Emasculation is the removal of both the penis and the scrotum (including the testicles), the external male sex organs. It differs from castration, which is the removal of the testicles only, although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The potential medical consequences
of emasculation are more extensive than those associated with
castration, as the removal of the penis gives rise to a unique series of
complications. There are a range of religious, cultural, punitive, and
personal reasons why someone may choose to emasculate themselves or
another person. Consensual emasculation may be seen as a form of body modification
that enhances a recipient's identification with their community or
sense of self. By comparison, non-consensual emasculations, such as
those performed punitively or accidentally, may constitute genital mutilation. The medical treatment for an emasculated person differs depending on whether the procedure was consensual.
The term emasculation may be used metaphorically to refer to the loss of a man's masculinity.
A man is said to be emasculated when he loses or is deprived of a
characteristic traditionally associated with being a man, such as power
or independence.
There
are several different methods of emasculation. Both the penis and
testicles may be removed simultaneously using a sharp instrument, such
as a knife or razor or swords. Non-crushing vascular clamps may also be used in medical surgery to cut off blood circulation and reduce bleeding.
Alternatively, the penis and testicles may be removed at
different stages in time. Medical surgeons use this method when
performing surgery on trans women who want their genitals removed over multiple sex reassignment surgeries (male-to-female), rather than in a single sitting.
Medical consequences
Short-term consequences of emasculation include bleeding and infection. Historically, death was also a potential complication, although the prevalence is disputed.
Long term complications include incontinence, urethral stricture, urine retention, urinary tract infection, urine extravasation and bladder stones. Some studies have found that emasculation may cause a range of physiological changes, such as a shortened torso, widened stomach and hips, increased height, bowed legs, and an elongated skull. Additionally, emasculates typically have less or no facial and body hair, increased fatty tissue or gynecomastia, and a feminine fat pattern distribution. The physiological effects of emasculation are more severe for people who undergo the procedure before the onset of puberty.
An emasculated Chinese eunuch from the Qing Dynasty
Emasculation was performed in China on men to create palace eunuchs for the imperial court. The practice dates back to the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and continued up until 1924, when the eunuch system was abolished by the last emperor of China, Puyi. The last living palace eunuch, Sun Yaoting, died in 1996.
Originally, palace eunuchs were prisoners who were involuntarily emasculated. In the Qing dynasty,
men began volunteering to undergo the procedure in order to gain
employment, although instances of forced emasculation still occurred.
One reason why recipients willingly underwent emasculation is that they
saw employment as a palace eunuch as a way to acquire wealth and power.
Alternatively, poverty was a reason why fathers forced their sons to
undergo emasculation, and the desire for financial benefit motivated
human traffickers to force emasculation on their victims.
There were several reasons why the Imperial court required its
civil servants to be emasculated. Emasculation was thought to ensure a
recipient's undivided loyalty to the emperor, as it severs the
recipient's existing familial or social bonds and destroys their ability
to produce future heirs. The choice to hire emasculated eunuchs also ensured the legitimacy of the emperor's lineage.
The choice to emasculate, rather than merely castrate, was motivated by
a desire to protect the chastity of women in the court, as emasculation
rendered a recipient physically incapable of having sex. While emasculation was a pre-requisite for gaining employment as a palace eunuch, it did not guarantee employment.
The emasculation procedure was typically performed by a trained 'knifer', or 'knife expert'.
To prepare for the operation, the recipient was bathed in cold water to
numb his senses and, in some instances, his genitals were twisted to
reduce blood flow.
The recipient was then asked if he consented to the procedure, and if
he answered yes the knifer excised the genitals with a single cut. Styptic powder was then applied to the wound to stop bleeding, and a pewter needle or spigot was inserted into the urethra to prevent stenosis (narrowing).
Some Chinese emasculates were the great historian Sima Qian, Cao Teng, the foster grandfather of Cao Cao, Zheng He, a Ming dynasty admiral of the imperial navy who sailed to Africa, and the surviving sons and grandson of rebel Yaqub Beg.
West Asia
To create eunuchs for the Arab slave trade, young black boys from South East Africa typically had their penis and scrotum completely amputated. White boys, by comparison, were usually only castrated.
Emasculated Skoptsy male (left) and Skoptsy female with breasts cut off (right)
Emasculation was one form of genital mutilation practiced by the
Skoptsy, a Russian Christian sect. For males, the other form of
mutilation available was castration. Females could remove their nipples,
breasts, labia majora, labia minora or clitoris.
These practices may have begun sometime during the 1760s, after the
sect was founded by Kondratii Selivanov, although they were only
discovered by the broader community in 1772. They continued up until the 1930s, when the sect was destroyed and its members sentenced.
The Skoptsy practiced genital mutilation because they believed
the genitals were the source of original sin, and that by removing them,
they could attain salvation. The aim of removing the offending genitalia was to purify the body. Their belief was based on a literal reading of the verse of Matthew 19:12,
which states: "There are some eunuchs, which were so born from their
mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of
men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the
kingdom of heaven's sake." In addition, the verses of Matthew 18:8,9 and Luke 23:29 were also cited as support.
Of the two types of genital mutilation available to men, emasculation
was called the Greater Seal. Castration, by comparison, was called the
Lesser Seal.
Emasculation was preferable because it rendered a recipient physically
incapable of engaging in sinful sexual conduct, allowing them to attain a
higher level of purity.
