The de-eroticism of mammy meant that the white wife - andīy extension, the white family, was safe. The black mammy was portrayed as lacking all sexualĪnd sensual qualities. Was this: No reasonable white man would choose a fat, elderly black woman instead Moreover, she was often portrayed as old, orĪt least middle-aged.
BLACK BABY MEMES SKIN
Often pitch black, in a society that regarded black skin as ugly, tainted. The mammy caricature wasĭeliberately constructed to suggest ugliness. The mainstream definition of female sexual attractiveness. Owners sexually exploited their female slaves, especially light-skinned ones who approximated The answer lies squarely within the complex sexual relations between blacks and whites.Ībolitionists claimed that one of the many brutal aspects of slavery was that slave Why were the fictional mammies so different from their real-life counterparts? Given much food), and young (fewer than 10 percent of black women lived beyond fifty Turner claims that house servants were usually mixed raced, skinny (blacks were not The (black) women as house servants rather than as field hands" (p. 201-202)Īccording to Patricia Turner (1994), Professor of African American and African Studies,īefore the Civil War only very wealthy whites could afford the luxury of "utilizing
In the primary records from before the Civil War, hard evidenceįor its existence simply does not appear.(pp. Men within slave society in response to the antislavery attack from the North during The Mammy wasĬreated by white Southerners to redeem the relationship between black women and white Number the special positions ascribed to them in folklore and fiction. Until after Emancipation did black women run white households or occupy in any significant Years following the American Revolution reveal only a handful of such examples. Yet documents from the planter class during the first fifty Records do acknowledge the presence of female slaves who served as the "right hand" The mammy caricature was more myth than accurate portrayal.Ĭatherine Clinton (1982), a historian, claimed that real antebellum mammies were rare She had no black friends the white family was her entire world. To the white family, though it was rarely stated. She had great love for her white "family," but often treated her own family with disdain.Īlthough she had children, sometimes many, she was completely desexualized. The caricature portrayed an obese, coarse, maternal figure. This was the mammy caricature, and, like all caricatures, it contained a little truth Her wide grin, hearty laugher, and loyal servitude were offeredĪs evidence of the supposed humanity of the institution of slavery. Was posited as proof that blacks - in this case, black women - were contented, even Real Mammiesįrom slavery through the Jim Crow era, the mammy image served the political, social,Īnd economic interests of mainstream white America. This article examines real mammies, fictional Image, including ashtrays, souvenirs, postcards, fishing lures, detergent, artistic The Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University has more than 100 items with the mammy Mammy is the most well known and enduring racial caricature of African American women.
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