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Angry Black Women Stereotypes

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In “Ghetto Bitches, China Dolls, and Cha Cha Divas,” Jennifer Pozner analyzes race and gender stereotypes present in the reality television series America’s Next Top Model (ANTM). Race is a symbol of what a person looks like physically. While on the other hand, ethnicity entails nationality, regional culture and language. ANTM, a show by Tyra Banks, is one of the many streams of pop culture that creates a mold of what stereotypes certain people fit into and justify these stereotypes for audiences to see them as real. One group that seems to always be plagued by media and pop culture is, African-Americans, specifically, women. Women are generalized to be, “Angry Black Women,” and it is broadcasted heavily. The “Angry Black Women” stereotype …show more content…
Wendy Ashley, the author of The Angry Black Woman: The Impact of Pejorative Stereotypes on Psychotherapy with Black Women, assesses how media and pop culture prolongs the racial oppression of Black Women through the “Angry Black Woman” stereotype. Ashley argues, “The “angry Black woman” mythology presumes all Black women to be irate, irrational, hostile, and negative despite the circumstances. The stereotype is well known in informal settings but has a lack of representation in professional literature. Angry Black women are typically described as aggressive, unfeminine, undesirable, overbearing, attitudinal, bitter, mean, and hell raising (Malveaux, 1989; Morgan & Bennett, 2006).” (Ashley, pg. 28) This indicates that the media plays Black women to be characterized as, aggressive, unfeminine, attitudinal, bitter, and mean (Ashley 28). In other words, the stereotype goes beyond just angry, the stereotype is simply a label for a plethora of undesirable attributes. This evidence suggests that we tend to mold Black women in television as these roles that do not hold much truth to who they really are. This foundation of this stereotype is seen in an episode of Drake and Josh. In this show, Helen is the only Black character and is shown to be an aggressive, angry Black woman. In episode 30 titled, Girl Power, Drake and Josh are being harassed by some jocks at the movie theatre and Helen intervenes. “Jock: This isn't over! Helen: [brandishing a baseball bat] I beg to differ. Now you and your little hoodlum friends better get out of my movie theater before I pop you like a zit!” (YouTube). The show, Drake and Josh, show Helen to be aggressive, unfeminine, attitudinal, mean and hell raising. In other words, Helen is played out to be a character that is more mean and aggressive than say powerful. The character is shown off

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