Originally, the emasculation procedure was performed by burning the testicles off with an iron.
Later, the genitals were tied at the base and removed using a knife or
razor blade. The wound was then cauterised, or a salve was applied, to
prevent bleeding. Many Skoptsy were peasants and were familiar with
animal husbandry, which meant their emasculation procedures were often
performed with "surgical precision."
In some instances, members of the Skoptsy would perform the
emasculation on themselves, in an act of self-surgery, though it was
more typical for the procedure to be performed by an elder during a
ceremony.
Throughout the Indian subcontinent tradition, including India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, some members of the Hijra community reportedly undergo emasculation, or nirvan.
Traditionally, emasculation was a rite of passage into the Hijra community. Today it remains an important ritual, though is not mandatory or universally practiced.
When it is performed, it typically occurs several years after an
individual has already participated within the Hijra community. While
some Hijra are emasculated, others are intersex, undeveloped in puberty
or impotent.
Whether or not a Hijra undergoes emasculation is influenced by a
range of considerations. Some people are not emasculated because they
are fearful of surgical complications, are under financial constraints,
or merely as a matter of personal choice. For Muslim Hijra, emasculation may be avoided due to the belief that genital mutilation goes against Allah's will.
Others see emasculation as necessary in order to be 'reborn' as a Hijra.
In this view, emasculated Hijra are seen as more 'real' than those who
are not.
The decision to be emasculated may also be motivated by personal
beliefs about whether a Hijra can have spiritual powers without
undergoing the procedure. Amongst members of the Hijra community, this
issue is subject to considerable debate.
In the past, the emasculation procedure was performed by barbers or by the individual themselves (i.e. self-emasculation). Nowadays, the operation is performed by a Hijra elder, also called a dai ma (midwife). They have no medical training, but believe they operate with the power of the patron goddess, Bahuchara Mata. The operation takes place early in the morning, around 3a.m. or 4a.m. Anesthesia is not administered.
The penis and testes are tied together with a string, and the elder
then makes two diagonal cuts with a sharp surgical knife to completely
excise the organs.
The elder allows the blood to gush from the wound, which is considered
necessary to completely cleanse the recipient of their male parts. This
is one reason why the procedure is performed by an elder rather than a
medical professional, who might try to stop the haemorrhage, thus
interfering with the ritual's cleansing effect.
Afterwards, no stitches are taken and the wound is left exposed,
although a small stick is inserted into the urethra to prevent urethral
stricture.
For the Hijra, emasculation does affect a recipient's gender identity, with some identifying as female, non-binary or a third gender.
Emasculation was one of the Five Punishments used in ancient China. It was the prescribed punishment for people who engaged in licentious conduct, such as infidelity or rape. The first evidence of its use dates to the Shang dynasty (1700–1100 BC), when the characters for a knife and male genitalia were carved into oracle bones. It continued up until the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE), when it was formally abolished.
Emasculation occurs voluntarily within the transgender community as a form of gender reassignment surgery,
allowing recipients to renounce their masculine characteristics and
bring their body into closer alignment with their identified gender. It
may be sought by trans women (those born male who identify as female),
who wish to assume their femininity, or by non-binary transgender
individuals (those born male who identify as neither male nor female),
who want to locate themselves outside of traditional gender categories.
For trans women, emasculation surgery may be performed with or
without the creation of a vagina. When a vagina is created, the
procedure is called a vaginoplasty, and where it is not, the procedure is called a cosmesis or cosmetic vulvoplasty.
For non-binary transgender people, the purpose of emasculation is
to make the body less congruent with one's biological sex without the
subsequent assumption of femininity. These individuals may identify as non-binary, a third-sex, eunuch, or another gender. Some adopt the term 'nullo', meaning someone whose gender has been nullified.
Self-inflicted
Transgender
Occasionally, self-emasculation is practiced by transgender people.
When compared with the general population, transgender persons are at a
higher risk of engaging in acts of genital self-mutilation, including
self-emasculation.
Mental disorder
There are reports of self-emasculation cases resulting from mental disorder. Some academics claim that a majority of self-emasculations are a result of psychosis, although this finding has been challenged. Nonetheless, there are several reported cases of people with schizophrenia engaging in self-emasculation.
It has been linked to other mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder.
Skoptic syndrome, or Klingsor syndrome, is a condition where people mutilate their genitals as a result of psychotic religious delusions. For example, a person with Skoptic syndrome is reported to have mutilated his genitals after experiencing auditory hallucinations telling him he would only be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven if he emasculated himself.
Body integrity dysphoria, or xenomelia, is another mental disorder that may drive a person to seek emasculation.
People with this disorder are distressed by the presence of a limb that
they do not identify as part of their body, including the genitals.
Emasculation in this context alleviates their distress, enabling them to
become 'whole'.
However, the amputation of healthy limbs by medical professionals is
highly controversial. The inability to acquire medically administered
emasculation has driven some to self-emasculation.
In some cases, a person with a mental illness has emasculated other people.
Involuntary or accidental
In some circumstances, a person may be emasculated involuntarily as the result of an accident. as part of a ritual attack, or due to poor circumcision practice.
In these cases, the objective of medical treatment is different
than for cases of voluntary emasculation. The goals of treatment are to
either reattach the severed genitals or to reconstruct an artificial
penis and testes.
