Mammy Roles example essay topic

Brittany Charles Gender Issues Paper #1 Sr. PatrinosFebruary 22, 2005 Black actors, since the beginning of cinema have struggled to get the attention and credit from the Academy. Several times, my personal heroes where forced to compromise their grandiose acting ability for small "mammy" and "sambo" characters. We were forced to the back and never really given a chance to shine in the spotlight. Discrimination against African Americans even plagued children's cartoons. In my paper I would like to cover how, black actors, especially women, are being discriminated against in the roles they are given to play. Granted that the roles have expanded from "mammy" and "Aunt Jemima", we are still not given leading roles.

And the leading roles that they do receive often do not accredit the black community as having strong women. We are often cast as crazy girlfriends, crack-addicted prostitutes, or some "hooch ie mamma" that has seven different baby fathers. An excellent film that depicted a strong black woman, maybe not apparent at first, would be The Color Purple. There is no reason that Whoopi Goldberg or Oprah Winfrey should not have an Oscar for their phenomenal performance.

Also I would like to show that when black actresses receive recognition for roles, they are usually for supporting actress. In 74 years of Oscar history, only one African American woman has won for best actress in a film, Halle Berry. Moreover, only three black women have ever won an Oscar: Hattie McDaniel, Whoopi Goldberg and Halle Berry; two of which have been for supporting actress. But should this news come as a surprise when only 26 African Americans have ever been nominated, and only seven of us taking home the glory? This startling fact should make ones mind start to wonder about equality amongst the Academy.

Additionally, the characters that these women received Oscars for were roles in which these strong women were shadowed behind the roles of their fellow white actors. For my first paper, I would like to focus on one stereotype commonly seen of African American women, on and off screen- the typical 'mammy' character. The mammy is a large, robust woman who is often reduced to being defined solely as a child-care provider, a surrogate mother, servant, or cook. The mammy image originated in the south during slavery and is an image seen even now. "When the physical and emotional make-up of mammy is examined it is clear that she is the antithesis of the American conception of womanhood. She is portrayed as an obese African American woman of dark complexion, with extremely large breasts and buttocks and shining white teeth, visibly displayed in a grin (Jewell 39) ".

Gone With the Wind, in 1939, is a wonderful example of how film can reflect stereotypes seen in society. Although this film represents a lot of the misconceived notions about gender, class and race, it is still hailed as a classic amongst many critics. The mammy in this film was actually called Mammy. Played by Hattie McDaniels, Mammy of Gone With the Wind is the essential mother to her master's white children. A common part of the mammy stereotype involves raising children belonging to a white male authority figure.

Mammy loves her white children more than her own black children. Mammy is the rock of the family; she is happy and humorous as the world crumbles around the O'Hara family during the Civil War. Not only does Mammy manage to raise what is left of the O'Hara family, she is there as the third generation is born and is ready to raise them as well. Sue Jewell notes, "portraying mammy as an overweight female was not coincidental. Actresses such as Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniels, African American actresses who portrayed mammy and Aunt Jemima were selected for these roles for more than their ability. In fact, one of the conditions for employment was that they be overweight.

' Jewell goes on to discuss how these actresses were forced to keep their weight at about 200 pounds or more, so that their acting careers would go on keeping them in mammy roles. The message of this kind of film role is a deep and disturbing one. There are messages about self worth for African American women in this mammy image. Young and old women alike will most likely leave this image unquestioned because it has existed for so long. With these images and what they stand for being so prevalent, it is understandable how they become internalized.

If we are to examine Mammy of Gone with the Wind, we notice that her life is without romance and spousal love. Mammies, as a general rule, are not creatures of a sexual nature. By being too unattractive, all inklings of sexuality are erased; she has no life outside of the home she lives and works in. Mammy is nothing more than a servant in rags. "She has no existence away from her domestic field, thus she is defined as asexual at best (Jewell 41) ". For Hattie McDaniels to attain such a coveted award, for this particular role, is.

It is devastating to know that he first Oscar ever given to an African American was for a role that perpetuated myths about African culture and sexuality. The role of Mammy is not a positive image of sexuality for African American women. Neither is another commonly stereotyped Black woman that I will cover in my next paper: Jezebel.

Bibliography

Jewell, Sue K. From Mammy to Miss America and Beyond. Routledge Press. 1993.