In Claudia Rankine's Citizen, there's a scene where the speaker is at Starbucks and she stands up to a racist while waiting in line. She calmly explains that what he said was wrong, and he takes her remark as overreacting. For Rankine, if a black women stands up for her beliefs, even in a civil way, she will be seen as a crazy black woman. She is emotional and overreacts. This discredits black women from standing up for themselves and others for fear of being seen as dramatic.
This idea of the loud, crazy, black woman, is seen all the time on the t.v. as well. We see women, especially black women, as overly dramatic as a means to not take them seriously. They are seen as catty and turn themselves against other women. Reality t.v. such as Real housewives of Atlanta portray black women as solely catty women who have anger problems. People tend to forget that black women as well as black men have to deal with the "Black Anger" stereotype.
The media as well as the movie industry plays a huge role in carrying on stereotypes, and it is quite unfortunate. I agree with your post completely. It is quite concerning that public television has such low standards. I hope to see this change in the near future, as it is completely unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that society has created one specific image for especially black women. They are stereotypically seen as loud, obnoxious, women with bad attitudes. I agree it is unfortunate and hope to see this change in the future.
ReplyDelete