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The media in America is not run by people of color. The Hollywood standard of beauty was pale skin,blue eyes,thin and large breasts. I didn't look that way, my features were different. The standard of beauty never applied to me. Images were forced down my throat by the media. I had fallen victim to the belief that I was ugly. Dr. Maya Angelou and bell hooks both describe feels of indifference. Dr. Angelou describes how it feels to be inadequate in one of her 6 autobiography I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings.

"Wouldn't they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly (nightmare of a) dream, and my real hair, which was long and blond, would take the place of my kinky mass that momma wouldn't let me straighten. My big beautiful baby blue were going to hypnotize them, after all the things they said about "my daddy must have been a Chinaman" because my eyes were so small and squinty. Then they would understand why I had never picked up a Southern accent, or spoke a common slang, and why I had to be forced to eat pig's tails and snouts. Because I was really white and because a cruel fairy stepmother, who was understandably jealous of my beauty, had turned me into a too big Negro girl, with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between her teeth that would hold a number-two pencil. If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult."

In the novel __Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery__ bell hooks the author remembers a passage from her novel Ain’t I a Woman: “Widespread effort to continue devaluation of black womanhood make it extremely difficult and often times impossible for the black female to develop a positive self concept. For we are daily bombarded by negative images. Indeed ,one strong oppressive force has been this negative stereotype and our acceptance of it as a visible role model upon which we can pattern our lives.” The media seems to stereotype black females by placing them in certain roles. Often dictating how a Black female should look, think and display emotions.


 * Keyword: self-esteem**

A stereotype is an image or thought of people from a certain religion, race or country. For example a stereotype of Asians: “All Asians are good at math.” Asia is a continent and people from that continent usually identify from the country they are from such Korea are Koreans, and so forth. A misconception about Black males: “All Black men don't care of their children and have lots of children” Black men do care about their children and are good providers of their care. However, it seems as if there are a small number of people that do fit the stereotype and that's how people are labeled. Individuals that fit this mold are the ones who are often seen in the media. Stereotypes can be spread through rumors, lack of knowledge, and most importantly, by the media. Black women have been portrayed through negative images. These images are called the Jezebel, Mammy and the Sapphire. According to Reynolds-Dobbs article from Psychology of Women Quarterly,

“Across ethnicities, girls and women are sexualized and objectified through media images and these images, with their highly sexual connotations, may shape the way in which African American girls view themselves as well as influence the way in which others value and interact with them.” This sexualized image is known as the Jezebel. This labeled women as over sexualized, flirtatious, seductive and full of uncontrollable sexual desire. “Jezebels” are often light skinned women. An example of the Jezebel image is in the movie Monster's Ball. Hallie Berry won the Oscar for playing the character Leticia, a struggling single mother. She falls in love with Hank Grotowski played by Billy Bob Thornton. Hank was an officer who executed Leticia's husband, but this was unknown to her until she moved into his home.

The opposite of Jezebel is the mammy. Mammy is dark skinned,over weight with perfect white teeth. She is always there to serve and give anything needed. “a dark skinned Black woman who feels herself unattractive however, may think that she has nothing to offer society no matter how intelligent or inventive she is”I can relate to this. I have always felt unattractive because of my dark skin,hair and body shape.I am not overweight, but I also don't fit the mold of the typical or stereotyped black female body shape.

Finally, the Sapphire is the “angry black women” who is always in control and speaks her mind. This can be seen In the first few seasons Grey's Anatomy Chandra Wilson' character is Dr. Miranda Bailey. A short,black female with attitude. Her co works call here “The Nazi” because she states how she feels,works hard and doesn't allow any back talk from the interns under her care. One of her interns are the complete opposite of Bailey, Meredith Grey character played by Ellen Pompeo is tall,Caucasian,soft spoken and thin. Throughout the seasons of the show Bailey is always portrayed as the “Nazi.” As the show continues through out the seasons Bailey is always shown as a female with an attitude,but at times she can be filled with compassion.

