This path was created by Aleya Washington. The last update was by David Squires.
Mammy Trope
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines mammy as a black woman responsible for taking care of white children, especially before slavery was abolished. Since emancipation, the mammy figure has become a stereotype through its portrayal in literature and other media, such as the Mammy Two Shoes character in Tom and Jerry. It is now one of the most prominent stereotypes of black women and includes many different characteristics. Victoria O’Donnell defines this figure in the following quotation:
Although this archetype sometimes varies slightly, O’Donnell captures the idea of the mammy very well, drawing on and adding to Donald Bogle's four-part description of the mammy as desexed, heavyset, unfashionable, and dark complexioned. Individual examples do not always have to possess all of these qualities at once to be classified as a mammy figure. This figure has even been portrayed in memes and other forms of pop culture. The most recognized mammy figures portrayed in media include the Pine Sol lady, Mrs. Butterworth, Madea, Aunt Jemima, and Mammy Two Shoes. Although some of these are older, the stereotype is still represented in media to this day (e.g. the Popeyes lady).The "Mammy” character is a stereotype derived from history and popular culture. She is a black, middle-aged woman who has a strong, loud voice and wears an apron and a kerchief on her head. Her ample body and open, honest expression reveal that she is maternal and reliable. She is the southern archetype of the earth mother…a ‘desexed, overweight, dowdy, dark black woman…’ a figure that recurs often enough to be easily recognized. (243)
The OED defines a trope as being “a significant or recurrent theme, especially in a literary or cultural context; a motif.” Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant defines the strong black woman trope as "a strong Black woman should ‘muster through’ all adversity ‘without scarring,’ should always [try] to help other people,’ and should present herself as a capable ‘twenty-four-hour woman’ regardless of the demands and stresses she faces" (71). This trope is intensely connected to the mammy figure because the mammy must be a strong black woman.
One of the many issues with the mammy figure is that her agency is typically revoked, and she is usually a flat character. The stereotype limits characters because it relies on a racist caricatures of enslaved women. This figure creates a character trope that represents black women as subservient, and happily so. It also elides the personhood of black women by failing to represent their ability to speak against the oppression they have, historically, suffered and resisted.
