It’s
no secret that in the African American community the AA woman is placed on a
pedestal, or at least once upon a time they were. Insert rap music and reality
television and women have suddenly been demoted to “B****’s,” “hoes” and
“ratchets.” As a ‘fan’ of rap I give a certain pass to lyrics as it’s almost
become mandatory to defame women in music, but recently it seems that the
disrespect has reached more disturbing
heights. Sure the rappers who promote such language are AA themselves, but
think about the label owners and stockholders; white men and women whom make a
profit from the defilement of AA women. Once the last remaining figure of hope
for the AA community, this image has continuously been diminished and tarnished
with only a comedic symbol remaining. In order to reclaim the prestige and once
again become a strong symbol within the African American community, the
community itself has to examine the portrayals that have somewhat become the
“token” of African American female representation.
The
world of reality TV aims to show authentic sides and lives of characters, but
if you ask me all portrayals aren’t genuinely authentic; especially when it
comes to African American women. As I’m sure there are plenty of earlier
examples of the diminishing respect for AA women, yet my earliest memory begins
with the first season of the VH1 reality series Flavor of Love; a show where
black women (the majority), were pitted against one another for the affection
of a man; and by pitted I mean fist fight, bitch slap, and be spit upon. This
group of women was the first of the new millennium to showcase the decline of
the AA woman. While the masses laughed, AA women and girls received
brainwashing that this type of behavior was not only acceptable but normal. Keeping
in mind that all of the contestants on the show were aspiring, models, actresses
or singers, it’s easy to notice the lack of authenticity within the show, but
the effects are long-lasting. For evidence log onto Youtube, use the correct
choice words for searching and allow the disturbing truth to sink in. 
Moving
on from career hopefuls, the media focused on yet another subset of AA imagery,
with Bravo’s third installment of the Real Housewives franchise, which to me
only projected the imagery that AA women don’t need a male to influence
animosity towards one another, but can fight over anything. The Real Housewives
of Atlanta has been the most successful installment of the franchise and of the
Bravo network, which isn’t surprising at all being that 90% of the cast are AA
women. One step above the Flavor of Love hopefuls, this group of women claim to
fame came through the presence of the man/men in their lives. At the beginning
of the series no one on the cast is “employed” or has a career of her own.
Instead they have achieved their “status” through marriage. One doesn’t have to
imagine the negative affect this placed on AA women and girls, the results are
evident by the lack of focus on education and rise in aspirations to one day
marry a musician, athlete, or any man with money who can make her life as
comfortable as possible.
In
hindsight these shows haven’t been all negative. While the rest of the world
laughed, large portions of AA women became angry. Instead of standing by while
the media continued to destroy their image, women grouped together to ensure
that their voices were heard. Their anger reached its peaked when AA women
banded together to demand the cancellation of VH1 series, Basketball Wives.
Following in the shadow of Bravo, VH1 once
again used reality TV to portray a negative image of AA women. The show
Basketball Wives was a paradox from the beginning being that a large percentage
of the cast weren’t actually married. They
were instead the baby mothers, girlfriends, or exes of players, with one thing
in common; they were black women willing to be exploited. A success from its
beginning Basketball Wives had it all: hair pulling, drink slinging, booty
shaking, fist fighting and more. Despite major protest VH1 has yet decided to
cancel the series—but why would they? I’m sure we all know what type of person makes
the final call. It can’t be a coincidence that shows such as these continue to
follow the same suit.
The
media and society has always been set against the African American male; media
portrayals and music does enough alone to obviously discredit and discourage AA
men, that it goes without saying. The African American woman however remained a
prominent figure in African American homes for years; symbols of strength and
perseverance. Of course the media can’t have impressionable girls gaining self-esteem
and respect for themselves, so they place the most deleterious, toxic images
they can find on television, (in many communities the babysitter). Young girls grow
up thinking that it’s okay to emulate such behavior and future generations will
only think that it’s natural to behave in such ways.
You
may not have noticed the correlation between the degrading of African American
women for the amusement of white audiences but it’s happening with alarming
results. Next time you tune in and laugh at the buffoonery think about that
there is someone profiting from this exploitation, and all the while the image
of the African American woman continues to erode. At the end of the day who is
really getting the last laugh?