In the 1988 film produced and directed by Spike Lee School Daze. The film is a musical and it’s a fiction story about Lee’s college days at Morehouse College. The following scene depicts the “Jiggaboos” the dark skinned, Natural and “nappy and messy” haired females and the light-skinned, straight hair straight-haired females with perfectly styled hair.The females battle out their differences in the hair salon.:

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Hair has always been my biggest concern as an Black or African American female. It seems like growing up I heard about only two types of hair, “good” and “bad” hair. Good hair is meant to be silky, straight and smooth like a Caucasian. Bad hair is considered to be overly curly, tightly curled, or “nappy” which most black females are born with. Some black females are born with the so called “good hair”, while others are born with so called “bad hair.” The women with the so called “bad hair” straighten their hair with a hot comb or by using a chemical called a relaxer. Some women also use wigs and weaves to achieve a silky, smooth look. Do black females get their ides of beauty from the media? It’s very rare that females see someone with Natural hair on TV or in other forms of media.

I remember when I got my first relaxer at age 8 or 9. The nasty smelling chemical is of a mixture of sodium hydroxide, or lye left scabs on my scalp and caused my scalp to itch and burn. I took that burn because I wanted “smooth out the edges.” My head would be on fire, but I had become addicted to the “creamy crack”. Creamy crack was addiction I got my hair relaxed every 2 months, every time I could not run a comb through out my hair it was time to get a relaxer. I yearned for hair to lay flat and long like my cousins who were from mixed heritage. It was all false hope, but I never believed it. I wanted my African features to go a way,so I could be considered pretty. I never could get the mild brand of relaxer I always had to get “Extra Strength” or “Super” for coarser texture hair.

The following clip from the documentary “Good Hair” will explain the “burning sensation” from the chemicals.

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I continued to relax my hair for the next ten years or so. It would always end in disaster, my hair would fall out, the scabs formed in my head but, I was determined to look and feel beautiful. I could never style my hair or keep it and it always looked like a mess. I could never curl or crimp my hair because I had never mastered that skill. All of the other women in my family, on campus or just walking around the city of Columbus would always have the best hairstyles and my hair never looked as good. I felt inadequate.

I decided in 2003 that I had enough and I cut my hair off. It wasn’t that much because much off had fallen out because of my relaxer. When I went Natural I was so scared how others would see me and my hair.

I wore cornrows, box braids and micro braids many years before I had the courage to show my Natural hair. Now, I wear my hair just like it grows. I love the feel of my hair, my tight,springy curls. My hair is pretty and it there are no bald spots. It many not be long and silky,but its mine.The media tells society how people should think, act, dress, live and feel and it also dictates what is considerate beautiful. Good hair was straight hair and beautiful skin was light skin. I finally realized beauty was not that perfect Hollywood image. Beauty comes in all shapes,sizes,shades,hair textures and color.

References

Angelou, Maya.(1969) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York, N.Y: Random House Trade Paperbacks.

Grant, K., Lyons, A., Landis, D., Mi Hyon, C., Scudiero, M., Reynolds, L., et al. (1999). Gender, Body Image, and Depressive Symptoms among Low-Income African American Adolescents. //Journal of Social Issues//, 55(2), 299-315. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Poran, M. (2006). The Politics of Protection: Body Image, Social Pressures, and the Misrepresentation of Young Black Women. //Sex Roles,// 55(11-12), 739. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database

Townsend, T., Thomas, A., Neilands, T., & Jackson, T. (2010). I’M NO JEZEBEL; I AM YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BLACK: IDENTITY, SEXUALITY, AND BLACK GIRLS. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34(3), 273-285. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2010.01574.x. Rhimes, Shonda (Producer). (2010). Greys Anatomy [Television series]. Hollywood: American Broadcasting Company.

School Daze Dir. Spike Lee Perf. Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell-Martin. 40 Acres and a Mule Productions and Columbia Pictures Production. 1988.

Jeff Stilson. (Producers) (2009) Good Hair. [DVD]. Chris Rock Entertainment, HBO Films. This film discusses how Black females style their hair and how they are seen in the media,

Hooks.Bell(1993). //Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self Recovery//. Boston South:End Press