Hyper-sexual representations of African-American women
Black women have historically been viewed as sexual savages:
From the early 1630s to the present, Black American women of all shades have been portrayed as hyper-sexual ‘bad-black-girls […] the belief that Blacks are sexually lewd predates the institution of slavery in America. European travelers to Africa found scantily clad natives. This semi-nudity was misinterpreted as lewdness. White Europeans […] saw […] tribal dances as proof of the African’s uncontrolled sexual lust. (Jim Crow Museum)
These stereotypes are evident today, particularly in the representation of African-American women on shows such as Flavor of Love, in which they overtly exert their sexuality.
According to Felly Nkweto Simmonds:
Blacks, considered lower on the evolutionary ladder, have always been considered more sexually active than whites. In the United States that notion of black sexuality has its roots in the history of slavery. Black sexuality was used to the economic advantage of white slavers, particularly after the banning of direct importation of enslaved Africans, when the reproduction of an enslaved workforce had to be insured. The image of the black woman as breeder played a crucial role in the reproduction of the workforce. (14)
In the nineteenth century, African-Americans (along with other people of color) were put on display in Europe and the United States. "Cultural 'others' were employed to perform their 'cultural otherness' for an Anglo-American and European audience" ("The Hottentot Venus").
Saarjite "Sarah" Baartman, a slave (although her exhibition began after slavery was abolished) (Wikipedia), was one of these women (see drawing above). She was known as the Hottentot Venus; she was publicly displayed so people could observe her large buttocks. In the drawing below, you see an image of Baartman with three white men and one white woman examining her closely. Baartman supposedly engaged in these exhibitions willingly and received a portion of the profits for her act.
The African-American women of Flavor of Love are still publicly displaying themselves; however, unlike the display of Baartman and others like her in a sideshow environment, these women have made themselves available to a wider audience: the television viewing public.
The obsession with the "other" did not end with Baartman. “Everyday items – such as ashtrays, postcards, sheet music, fishing lures, drinking glasses, and so forth – depicted naked or scantily dressed Black women, lacking modesty and sexual restraint” (Jim Crow Museum).
As recently as the 1970's. Black women were represented as sexual savages in blaxploitation films such as Foxy Brown (1974), starring Pam Grier. The women of blaxploitation films "functioned as 'sexual fodder,' legitimizing the street credentials of the Black male superhero. Even when Black women were the central characters of the movies, they were still portrayed as sexually aggressive, often deviants" (Jim Crow Museum).
The language used to describe women in these films is highly sexualized, below are a few lines from the trailer for Foxy Brown:
"When Foxy Brown come to town all the brothers gather round, cause she can really shake 'em down."
"You tell me who you want done and I'll do the hell out of him." (Even though she is talking about killing someone, the language she uses is sexualized.)
"That woman is crazy, no telling what she'll do." (This comment comes from another woman. This perpetuates the savage image of African-Americans.)
"She's sweet brown sugar with a touch of spice."
"If you see a man anywhere, send him, cause I do need a man." (Foxy says this as she is standing in her doorway in her lingerie.)
“Whites packaged, financed, and sold these [blaxploitation] films, and they received the bulk of the big money" (Jim Crow Museum). Many African-Americans who were unable to find acting jobs in other venues, turned to the blaxploitation film as a means of work. "Black patrons supported these movies because they showed blacks fighting the 'White establishment,' resisting police corruption, acting assertively, and having sex lives" (Jim Crow Museum). While African-Americans were portrayed in stereotypical roles, these shows still offered a way for African-Americans to make it in show business.
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