The ‘Angry Black Woman’ Must Die

 

“I'm not angry because I’m Black, I’m angry because you’re not listening!”

- Gabrielle Union’s Character in Being Mary Jane (2013)

 

 

The archetype of the ‘Angry Black Woman’ must come to an end! Black women need a release from this harmful and degrading stereotype, has long disseminated in film, television, and other media. The origins of this trope stem back to the start of modern cinema in the Western world. Looking back on historical context, we can understand that these damaging archetypes arose from a post-slavery era. In North America Black women, had long been dehumanised, degraded, and forced into manual labour. As a result, in early films depictions of Black women were presented either in the ‘Mammy’ stereotype of an overly subservient and ‘weak’ woman or as a defiant, strong, and uncontrollable angry Black woman.

 

For example, one of the most infamous archetypes of this ‘Mammy’ character is Hattie McDaniel who plays “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind (1939). She prioritises the needs of her white family and complies with their orders at the expense of her own personal identity as a Black woman. On the other hand, an example of a strong and ‘unnecessarily angry’ Black woman can be found in Bring it On (2000). ‘Loudmouth Black Woman’, as she is credited in the movie, is portrayed as an over-the-top, loud, and angry Black woman. Though her anger is in reaction to cultural appropriation, it is seen as comic relief and something to mock and laugh at. These portrayals of framing Black women’s genuine grievances as overly aggressive and loud, only mock them and dehumanise them further.

 

This trope gave white directors and actors a chance to somewhat justify the discrimination and marginalisation of Black women, by presenting them as a form of ‘uncontrollable beast’ to be mocked, ridiculed, and made a caricature of. It not only attempted and succeeded in humiliating Black women in numerous films, but it also became clear that it allowed for the trope to delegitimise their suffering as they portrayed this ‘anger and defiance’ as irrational and extreme. And we can see this representation duplicated across different forms of media such as radio shows. For example, Amos ‘n’ Andy, a minstrel radio show from the early 1950s led primarily by two white men, playing the parts of two black men, with secondary characters joining alongside. This already deeply problematic radio show only furthered this by yet again presenting Black women as loud, angry, and irrational – going as far to say that ‘Negro women [are nothing but] cackling and screaming shews’.

 

This idea that Black women were so domineering, aggressive and ‘sassy’ heightened during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. This was especially used to silence and shame Black women that were passionate about equal rights, fair treatment and those who dared to challenge society. The negative impact of this stereotype effected Black women challenging racism and sexism. Intersectionality was thus damaged with white women being led to believe that Black women were aggressive, angry and in turn were overly masculine due to these traits. This all meant that white women were not as open and accepting of Black women and further distanced themselves blindly because of damaging media.

For the past three decades, film and media have changed dramatically, with an increase in diverse casts, characters, storylines and so forth. However, despite this growth and difference, the trope of the ‘Angry Black Woman’ has unfortunately remained in modern, mainstream media. Examples of this trope successfully transitioning to modern media suggest that it had transformed partly into different entities, yet all remain fundamentally the same, having the purpose of providing humour and comic relief at the expense of an angry or aggressive Black woman.

 

In the movie Bring It On (2000), we can see how this trope lives on. A Black girl, Gabrielle Union plays a cheerleader, Isis, who is both a team captain being both determined and strong. However, her emotions are heightened, and she begins to play into the trope of being overly angry and aggressive – despite her character being annoyed over another team stealing her work – with the other team being white. This character played into the harmful stereotypes especially when being presented alongside a more ‘agreeable and likeable’ white protagonist played by Kirsten Dunst. Union describes how she implemented changes in the movie with her character, as some lines were far too stereotypically ‘Black’ such as one involving her character threatening one of the white girls - ‘Meow! Me-gonna-ow you! My nails are long, sharp, and ready to slash!’ Union changed this as she could not accept her character being portrayed in this way. She wanted to present her character as classy, respectable, and justifiable in her anger – especially as her character as strong and intelligent later going to U.C Berkley.​

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This trope is also seen within ‘reality television’ such as the Real Housewives of Atlanta, (which began in 2008 on Bravo TV). In this show, Black women have been categorically edited to seem angrier and more aggressive. Though this can be argued that it is done so to entertain the viewers, it is still perpetuating the same trope as it is editing and twisting reality to present Black women in a negative manner. With promotional content focusing on their anger, directed fights and arguments.  Again, though this is done for entertainment value it negatively impacts the way in which we view Black women.​​​​​

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The way in which Black women have been portrayed and presented in modern media has had a damaging, negative impact in the way they are received and treated in society. Some examples of this include bias in the workplace and with law enforcement, as well as in healthcare as they are often labelled as uncooperative and rude. This stereotype has also stripped women of their individuality, as it seeks to portray all Black women in one certain manner. Which then has an effect as it emotionally suppresses Black women who are pressured into suppressing emotions out of genuine fear in the reaction they will receive if they ‘play into’ the trope – despite these women having genuine valid concerns and feelings which should be acknowledged and addressed.