From 1960 to 2000, involuntarily emasculated infants were surgically reassigned female, similar to the treatment received by David Reimer after his penis was burnt off during a circumcision
procedure. It is now understood from cases like Reimer's that gender
reassignment surgery in infancy can interfere with gender identity
formation. Therefore, gender reassignment is no longer the standard
practice for involuntarily emasculated infants.
Other meanings
By extension, the word emasculation has also come to mean rendering a male less masculine,
including by humiliation. It can also mean to deprive anything of
vigour or effectiveness. This figurative usage has become more common
than the literal meaning. For example: "William Lewis Hughes voted for Folkestone's amendment to Curwen's emasculated reform bill, 12 June 1809 ... "
In horticulture,
the removal of male (pollen) parts of a plant, largely for controlled
pollination and breeding purposes, is also called emasculation.
The portrayal of LGBT people in the media historically included
negative stereotypes, or LGBT people were not included. Stereotypes
included that gay men are portrayed as flashy, flamboyant and feminine,
and lesbians being portrayed as the opposite. In recent years, portrayal has become relatively positive, and LGBT people have had increasingly higher media representation.
LGBT rights activists have fought against fictional representations
of LGBT people that depict them as violent and murderous. Columnist Brent Hartinger observed that "big-budget Hollywood movies until, perhaps, Philadelphia in 1993 that featured major gay male characters portrayed them as insane villains and serial killers". Community members organized protests and boycotts against films with murderous LGBT characters, including Cruising (1980), Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Basic Instinct (1992).
Theatre scholar Jordan Schildcrout has written about the recurrence of
the "homicidal homosexual" in American plays but notes that LGBT
playwrights themselves have appropriated this negative stereotype to
confront and subvert homophobia. Such plays include The Lisbon Traviata (1985) by Terrence McNally, Porcelain (1992) by Chay Yew, The Secretaries (1993) by the Five Lesbian Brothers, and The Dying Gaul (1998) by Craig Lucas.
Bisexual
people are sometimes excluded from LGBT events and community gatherings
as they are seen as being in an experimental phase.
Many bisexual people are often characterized as indecisive due to their attraction to both men and women. As the term bisexual
can refer to people who do have a sexual preference but are open to
sexual interactions with other groups, bisexuals are sometimes seen as
unwilling to commit to one sexual identity. This characterization can
include stereotypes originating in the LGBT community itself as people
who are bisexual do not always choose homosexual partners—they are often
seen as being in a transitory or experimental phase between being
heterosexual and homosexual.
Promiscuity
Another
common stereotype is that bisexual people are promiscuous and incapable
of having steady or long-term relationships. This includes belief that,
according to a bisexuality study, "compared to lesbians or gay targets,
bisexual targets in a relationship with lesbian or gay partners were
evaluated as more likely to transmit STDs and less likely to sexually
satisfy their partners." by the public. Bisexual people are sometimes seen as being incapable of monogamy or sexually manipulative. Bisexual people are also assumed to want to engage in threesomes.
Media representation
Due
to negative characterizations of bisexuality, media personalities are
often reluctant to share their identity with the public, leading to
reduced visibility. Rock musician David Bowie famously declared himself bisexual in an interview with Melody Maker in January 1972, a move coinciding with the first shots in his campaign for stardom as Ziggy Stardust.
Bowie later regretted revealing his sexuality, stating, "I had no
problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to
hold any banners or be a representative of any group of people. I knew
what I wanted to be, which was a songwriter and a performer ..."
Regarding the portrayal of bisexual people by Hollywood, stigma is present, especially for men. From the end of the McCarthy era to today, "The history of male bisexual characters in film has been one of negative stereotyping." With so many negative stereotypes surrounding bisexual characters, they
are often relegated to supporting or one-note characters.
The bear subculture of the LGBT community is composed of generally large, hairy men, referred to as bears. They embrace their image, and some will shun more effeminate gay men, such as twinks, and vice versa.
Appearance and mannerisms
Gay men are often associated with a lisp or a feminine speaking tone.Fashion and effeminacy have long been seen as stereotypes of homosexuality. They are often based on the visibility of the reciprocal relationship between gay men and fashion. Designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, have made use of homoerotic imagery in their advertising. Some commentators argue this encourages the stereotype that most gay men enjoy shopping. A limp wrist is also a mannerism associated with gay men.
Recent research by Cox and colleagues demonstrated that "gaydar"
is often used as an alternate label for using stereotypes, especially
those related to appearance and mannerisms, to infer orientation.
Research also suggests that lesbians may be slightly more likely than gay men to be in steady relationships. In terms of unprotected sex,
a 2007 study cited two large population surveys as showing that "the
majority of gay men had similar numbers of unprotected sexual partners
annually as straight men and women". Another study found that gay men sometimes faced social boundaries because of this stereotype.
Participants in the study reported finding it difficult to befriend
other gay men on a platonic basis. They found that when they would
engage with other gay men there would be an assumption of sexual
motivations, and when it became clear that this was not the case the
other men would not be interested in continuing socialising. These
stereotypes permeate throughout all facets of society, even influencing
those subjected to it.
Another persistent stereotype associated with the gay male community is excessive partying. Before the Stonewall riots
in 1969, most LGBT people were extremely private and closeted, and
house parties, bars, and taverns became some of the few places where
they could meet, socialize, and feel safe.
