The image of the mammy is a Black woman who is a general housekeeper and/or nanny, often for a white family and, additionally, the one designated to nurse the family’s children (Mammy archetype).In her subordinated position to the White supremacy, the mammy image reinforces and experiences “intersecting oppressions of race, gender, sexuality and class” (Collins, 2000, p.80).[1] For example, the Black woman is taught by her White family that her position within the power structure is below Whites; the mammy internalizes and passes this information onto further generations (Collins, 2000, p.80).[2] The image of the mammy herself has morphed throughout time.
Collins would describe the overall treatment of Whites to Blacks as "othering."[3] When people engage in “othering” it creates a binary in which the "subject" (the dominate group) objectifies the “other” (the minority group) and shapes their identity and reality (Collins, 2000, p. 77).[3] For example, Whites view themselves as the "subjects" who have the right to “define their own reality, establish their own identities” whereas Blacks are the objects whose history is defined as it relates to the history of the "subject" (Collins, 2000, p.78).[4] The process of defining relationships as binaries creates an incredible amount of tension between different races, genders and other groups. Black women are subjected to controlling images like the mammy, which make it difficult for them to rise past oppressive structures in work, education or a number of other institutions. The oppression can take the form of race, class, gender and sexual orientation attacks (Oppression).[5]
According to a study conducted by Signal Alon and Yitchak Haberfeld, nine years post-schooling, Black women earn the lowest hourly wages compared to White and Hispanic women: $9.01, $10.73 and $11.81, respectively (Alon & Haberfeld, 2007, p.378).[5] Additionally, minorities like Black women have the highest infant mortality rate as well as births out of wedlock (Baca Zinn & Thornton Dill, 1994, p. 4).[6] Lastly, they are more likely than White women to live in poverty and be single mothers (Baca Zinn & Thornton Dill, 1994, p. 4).[6]
Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill state that women of color are subordinated because, “patterns of hierarchy, domination, oppression based on race, class, gender and sexual orientation are built into the structure of our society” (Baca Zinn & Dill, 1994, p. 4).[6] Thus, inequality is socially constructed phenomenon with biological factors like race and gender at the center. Baca Zinn and Thornton Dill argue that biological factors relevant because they are “socially ranked and rewarded” (Baca Zinn & Thornton Dill, 1994, p. 4).[6] By using these biological factors, society has a tendency to differentiate between cultural groups and then rank these groups as they compare to “a presumed standard” i.e. being a white male (Baca Zinn & Thornton Dill, 1994, p. 4).[6] Although these biological factors are inherited, thus out of any individual’s control, Black women are still oppressed.
Evidently, Black women are forced to believe that the only way to overcome their oppression is through a higher education and/or a successful job. Yet, the "subject" (usually White males) fail to acknowledge that many Black women come from lower-class or uneducated backgrounds and do not have the resources to attain a higher education and/or a long-term occupation. The "subject" will continue to oppress the "object" because they are colorblind (Collins, 2000).[7] To be colorblind means to think that social inequalities do not exist (Collins, 2000).[7] As they do not exist, the white hierarchy continues to oppress black women through images like Aunt Jemima and the Pine-Sol lady.
Aunt Jemima was created in 1889; her image as a happy black woman wearing an apron and a red bandana is extremely oppressive (The Quaker Oats Company). [8] Similar to the mammy image, Aunt Jemima is happy to cook for and serve the white family she belongs to. By depicting these women as “content” the white supremacy absolves their responsibility for centuries of black slavery and their consequent oppression (Kowalski 2009).[8] Her image was altered again with the removal of the bandana in 1989 The Quaker Oats Company. Although a “symbol of slavery” has been removed, her subordinated position still exists. Aunt Jemima now has a lighter complexion and pearl earrings which make her look like the “ideal housewife”; a housewife whose duty is to serve the patriarchy (Kowalski, 2009).[8]
A few hundred years later, the mammy image reappeared by way of the Pine-Sol Lady. This image depicts her wearing plain and loose-fitting clothing with cornrow braids Pine-Sol Lady . She often uses words like “honey” and “baby” in advertising her cleaning product: Pine-Sol (Kowalski, 2009).[8] This vocabulary still depicts the mammy as subservient. Black slaves used these words to address the white children they were responsible for. By continually being shown as servants, Black women are seen as capable of only lower status jobs (Kowalski, 2009).[8]
