Black Womanhood: Essence and its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women

Abstract

One could assume it is a given that Essencemagazine dispels stereotypical images of Black women and that it works to liberate them from the strictures imposed on them by a world in which they live as an undervalued and marginalized minority. After all, this is the only longstanding women’s magazine that targets Black women and addresses specifically their cultural and emotional needs as African Americans and women. This content analysis examines whether Essenceworks as a liberating feminist text that dispels, as opposed to validates, stereotypical images of Black women. We hypothesize that (a) there will be more evidence to dispel the stereotypes than to perpetuate them and (b) that of the four major African American women stereotypes—mammy, matriarch, sexual siren, and welfare mother or queen—the matriarch and sexual siren stereotypes will be dispelled more frequently. Results support the former hypothesis entirely and the latter hypothesis partially.

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“…Frequently, for example, the media portrays African American women as being poor, downtrodden, hyper-sexed and as being drug users/ abusers; in a word, they are depicted as dysfunctional [17,18]. Therefore, in reality, it is quite difficult to detangle the impact of one factor from another especially in the context of HIV frequently being sexually transmitted and/or due to illicit drug use.…”

An Intersectional Perspective on Stigma as a Barrier to Effective HIV Self-management and Treatment for HIV-infected African American Women

“…Frequently, for example, the media portrays African American women as being poor, downtrodden, hyper-sexed and as being drug users/ abusers; in a word, they are depicted as dysfunctional [17,18]. Therefore, in reality, it is quite difficult to detangle the impact of one factor from another especially in the context of HIV frequently being sexually transmitted and/or due to illicit drug use.…”

Relationship of Guilt Proneness and Shame Proneness Among African American Women

“…Women of African American decent have a unique history in which they had to possess both feminine and masculine qualities in order to properly support themselves, their families, and/or kinships (Bass, 2001;Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003;Shorter-Gooden, 2009;Woodard & Mastin, 2005). By taking on what may be considered more masculine roles, feelings of sadness may not be 'acceptable' for these Black women, just as they are not typically acceptable for men.…”

“…The visual image of the mammy can be depicted as an overweight Black woman, with a dark brown complexion, who is very sensitive to the needs of her White counterparts (Glenn & Cunningham, 2009;Henderson Daniel, 2000;Stephens & Phillips, 2003;West, 1995;Woodard& Mastin, 2005). However, the mammy is described as being extremely harsh towards her children, sexually undesirable, and having a questionable gender identity (West, 1995).…”

“…The mammy's gender is viewed as ambiguous because she is sexually a female but, due to her large stature, masculine and dominant personality she is oftentimes depicted as having the gender qualities similar to men (West, 1995;Woodard & Mastin, 2005). The illustrations of the mammy figure reflect a lot of internalization (i.e., shame or guilt) of unhealthy constructs such as an ambiguous sexuality, being consistently viewed as sexually undesirable, having inadequate parenting skills, and being subservient to White counterparts (Bass, 2001;Henderson Daniel, 2000;Glenn & Cunningham, 2009;Stephens & Phillips, 2003;West, 1995;Woodard & Mastin, 2005).…”