The riots represented the start of the modern LGBT social movement and
acceptance of sexual and gender minorities, which has steadily increased
since. Festive and party-like social occasions remain at the core of
organizing and fundraising in the LGBT community. In cities where there
are large populations of LGBT people, benefits and bar fundraisers are still common, and alcohol companies invest heavily in LGBT-oriented marketing. Ushered in by underground gay clubs and disc jockeys, the disco era kept the "partying" aspect vibrant and ushered in the more hardcore circuit party movement, hedonistic and associated with party and play.
The relationship between gay men and female heterosexual "fag hags"
has become highly stereotypical. The accepted behaviors in this type of
relationship can predominantly include physical affections (such as
kissing and touching), as in the sitcomWill & Grace.
Film scholar Robin Wood called David Lynch's Dune (1984) "the most obscenely homophobic film I have ever seen"
– referring to a scene in which Baron Harkonnen sexually assaults and
kills a young man by bleeding him to death – charging it with "managing
to associate with homosexuality in a single scene physical grossness,
moral depravity, violence, and disease." Gay writer Dennis Altman suggested that the film showed how "AIDS references began penetrating popular culture" in the 1980s, asking, "Was it just an accident that in the film Dune the homosexual villain had suppurating sores on his face?"
Sex and drugs
The term party and play (PNP) is used to refer to a subculture of gay men who use recreational drugs and have sex together, either one-on-one or in groups. The drug chosen is typically methamphetamine, known as crystal or tina in the gay community. Other "party drugs" such as MDMA and GHB
are less associated with this term. While PNP probably has its genesis
in the distinct subculture of methamphetamine users, and is most
associated with its use, it has become somewhat generalized to include
partying with other drugs thought to enhance sexual experiences,
especially MDMA, GHB, and cocaine.
A report from the National HIV Prevention Conference (a collaborative effort by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and other governmental and non-government organizations) describes PNP
as "sexual behavior under the influence of crystal meth or other 'party'
drugs." It has been referred to as both an "epidemic" and a "plague" in the gay community.
A meta-analysis of studies between 1996 and 2012 found that "some
studies report that gay men are more likely to use alcohol and illicit
drugs than heterosexual men, while other studies report that gay and
heterosexual men do not differ in alcohol and illicit drug use,
alcohol-related problems, or treatment utilization, and still other
studies report that gay men in college are less likely to binge drink
than their heterosexual counterparts." Research on the minority stress model shows stigma toward gay men may contribute to elevated substance use. Representatives for Drugscope
state that methamphetamine use is relatively unknown in the UK outside
this PNP subculture, and it largely occurs in the heavy-end party scene.
Pedophilia and predation
It is a common stereotype that gay men are sexual predators or pedophiles. The former perception can lead to a knee-jerk reaction that created the "gay panic defense", usually in straight men, who fear being hit on by gay men, and can be either a cause or an expression of homophobia.
The perception that a greater proportion of gay than straight men are pedophiles or child sexual abusers
is one contributing factor of discrimination against gay teachers,
despite the stark contrast to statistical figures, which have generally
revealed most male child sexual abusers, including those who target
boys, are heterosexual and usually married with children of their own,
and research on child sexual abuse shows that most instances of child
sexual abuse (one cited percentage being over 90%) are perpetrated by
heterosexual males raping underage females. Research has consistently indicated that a significant minority of child sex abuse perpetrators are female (5–20%),
but other research has indicated that almost 40% of child sexual abuse
against boys, and 6% of abuse against girls, is committed by women.
Actress Portia de Rossi came out as a lesbian in the early 2000s.
Many 20th-century films put a negative connotation on the lesbian community. The 1961 drama The Children's Hour gives viewers the idea that lesbians live a "dark" and almost depressing lifestyle.
The television series The L Word portrays a long-term lesbian couple attempting to start a family, and counters the negative "U-Haul" lesbian stereotype, which is that lesbians move in on the second date.
However, at the same time, the series came under heavy criticism for
reinforcing numerous other negative stereotypes, such as lesbians
preying on and seducing straight women in relationships with men; mistreating bisexual women or outright shunning them if they had a history of sleeping with men
(to the point where Alice Piezsecki, a bisexual character, refers to
bisexuality as "gross"); for downplaying the main characters' misdeeds
and unexplained tendency for adultery and instead focusing on their
physical beauty and sex scenes; for randomly killing off main characters
for no specific reason (referred to as "bury your gays"); for downplaying a rape scene as "angry sex"; reportedly attempting to "reify heteronormativity"; for depicting lesbianism or bisexuality as a gene
passed from mothers to daughters which sometimes caused both to fight
over the same woman (as demonstrated in the cases of Lenore and Alice
Piezsecki, Cherie and Clea Jaffe, Peggy and Helena Peabody, Phyllis and
Molly Kroll, an instance when Shane had sex with a mother and her two
daughters separately on one of the daughters' wedding day, which led to
all three of them falling in love with Shane and subsequently falling
out with each other, and ultimately Tina and Angelica Kennard in the
sequel series, The L Word: Generation Q);
and showing lesbian relationships as destined to fail due to lesbians'
apparent struggles with monogamy and commitment. Series creator Ilene Chaiken was labeled as "shameless in her professional upbringing" for her depiction of lesbians in general.
Many lesbians are associated with short hair, wearing baggy clothes and playing sports.
Further, news coverage of LGBT issues reinforces stereotyped portrayals
of lesbians. Often news broadcasts highlight stories on more
"masculine" lesbians and fail to give equal coverage to other more
faceted lesbian identities. Thus, the populations who receive
information about marginalized communities from a news source begin to
equate lesbian sexuality with a masculine presentation. The way lesbians
are portrayed leads people to make assumptions about individuals in
everyday life.
