REL 0833 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Baking Powder, Kerchief
3 Nov 2018
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Controlling images in the media construct how people view different races by stereotyping a race to act a certain way. Race, class, and gender oppression could not exist without controlling images. The media assigns each race with a certain reputation, often negative, which is then constantly portrayed on tv, video games, online, etc. One specific controlling image that is almost always applied in the media is associated with african american women. The media objectifies african american as being a mammy, a matriarch, a welfare mother, or a whore. The mammy image of african american woman not only serves as a symbol of racial oppression but also gender oppression. A mammy is the motherly figure who is pictured as being content, often overweight and loud, and serves her family happily. American slavery and was created to show the public that black slave women were content and even happy to be slaves, and tried to deem slavery as humane.
