The 2008 election was a pivotal time in history for the United States. Not only because the country witnessed its first African American president but also because an African American woman was granted the seat of First Lady. Prior to, and arguably after, her appointment as First Lady, Michelle Obama has been much like the majority of black women in America. As the current First Lady, Obama has done more to rectify the reputation of black women than past and present prominent African American women. Her resume contains a higher education, being a dedicated mother and supportive wife, all while maintaining a steady career. If nothing else, Obama has built the podium on which the bona fide African American woman can step forward and make her presence known. A presence absent of the half-nakedness and manipulation of Jezebel, the headscarf and submissiveness of Mammy, and of the “roll-your-neck” and emasculating attitude of Sapphire. This presence that will ultimately help remove black women from their current social category.

African American women have been in a separate social category since the colonization of America. Historically, black women have only been described with two characteristics, manifest from different perspectives. As African American women, they are black but female; therefore, society isolates them from black men to confine their capabilities and resourcefulness. Reversing the order of the two characteristics describes them as female but still black, demonstrating that society does not see it fit to characterize black women with the same level of chastity or womanhood as the preponderance of white women.

“Wench…nigress…mammy…bitch!” These are just some of the pejoratives coined by men and women of all colors, creeds and citizenships to brand the black woman, not once giving her the liberty nor the respect to self-identify. W.E.B. Du Bois wrote his critical essay, “The Damnation of Women,” on behalf of black women almost a century ago and since then black women have managed to secure one high heel on land while still struggling to remove the other from the blaze of what Du Bois called the devilish fire (Lewis 303). Du Bois’s account is not the first nor the last media attempt to acknowledge the situation, or perceived situation, of the African American woman. In fact, the amount of attention that has been given to the African American woman since colonial America is astounding. In contest with Du Bois, sources of media such as literature and film have created and perpetuated false representations of the ideal African American woman.

The mass literature and film medias have been the driving force behind several misconceptions about black women. The current perceptions about black women, and how those perceptions came to be, are linked to the ways in which the media has validated black women’s existence. The black and white communities in America are both victims and perpetrators of the literary and film media’s slander. They are victims of being persuaded to notice and then accept erroneous beliefs about black women. They become perpetrators of these myths and transform them into realities at the expense of black women. These myths, acting as realities, have served as stereotypes that mask the femininity deeply embedded but ignored in black women.

Of the many stereotypes surrounding the African American family as a whole, three stereotypes have defined the existence of the African American woman for decades. The oversexed Jezebel, the faithful Mammy, and the angry Sapphire are the most recognizable African American female caricatures. Their racist and sexist connotations have hindered the social progress of black women since their varied inceptions. Jezebel, whose birth predates the Civil War, has had her uncontrollable sexual behaviors and manipulation broadcasted through numerous films, novels, and social institutions (White 30). Her polar opposite, the strategically named Mammy, has also received the same amount of publicity, if not more, since her birth during the antebellum period of America. Most often seen as obese with a headscarf and a jolly smile, Mammy has paraded through almost every home in the southern region of United States because of her faithful domesticity and acceptance of inferiority to her white family (Wallace-Sanders 2). Sapphire, born during the first half of the twentieth century, has dominated the mainstream film and literary medias as the angry black woman everyone fears.

The implications of Jezebel, Mammy, and Sapphire have worked simultaneously to strip African American women of their individuality and vulnerability, not just as women but as women of color. African American women have worked hard to rid themselves of stereotypes and save from the past the shreds and vestiges of self-respect, but that has been a terrible task (Lewis 303). In order to understand the significance of Michelle Obama as the first African American First Lady, it is important to revisit these past conventional images about black women that continue to penetrate the present.