Typically, lesbians are stereotyped as belonging to one of the two following categories: "butch and femme". Butch lesbians dress in a more masculine manner than other women. "Dykes" (a pejorative term that the Lesbian community has reclaimed, to an extent) are considered members of a community that is perceived as being composed of strong and outspoken advocates in wider society. Actress Portia de Rossi
has been credited for significantly countering the general societal
misconception of how lesbians look and function when, in 2005, she
divulged her sexual orientation in intimate interviews with Details and The Advocate which generated further discussion on the concept of the "lipstick lesbian" ("femme" women who tend to be "hyper-feminine").
These stereotypes play out within the LGBTIQ+ community itself, with
many women reporting feeling rejected by the queer community for not
appearing or acting in the accepted way.
Lesbian feminists
assert that a sexual component is unnecessary for a woman to declare
herself a lesbian if her primary and closest relationships are with
women, on the basis that, when considering past relationships within an
appropriate historical context, there were times when love and sex were
separate and unrelated notions. In 1989, an academic cohort called the Lesbian History Group wrote:
"Because of society's reluctance to
admit that lesbians exist, a high degree of certainty is expected
before historians or biographers are allowed to use the label. Evidence
that would suffice in any other situation is inadequate here... A woman
who never married, who lived with another woman, whose friends were
mostly women, or who moved in known lesbian or mixed gay circles, may
well have been a lesbian. ... But this sort of evidence is not 'proof'.
What our critics want is incontrovertible evidence of sexual activity
between women. This is almost impossible to find."
Transgender is an umbrella term
that encompasses a wide range of people with more specific identities.
In general, a person who is transgender identifies with a gender other
than their gender assigned at birth. The term may apply to any number of
distinct communities, such as cross-dressers, drag queens, and drag kings, in addition to transsexuals.
The beliefs that transgender people are all prostitutes and caricatures
of men and women are two of many erroneous misconceptions.
One common stereotype of trans women is that they are assumed to be drag queens.
While historically some trans women have been innovators within the
drag scene alongside gay men, trans women are not drag queens.
Another stereotype is that trans women are sexual predators
seeking to assault women, analogous to the stereotype about gay men as
sexual predators on boys; even though most sexual assault victims, women
and boys, are assaulted by cisgender heterosexual male perpetrators.
Transsexualism
A transsexual
person is born with the physical characteristics of one sex who
psychologically and emotionally identifies with a variant or different
gender than their physical sex characteristics. Stereotypes of trans women include them always being taller and having larger hands than cisgender women.
Trans men, conversely, are often stereotyped as being cuter, more
feminine, and more passive than their cisgender counterparts, being
classified as "softboys" (also spelled "softbois" or "softybois").
Both transgender men and women are often conflated with being gay, with
trans men being mistaken for lesbians and trans women being mistaken
for gay men.
Transvestites and cross-dressers
Transvestites are often assumed to be homosexuals. The word transvestism comes from the combination of Latin words trans meaning "across, over" and vestitus meaning dressed. Most transvestites are heterosexual. Although many people use the words interchangeably, transvestite has increasingly become a derogatory term. Most prefer to use the term cross-dresser or cross-dressing.
Origins and prevalence
Research
Social scientists have attempted to understand why there are such negative connotations associated with the lesbian community. William James
assumed that it was a repulsive instinct that came naturally to each
woman and that, when an individual enjoyed same-sex interaction, it was
because it became a habit. In short, he assumed that "tolerance is
learned and revulsion is inborn" (PBS). In 1908, James and Edward
Westermack attempted to understand the violent actions taken toward
homosexuals by Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian religions. They
believed hostility existed because of the historical association between
homosexuality and idolatry, heresy, and criminal behavior. Sigmund Freud
asserted in 1905 that homophobia was shaped by society, an individual's
environment, and the individual's exposure to homo-eroticism. Sandor
Ference (1914) believed that heterosexual women's feelings of repulsion
toward those identifying as lesbians was a reaction formation and
defense mechanism against affection from the same sex. In other words,
he believed heterosexual females feared being labeled as lesbians.
Taking an individual that adheres to stereotypes of LGBT people
and putting them in face-to-face interaction with those of the LGBT
community tends to lessen tendencies to rely upon stereotypes and
increases the presence of individuals with a similar ethnic, religious,
or geographical background, and who are accepting of homosexuals.
Intersections between LGBT, race, and class stereotypes
According to the theory of intersectionality,
discrimination leveled against an individual can compound based on
several factors, including race, class, gender, and sexuality.
As members of the LGBT community can be members of other minority
groups and stand at all ends of the socioeconomic spectrum,
intersectional stereotypes are often perpetuated, including those
related to class and race.
As people of color
and those of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to go to
prison, LGBT members of these groups are often misrepresented as being
criminally inclined.
LGBT individuals often face discrimination in prisons as they are
typically gender-segregated and are stereotyped as being sexually
available to other prisoners. This makes them vulnerable to assault and
discrimination both behind bars and in the outside world. Shows like Orange is the New Black and other forms of media perpetuate stereotypes of LGBT expression within prisons.
African Americans
African
Americans represent a particularly marginalized segment of the LGBT
community which faces both race and sexuality based prejudice.
