two terms that stuck out to me the most were prescription and self depreciation. Prescription is described as “another way to describe a stereotype”. Paulo Friere states that “The behavior of the oppressed is already prescribed” . For years, since slavery, society (mainly white males) have strerotyped and labeled black women as aggressive, angry, promiscious, poor, ignorant, loud, etc. Many women feel as though this is the way they have to act since they are not only given that stereotype in the real world but shown the same stereotype from actresses they look up to on the big screen. Women of color can’t escape the negative stereotypes as long as Hollywood keeps making millions from them. The other term I thought of was self depreciation. Self depreciation is described as “a characteristic of the oppressed” , according to Friere “the oppressed become convinced that they are who the oppressor says they are”(Friere). As discussed previously black actresses complained of being told to add more sass or aggression to their characters. While they may have disagreed with the idea, many swallowed their pride and continued with the job. Many black actresses continue to accept roles with these negative stereotypes. They believe that this is the only role they are capable of. For example, Tiffany Hadish who is an amazing actress almslot always plays the same stereotyped role as loud, crazy, aggressive, criminal, etc. This oly limits their acting capabilities and the respect that Hollywood has for them. The actresses in the video said they accepted and completed these offensive roles for acting credits and money. These actresses have had to swallow their pride and dignity to do what they love and to make a living for themselves. It not only hurts them it hurts the entire community of women of color. 

One of the main reasons these stereotypes continue to appear in show after show film after film is because they are produced, written, and directed by white males. Not a single person of color has a say so in what goes on behind the scenes, which allows Hollywood to do as they please. As long as no one “important” is complaining the problems will stay the same. As Simone De Beauvior stated in The Second Sex “Thus humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being” (Beauvior 3). As long as the Tv and film industry are dominated by white males we will never see a change. 

Works Cited 

Al Jazeera English. “Mammy, Jezebel and Sapphire:Stereotyping Black Women in Media:The Listening Post (Feature),Youtube. 26 June 2020

Tatum, Beverly. The Complexity of Identity: Who Am I?”. (2000)

Behaviour, Simone De. The Second Sex. (1949).