Perception Assignment #2- African American Females

 

As I was researching how African American women are portrayed in the media I came across several popular stereotypes. The first being that black women are angry and have attitude. This idea was one that as I searched the Internet for information I came across a lot. Everything from memes to pictures of famous black women scowling and being accused as angry just based of their facial features at the time of a picture. Black women are often portrayed like this in movies or TV shows. When we see a white person with a frown we tend to assume there are sad or having a bad day, but when that frown is on black women we jump to the conclusion that they are angry with someone, instead of just sad or having a bad day. We have made a one-sided story up that all African American women have the same type of personality. Are some black women angry and have attitude, yes, but there are plenty of white, Chinese and Hispanic women who also share this personality trait. You cannot assign a personality trait to a race.

”How obesity has become a part of black culture”

 

As I was researching how African American women are portrayed in the media I came across several popular stereotypes. The first being that black women are angry and have attitude. This idea was one that as I searched the Internet for information I came across a lot. Everything from memes to pictures of famous black women scowling and being accused as angry just based of their facial features at the time of a picture. Black women are often portrayed like this in movies or TV shows. When we see a white person with a frown we tend to assume there are sad or having a bad day, but when that frown is on black women we jump to the conclusion that they are angry with someone, instead of just sad or having a bad day. We have made a one-sided story up that all African American women have the same type of personality. Are some black women angry and have attitude, yes, but there are plenty of white, Chinese and Hispanic women who also share this personality trait. You cannot assign a personality trait to a race.

Another common misperception of black women that I found in the media was the thought that they are all overweight or out of shape. A “typical” black woman was portrayed as overweight or large and extremely curvy. When it comes to body size and shape there should never be a single story of a body type that defines a race. The headline above was just one of many that I found suggesting that being overweight is a part of black culture. I think this is a terrible single story, because when you refer to something as “part of a culture” of a specific group it implies that all the people of that group shares that trait in common.

Ghetto girls with “men and daddy issues.” This was another of the stereotypes the media has contributed greatly too, making it seem as though it applies to everyone.  Statistically, it is true that the Black community has been plagued by generations of fatherless homes. But there are also many blacks that grew up with loving fathers or father figures in their home. Many people assume that all black girls grew up with no fathers and no good examples making them ghetto and trashy as they are portrayed in the above images. This stereotype cannot be applied to the majority of black women.

I believe it is our duty as people to look past all of the images and false perceptions and stereotypes the media and Internet plants into our minds. We need to learn to not let a culture be defined by the action of a few of its members. We need to learn judge a person based of their actions and personality and who they are as a person, not the actions and personality of those who are similar to them in looks, race, gender or social class.