African American gay men are often characterized as being dominant in relationships both sexually and emotionally. This belief is rooted in the Mandingo stereotype, a popular stereotype among opponents of the Emancipation Proclamation that painted African American men as animalistic and brutish to deepen the existing divide between White and Black Americans.
In addition to traditional forms of racism, African American gay men
are subject to sexual racism that expects them to assume the "top" role
during anal sex due to stereotypes that depict them as sexually
aggressive partners with large penises.
These stereotypes can be observed in many forms of media, notably
pornography, which depicts Black gay men as sexual predators who are
capable of satisfying fantasies of extreme domination.
African American members of the LGBT community also face discrimination
and stereotypes from other African Americans who are historically
likely to be religious and stereotype homosexuals as having loose
morals. Religious stereotypes surrounding the LGBT community are
especially prevalent in certain black evangelical churches, where LGBT
members are thought to be "damned to hell."
With respect to the experience of African American lesbians, they
deliberately construct their identities to protect themselves against
intersectional forms of discrimination. Though Black feminine and masculine lesbians–femmes and studs–use gender performance to blend into a heteropatriarchal society, they continue to experience negative gender and racial stereotypes.
Black femmes are characterized as hypersexual, submissive women who lack substance and, in conformity with traditional feminine gender norms, are obsessed with outward appearance (i.e., clothes, hair, makeup). As their visual identity allows them to pass as heterosexual women, Black femmes are shielded from potential homophobic violence. However, due to their subordinate position in the dominant racial and gender hierarchy, Black women remain vulnerable to misogynoir–regardless of perceived or actual sexual orientation.
Studs are similarly identified through dress and appearance. In
an attempt to imitate straight, Black men, studs incorporate
stereotypical elements of "thuggish" style into their own, often covered
in loose-fitting clothing and chains with their hair styled in braids,
twists, tied up, or cut short.
To protect themselves against homophobia within Black and non-Black
communities further, studs will exaggerate certain elements of
traditional masculinity to become "one of the guys." As a result, studs are stereotyped as having extremely sexist and homophobic attitudes towards feminine lesbians and gay men.
However, deviation from heteronormativity has contributed to the
rise of negative representations of all Black lesbians in media and
popular culture.
In the 1920s, African American newspapers popularized the stereotype of
Black lesbians as violent, sex-crazed individuals at the same time that
the concept of "lesbianism" emerged in modern American society. Largely owing to the Great Migration,
newspapers sensationalized homicide cases involving women who loved
women to criticize the immoral behavior of Southern migrants, who were
perceived as a threat to the respectability of Northern residents.
While violence between Black women occurred at a lower rate than
violence between heterosexual and other same-sex relationships during
this time period, journalists' insinuation that Black lesbianism was
inherently linked to extreme aggression and criminal behavior shaped
public opinion for several decades.
Hispanics and Latinos
Hispanic
and Latino gay men and women often experience difficulty coming out in
their communities due to cultural values based on heterosexism
or the presumption that heterosexual relationships and sexual behavior
are the societal norm. As a result, coming out as homosexual may
jeopardize the strong familial ties associated with Hispanic and Latino
culture.
A dominant stereotype of Hispanic and Latino family structures is that
they are centered on the "macho" man who determines appropriate forms of
masculinity and femininity. A "good man," for example, is not only
expected to provide for his family and protect women and children, but
also to maintain a positive family image through abusive and oppressive
tactics. As such, a "good woman" is expected to assume a submissive and subservient position to both men and the family.
Due to their sexuality, gay men and women are perceived to be at odds
with traditional Hispanic and Latino structures that assign gender roles
and are discriminated against as a result. In addition to machismo, Hispanic and Latino communities are stereotyped as homophobic due to their religiosity. However, the emerging popularity of Latin American Liberation Theology
has empowered young gay men and women to redefine religion and
spirituality on their own terms, come out, and confront heterosexism.
Like other gay men of color, Hispanic and Latino gay men are frequently reduced to racial stereotypes within the gay community.
Due to the overgeneralization of Hispanic and Latino men as
hyper-masculine individuals, gay men of the same background are
stereotyped as passionate and spontaneous lovers with an insatiable
sexual appetite.
The continued presence of racial stereotypes within the gay community
is harmful because it fetishizes and dehumanizes gay men of color to the
point where issues impacting their intersecting identities—such as
universal healthcare, homelessness, welfare, and immigration—are
excluded from the political agenda of the gay movement.
Additionally, Hispanic and Latino gay men are subject to gender
stereotypes within their ethnic community that largely influence their
sexual behavior.
As gay men in Hispanic and Latino cultures are stereotyped as overly
effeminate individuals due to their sexual orientation, their
preferences in sexual roles are formed and reformed to prevent any
negative perceptions of them being a "lesser man." They prefer to
assume the active role during anal sex over the passive role because
penetration is associated with traditionally masculine traits such as
power and dominance while being penetrated is associated with
traditionally feminine traits such as weakness and submission.
Hispanic and Latina lesbians are similarly stereotyped according
to their intersecting identities. As gay women of color, they are
characterized as seductive and sensual individuals with a fiery or
"spicy" disposition who exist to satisfy heterosexual male desire. One example of the stereotypical representation of Hispanic and Latina lesbians in popular culture is the fictional character Santana Lopez from Glee.
Throughout the series, Santana is depicted as a "straight-up bitch" who
engages in verbal and physical altercations with others and has had
numerous sexual and romantic relationships with male and female
protagonists.