Pursuing the perceived images of black women requires examining the contexts in which Jezebel, Mammy, and Sapphire were respectively created. These three stereotypes have separate and intriguing biographies infiltrated with racism and sexism. Each is a tale of myth becoming distorted truth. A careful analysis of how and why each tale was fabricated by the media is essential in comprehending their popularity. By chronologically analyzing the presence of each caricature in American film and literature, a conclusion can be made of how powerful a role stereotypes have played in the evaluation of African American women. The analysis will also reveal the invisible cross that black women have been born- a cross, comprised of racism intersecting with sexism, that makes black women the “mule of the world” (Johnson 4). The slanderous words used against Michelle Obama by the media revealed that she too bears the invisible cross.
 
The 2008 election, while historic and representative of the racial progression in the United States, also showcased how far America needs to come in terms of its treatment and respect of African American women. President Barack Obama received much criticism from both the black and white communities for his choice of a spouse and they did not hesitate to launch their attacks onto Michelle Obama. Throughout the presidential campaign Michelle was regarded as a handicap or liability to Barack because of her crass and assertive demeanor. After her comment of, “being really proud of her country for the first time” she was put into what Robin Abcarian from the LA Times calls the “Spotlight’s glare.” Her comment was misconstrued and caused her to be unrightfully labeled by other news outlets as a bitter and uncontrollable tyrant that would do more harm than good if she were to become First Lady. More pointedly, she became a victim of Angry Black Woman Syndrome.

Immediately after describing herself as a “mom-in-chief” to USA today, the New Nation Newsroom ran the headline, “First Ho’ Michelle Obama wants to be First Mammy as well.”  Even after the election, derkeiler.com started a blog about Obama entitled, “Baboon Armed First Mammy Skank Dresses Up In Human Costumes.” Some would argue that “first ho” and “skank” were tacked onto her name because of her choice in “inappropriate” sleeveless apparel but that is an excuse and not an answer to the question of why she was called such a degrading name. Obama has been compared to the late Jacqueline Kennedy, and The Huffington Post points out that even Kennedy wore sleeveless attire, however, Kennedys appearance was not viewed as inappropriate for a First Lady. There is a background story of the word “ho” and how easily it has been attached to the identity of black women. The same is true with the other pejoratives that have been used to describe African American women and subsequently Michelle Obama.

Unfortunately for African American women, they are honorary members of two underrepresented groups in American society. They are born female and of color which places them at an even bigger disadvantage than their black male and white female counterparts. First Lady Michelle Obama was, not surprisingly, associated with the three most prevalent stereotypes of African American women. The media tried to brand Obama as a Jezebel (“first ho”), a Mammy, and a Sapphire (“Angry Black Woman Syndrome”) even though she did not embody any of the characteristics typically associated with these caricatures. These three particular stereotypes have followed and defined black women since the institution of slavery. The presence of racism and sexism ideology surrounding the maltreatment of First Lady Michelle Obama, explains the situation of African American women and how little that situation has changed. Even though Obama is not exempt from the stigmas connected to her gender and race, her designation as First Lady does more to combat the two social inequalities than other affluent black women (e.g. Oprah or Condoleezza Rice). As First Lady, Obama is in one of the highest place of prestige in America, which gives her the opportunity to unabashedly unveil the authentic and multifaceted African American woman.

The opinions about African American women have closely followed three stereotypes established in film and literary medias. The African American woman has always been spoken for, misunderstood, and/or dismissed. But the time has come for the African American woman to use her own voice: a voice that won’t be ignored or stereotyped, a voice that won’t just be heard, but will also penetrate the dismal wall of past beliefs and prototypes that have depreciated her femininity, womanhood, motherhood, and pure existence.

Works Cited

Du Bois, W.E.B. A Reader. Ed. David Levering Lewis. New York: Owl Books, 1995.

Johnson, Maria V. “The World in a Jug and the Stopper in [Her] Hand: Their Eyes as     Blues Performance”. African American Review. 32.3 (1998): pp. 404-414 JSTOR.     23 Jan     2010.

Wallace-Sanders, Kimberly. Mammy: A Century of Race, Gender, and Southern     Memory. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2008.

White, Deborah Gray. Ar’n’t I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South. New     York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd, 1999.

by Joyell Johnson ‘10