Problems with portrayals of black females in mainstream media, according to a young black female

Dating back hundreds of years, generations and societies have been defined by the stereotypes associated with individuals of a particular race, religion, ethnicity, and sex. The stereotypical misrepresentations of African-American women and men in popular culture have influenced societal views of Blacks for centuries. These depictions portrayed through social media and television of gender roles is particularly problematic.

For example, an obnoxious, poorly educated, public-assisted black mother is frequently seen on television whereas a white woman is often portrayed as well educated, well paid, and respectful. These depictions create false ideologies about the intersection of race and female gender and potentially impacts relationships between women and men of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. People not only educate themselves of other races and cultures through personal relationships but also content seen in the media. People make assumptions based on races and genders based on what they see on Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, or even reality shows such as Basketball Wives or The Real Housewives of Atlanta. If watching these shows is a person’s only interaction with black women, viewers might falsely assume that all black women are this way. However, this might not exactly be true for every individual of that racial group. Black women are too often portrayed as being poor, struggling, divorced or have a whole bunch of baby mama drama.

Besides reality TV, this is strongly seen on TV talk shows like Jerry Springer and Maury. Women go on these national reality shows, feeling that it is the best way to find who the father of their child is. At times this results to multiple men taking paternity tests and formany the outcome is negative, still not knowing who the father of the child is. leaving the child fatherless and the women appearing to be whores. In short, the portrayal of Black women in popular media should be more multidimensional to more accurately represent the diversity within this group. Not all Black women are the same.

Sometimes the portrayal of Black women as successful is over-the-top, too, in a way that does not mesh up with reality, and this is also problematic. Consider characters like Clair Huxtable, who in the 1980s was a high-paid corporate lawyer living in an expensive brownstone in a posh area of Brooklyn during the height of poverty and the crack epidemic affecting many Blacks Michelle Obama is another example, who is the wife of Senator Barack Obama, the first African American man to run for presidency. She reflects intellect while showing the world that a black woman can be dependable. “Michelle Obama will be the hero my little girls have been looking for. The hero doesn’t have to shake her booty or point her finger to get noticed and respected. My little girls finally have a role model,” states Felicia Jones, showing appreciation for the positive motivation given to the media for those who believe something like this is impossible for a black female or male, as well as those who wish to relate. On the one hand, while it is good to portray Black women positively, Claire Huxtable and Michelle Obama are outliers whose stories of success often ignore or downplay the tremendous obstacles that still exist for Black women today.

Another problem Black women face when portrayed in the media is in representations of their beauty. For instance, In advertisements feature Black women, in some cases they depict women enhancing or making alterations to themselves for the acceptance of men. Heavily photo-shopped pictures in these ads create a norm and make those women who look differently feel insecure of who they are and make them feel as if they are less of a woman. Advertisements often star petite women, with lighter skin tones, striving to for weight loss and exercise. Alongside the woman is a muscular male figure, targeting women, basically saying that if you buy their products you could look like the woman in this commercial and will also draw men's attention. It’s like they promote changing ones natural appearance simply to attract men. While this happens in advertisements starring and intended for people of all races, Black women are particularly misrepresented, especially those who are curvy, have darker skin, or want to wear their hair natural.

It can be understood that these perspectives reflected by black women are not false because these ideas did not come from anywhere. This to say, they are not false depictions; rather, these are denied truths of many past and current societies. African American women have assisted their own negative outlook by not only living up to the stereotypes but with that, allowing a societal norm to be made.

Yes, stereotypes living within African American culture in women are truth to some, they are not truth to all. For example, there have been many white male mass shootings, all to say, not all white males are guilty of those crimes. Same for white women, they have been known to be “crackheads”, but that is not true for all Caucasian women.

Both the majority and minorities have their instances of success and failure. One can not be solely defined by the characteristics of the culture they have inherited, but by the morals they live by.