Within their communities, Hispanic and Latina lesbians are also
impacted by gender stereotypes. Owing to the cultural belief that
respectable women subordinate their needs to men and refrain from any
sexual activity without the intention of procreation, Hispanic and
Latina lesbians will "stay in the closet" or refrain from coming out.
Those who do come out will be received differently depending on their
presentation. While feminine lesbians will be rendered invisible in
Hispanic and Latino spaces, masculine lesbians will be the only "type"
of lesbian to be recognized and, as a result, are more likely to be
disowned by their families and shut out of communities.
Asians
As a
marginalized minority within gender and racial hierarchies, Asian
members of the LGBT community experience intersectional invisibility.
While this form of invisibility may offer a certain degree of
protection from active prejudice, it also makes it difficult for the
negative experiences of the Asian community—such as racism and
discrimination—to be recognized.
As a result, Asians are frequently excluded from discussions of race,
which are generally framed around a White/Black dichotomy, and
marginalized within the mostly-white LGBT community and movement at
large.
On the basis of sexual orientation and race, gay Asian men are categorized as either hypersexual or asexual individuals. In particular, gay and bisexual Asian men are stereotyped as "effeminate, submissive, and docile."
Due to their perceived feminine qualities, Asian men are viewed as mere
bodies to be dominated by other gay men, primarily white men.
The stereotype of the submissive and feminine Asian man is reinforced
by additional stereotypes, such as the expectation that they will not
only assume the passive role in anal sex or be the "bottom," but also
that they will do this because of the myth/stereotype that they have
small penises.
Asian women who identify as lesbian or bisexual endure sexual fetishization by white men or women with yellow fever,
a derogatory term with racist origins that is used to describe an Asian
fetish. They are stereotyped as "spicy" and "freaky," which contributes
to Asian lesbians' frustration about not being taken seriously by
society. Stereotypes of Asian women as either a Dragon Lady or China doll are dominant in mainstream media representation of Asian women, and butch Asian women are relatively invisible, giving way to more femme, or feminized, depictions.
GLAAD
is working to have a fair depiction of the Asian community in the media
by educating the public on language referring to Asian Americans,
including refraining from phrases that are Eurocentric
like "The Orient", "Far East", and "Asiatic", among other measures.
GLAAD is also working to connect media networks with Asian and Pacific
Islander LGBT leaders and organizations in order to create less biased
media coverage.
In Japan, adult lesbians are frequently portrayed as smokers in Japanese media.
While Japanese culture heavily discourages interest in homosexual
fiction matching the reader's sex, certain publications, such as manga
magazine Yuri Hime, have repeatedly reported their dominant consumers as the same gender as portrayed for most of their operational life.
The first major displays of stereotypes of African Americans were minstrel shows. Beginning in the nineteenth century, they used White actors who were dressed in blackface and attire which was supposedly worn by African-Americans in order to lampoon and disparageblacks. Some nineteenth century stereotypes, such as the sambo, are now considered to be derogatory and racist. The "Mandingo" and "Jezebel" stereotypes portray African-Americans as hypersexual, contributing to their sexualization. The Mammy archetype
depicts a motherly black woman who is dedicated to her role working for
a white family, a stereotype which dates back to the origin of Southern plantations. African-Americans are frequently stereotyped as having an unusual appetite for fried chicken, watermelon, and grape drinks.
In the 1980s as well as in the following decades, emerging
stereotypes of black men depicted them as being criminals and social
degenerates, particularly as drug dealers, crack addicts, hobos, and subway muggers. Jesse Jackson said the media portrays black people as less intelligent. The magical Negro is a stock character who is depicted as having special insight or powers, and has been depicted (and criticized) in American cinema. In recent history, black men are stereotyped as being deadbeat fathers. African American men are also stereotyped as being dangerous criminals.
African Americans are frequently stereotyped as being hypersexual,
athletic, uncivilized, uneducated and violent. Young urban African
American men are frequently labelled "gangstas" or "players."
Stereotypes of black females include depictions which portray them as welfare queens or depictions which portray them as angry black women who are loud, aggressive, demanding, and rude.
Laziness, submissiveness, backwardness, lewdness, treachery, and
dishonesty are stereotypes historically assigned to African Americans.
Historical stereotypes
Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843
Minstrel shows
became a popular form of theater during the nineteenth century, which
portrayed African Americans in stereotypical and often disparaging ways,
some of the most common being that they are ignorant, lazy, buffoonish,
superstitious, joyous, and musical. One of the most popular styles of minstrelsy was Blackface,
where White performers burnt cork and later greasepaint or applied shoe
polish to their skin with the objective of blackening it and
exaggerating their lips, often wearing woolly wigs, gloves, tailcoats,
or ragged clothes to give a mocking, racially prejudicial theatrical
portrayal of African Americans. This performance helped introduce the use of racial slurs for African Americans, including "darky" and "coon".
This reproduction of a 1900 William H. Westminstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co., shows the transformation from "white" to "black."
The best-known stock character is Jim Crow,
among several others, featured in innumerable stories, minstrel shows,
and early films with racially prejudicial portrayals and messaging about
African Americans.
The character Jim Crow was dressed in rags, battered hat, and torn
shoes. The actor wore Blackface and impersonated a very nimble and
irreverently witty black field hand. The character's popular song was "Turn about and wheel about, and do just so. And every time I turn about I Jump Jim Crow."
