Media Perceptions of African American Women

Media’s Perception of African American Woman

        Historically, the media has always painted an image of race and ethnicity that has always put African American Woman at a disadvantage. Society continues to reproduce negative connotations associated with African American woman as it pertains to class, sex, and gender. These negative depictions of African American woman further distorts the reality at hand. These misrepresentations of African American woman are going unchallenged by society as a whole and the African American Community. Throughout this paper I will take a deeper look into the history of mass Media’s perception on African American women through the television shows Scandal and the medias perception of the black family through The Cosby Show, along with incorporating scholarly articles to further support my outlook.

For years the media has been criticized for its inadequate portrayal of African American woman in the media. While it can be seen that there has been an increase in the quantity of images of African Americans woman, but the quality of these images have gone down significantly. No matter what channel you turn on the television you see various types of Black woman. You see the loud, dark-complected overweight woman, the light-complected sexy thin female, or the overly dominate female. Needless to say, there are various images of African American woman being portrayed to the media. For example, in the hit television series called Scandal. This show, produced by Shonda Rhimes is unique because the protagonist of the show is a black woman. Not only is the character of Olivia Pope a black woman, she is also an educated, elegant, witty and incredibly intelligent black woman. Her character has a very good reputation and respected. People say her name in respectful tones.  This is significant to a contemporary narration of blackness because black women are often portrayed on mainstream television in certain types of roles that do not allow black women to be viewed as dignified or educated. However, the character of Olivia Pope also has an affair with the President of the United States and has relations with him on the desk in the Oval Office. In that scene, some of the dignity that Kerry Washington’s character possessed was lost. Furthermore, it also portrays black women as hyper sexualized, having sex in inappropriate places with inappropriate men. While one could argue that this is a plot twist that is typical of Shonda Rhimes’s style, it also undoes some of the positive progress that was done for the portrayal of black women in the media. It is a perfect metaphor to illustrate the stage that the media is in currently in in terms of its portrayal of black women. While they are starting to understand that there is a need and market for strong intelligent black women roles on television, they are still not quite fully committed to portraying black women as such and regressing.

The Cosby Show showed a successful black family with Black consciousness and concerns in everyday Black life. Bill Cosby's mission was to develop a program that would portray African-Americans in a positive light, as opposed to the violent, lethargic and poverty-stricken images often portrayed to the American public through mass media. The Cosby Show presented individuals and relationships that families across America could relate to, Rudy, played by Keisha Knight-Pulliam, and was the youngest daughter on the show. At the age of four, Rudy was the cute child who always managed to get herself in trouble, whether it was tampering with something she shouldn't have been or upsetting her older siblings with her curiosity. Yet, her innocence was adorable, and the family displayed the type of love and affection that would allow Rudy to grow up into a respectable young lady. Vanessa, played by Tempest Bledsoe, encompassed the typically 11 year-old girl as she endured issues such as puberty and relationships with boys in school. Denise, played by Lisa Bonet, illustrated the rebellious high school teenager. Wishing to explore everything that life had to offer, Denise would consistently test the authority of her parents, as most teenagers would during this time in their lives. The only male sibling in the family was Theo, played by Malcolm Jamal Warner. Theo, who was a little younger than Denise, reacted to situations the way any boy would in an all-girl environment. He was embarrassed when his sisters found out he had a girlfriend; he would forbid his sisters to enter his room, which often contained posters of female models; and he shared a special bond with his father - Cliff Huxtable, played by Bill Cosby – mainly because they were the only men of the household. While the children represented genuine family encounters, their parents thoroughly completed the realistic feel of The Cosby Show. Clair Huxtable, played by Phylicia Rashad, would offer advice, guidance, and appropriate punishment for her four children at home. Cliff, however, was the father of all fathers on television. Not only did he relate well to his children, but he was able to do so in a very humorous fashion. Cliff was able to turn normal occurrences, like Theo's bad grades on a test, into a comedic outburst while still being able to convey the proper message to his son.