Black women are incredibly poorly represented in contemporary media. Although representation has grown, thanks to women like Shonda Rhimes and Ava DuVernay, but there is still a long way to go. Tamara Winfrey- Harris stated "We probably have more diversity of black female characters on television than ever before. The problem is there's nowhere near the diversity that our white counterparts have. We're still not allowed to be fully human in the ways they are." (USA Today) Essence magazine examined the pervasiveness of stereotypes like Jezebel, Welfare Queen, Angry Black Woman, Gold Digger etc. and found that negative images of black women were twice as common as positive images. They also found that black women felt that archetypes such as "Real Beauties, Modern Matriarchs, Girls Next Door and Individualists" most accurately represented themselves and the black women they knew. However, white women most commonly said that the black women they met fit more into "Baby Mamas, Angry Black Women, Unhealthy Black Women and Uneducated Sisters." The proliferation of negative images regarding black women very heavily shape the ideas others have about black women and impacts the way they see real black women. Black women rarely see images that they feel are an accurate representation of themselves in the media, but media like "Bad Girls Club" promoting stereotypes of black women are abundant. It is important that we show black women in more positive and varied lights.
"Girl Next Door" How black women see themselve
"Angry Black Woman" How everyone else sees them