 

Despite this archetype and trope continuing to be used in films, we are also seeing positive movements and changes in the way that Black women are presented in media. This, possibly beginning to contribute for more positive associations with Black women in society. There has been an increase in empowerment within the community of Black women. With movies such as The Woman King (2022) and Black Panther (2018) – as well as TV shows such as Insecure (2016-2021) which all portray women as multi-dimensional characters with a range of feeling and emotion. It also makes effort to celebrate Black women and focus on their joy as their suffering and anger has been utilised for far too long, for white audiences to enjoy at the expense of Black women. This all showing that representation within media is beginning to change, with a more diverse range of directors and film staff. The future of Black women in film and media lies in portraying them as who they are, as people, with emotion, with range and with feeling.

 

*They*will be portrayed, the real Black women – not the caricature and white projection of them.

 

By Gemma Arnold, Huma Khan, Joe Benfield and Salakhan Kandola

 

Further readings:

 

Childs, Erica Chito. “Looking behind the Stereotypes of the ‘Angry Black Woman’: An Exploration of Black Women’s Responses to Interracial Relationships.” Gender and Society 19, no. 4 (2005): 544–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30044616.

 

J. Celeste Walley-Jean. “Debunking the Myth of the ‘Angry Black Woman’: An Exploration of Anger in Young African American Women.” Black Women, Gender + Families 3, no. 2 (2009): 68–86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/blacwomegendfami.3.2.0068.

 

Leff, Leonard J. “David Selznick’s ‘Gone With the Wind’: ‘The Negro Problem.’” The Georgia Review 38, no. 1 (1984): 146–64. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41398649.

 

Miles, La’Tonya Rease. “American Beauty: The Cheerleader in American Literature and Popular Culture.” Women’s Studies Quarterly 33, no. 1/2 (2005): 224–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40005521.

 

Wingfield, Adia Harvey. “The Modern Mammy and the Angry Black Man: African American Professionals’ Experiences with Gendered Racism in the Workplace.” Race, Gender & Class 14, no. 1/2 (2007): 196–212. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41675204.

 

 

 

 

 

Example of secondary source reading: 

·       D.W. Griffith's 1915 film The Birth of a Nation perpetuated harmful preconceptions about Black Americans, portraying them as inferior to whites (Chao, p. 69). In the 1930s and 1940s, Hollywood films depicted black women as "mammy," "jezebel," and "sapphire," reflecting images from the era of slavery. According to Chao et al.'s "Racism, Sexism, and the Media," the growth of these stereotypes influenced White attitudes of Black individuals who 'knew their place' in American culture. Black actors were cast in films to entertain White viewers, despite social limits. In movies, Black characters were often shown as submissive to White characters, such as maids, mothers, domestics, and secondary characters.

·       Hooks' "The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators" (1992) explores the under-representation of black women in film, as well as the prohibition on their gaze. Conveying a sense of authority that black women lack in society. Hooks argues that in American society and media, black women are often portrayed as objects in comparison to white women. The phrase "oppositional gaze" was originally used in her book, Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992). The term 'oppositional gaze' refers to a form of political revolt and struggle against the suppression of black people's right to look. When black Americans first saw film and television, they were aware that it perpetuated white supremacy (Hooks, p.117). Hooks argues that there is "power in looking" (p.117), contrasting with Michel Foucault's theory of power relations (1992, p.115). According to Foucault, power is a system of domination that restricts freedom (p.116). "Power is a system of domination which controls everything and leaves no room for freedom". 

·       Entman and Rojecki (2000) discovered that black males and females are more likely to appear in sex scenes, indicating that Hollywood portrays blacks as more sexually orientated than whites. Black female actors were five times as violent than white actresses. Their research found that black actors used more profanity and non-grammatical speech than white actors. 

·       Cultural representations of race often portrayed black actors as less desirable than their white counterparts. Black actors in popular films involved crude language, over-sexualisation, and violence.