The character Sambo was a stereotype of black men who were considered
very happy, usually laughing, lazy, irresponsible, or carefree. The Sambo stereotype gained notoriety through the 1898 children's book The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman. It told the story of a boy named Sambo who outwitted a group of hungry tigers.
This depiction of black people was displayed prominently in films of
the early 20th century. The original text suggested that Sambo lived in India, but that fact may have escaped many readers. The book has often been considered to be a slur against Africans.
The character found great popularity among other Western nations, with the Golliwog remaining popular well into the twentieth century. The derived Commonwealth English epithet "wog" is applied more often to people from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent
than to African-Americans, but "Golly dolls" still in production mostly
retain the look of the stereotypical blackface minstrel.
The term pickaninny,
reserved for children, has a similarly broadened pattern of use in
popular American theater and media. It originated from the Spanish term
“pequeño niño” and the Portuguese
term “pequenino” to describe small child in general, but it was applied
especially to African-American children in the United States and later
to Australian Aboriginal children.
A variant of the pickaninny stereotype depicted black children being used as bait to hunt alligators.
Although scattered references to the supposed practice appeared in
early 20th-century newspapers, there is no credible evidence that the
stereotype reflected an actual historical practice.
Clipping from May 29, 1910, issue of the Chicago Tribune reporting a move to build a "monument" to "Ol' Black Mammy" in Washington, D.C. The subhead mentions "the sentiment that clings to this picturesque character of antebellum days."
The Mammy archetype describes African-American women household slaves
who served as nannies giving maternal care to the white children of the
family, who received an unusual degree of trust and affection from
their enslavers. Early accounts of the Mammy archetype come from memoirs
and diaries that emerged after the American Civil War,
idealizing the role of the dominant female house slave: a woman
completely dedicated to the white family, especially the children, and
given complete charge of domestic management. She was a friend and
advisor.
Mandingo
The Mandingo is a stereotype of a sexually insatiable black man with a large penis, invented by white slave owners to advance the idea that Black people were not civilized but rather "animalistic" by nature.
The supposedly inherent physical strength, agility, and breeding
abilities of Black men were lauded by white enslavers and auctioneers in
order to promote the slaves they sold.
Since then, the Mandingo stereotype has been used to socially and
legally justify spinning instances of interracial affairs between Black
men and white women into tales of uncontrollable and largely one-sided
lust. This stereotype has also sometimes been conflated with the 'Black
brute' or 'Black buck' stereotype, painting the picture of an
'untameable' Black man with voracious and violent sexual urges.
The term 'Mandingo' is a corrupted word for the Mandinka peoples of West Africa, presently populating Mali, Guinea, and the Gambia. One of the earliest usages found dates back to the 20th century with the publication of Mandingo,
a 1957 historical erotica. The novel was part of a larger series which
presented, in graphic and erotic detail, various instances of
interracial lust, promiscuity, nymphomania, and other sexual acts on a
fictional slave-breeding plantation. In conjunction with the film Birth of a Nation (1915),
white American media formed the stereotype of the Black man as an
untamed beast who aimed to enact violence and revenge against the white
man through the sexual domination of the white woman.
The Sapphire stereotype defines Black women as argumentative,
overbearing, and emasculating in their relationships with men,
particularly Black men. She is usually shown to be controlling and
nagging, and her role is often to demean and belittle the Black man for
his flaws. This portrayal of a verbally and physically abusive woman for
Black women goes against common norms of traditional femininity, which
require women to be submissive and non-threatening.
During the era of slavery, white slave owners inflated the image of an
enslaved Black woman raising her voice at her male counterparts, which
was often necessary in day-to-day work. This was used to contrast the
loud and "uncivilized" Black woman against the white woman, who was
considered more respectable, quiet, and morally behaved.
The popularization of the Sapphire stereotype dates back to the successful 1928-1960 radio show Amos 'n' Andy,
which was written and voiced by white actors. The Black female
character Sapphire Stevens was the wife of George "Kingfish" Stevens, a
Black man depicted as lazy and ignorant. These traits were often a
trigger for Sapphire's extreme rage and violence. Sapphire was
positioned as overly confrontational and emasculating of her husband,
and the show's popularity turned her character into a stock caricature
and stereotype.
This stereotype has also developed into the trope of the 'Angry Black Woman',
overall portraying Black American women as rude, loud, malicious,
stubborn, and overbearing in all situations, not only in their
relationships.
Jezebel
The Jezebel is a stereotype of a hypersexual, seductive, and sexually
voracious Black woman. Her value in society or the relative media is
based almost purely on her sexuality and her body.
The roots of the Jezebel stereotype emerged during the era of chattel slavery
in the United States. White slave owners exercised control over
enslaved Black women's sexuality and fertility, as their worth on the
auction block was determined by their childbearing ability, ie. their
ability to produce more slaves. The sexual objectification of Black women redefined their bodies as "sites of wild, unrestrained sexuality",
insatiably eager to engage in sexual activity and become pregnant. In
reality, enslaved Black women were reduced to little more than breeding
stock, frequently coerced and sexually assaulted by white men.
Post-emancipation, the sexualization
of Black women has remained rampant in Western society. Modern-day
Jezebels are pervasive in popular music culture; Black women more often
appear in music videos with provocative clothing and hypersexual
behaviour compared to other races, including white women. The Jezebel stereotype has also contributed to the adultification and sexualization of Black adolescent girls.
Tragic mulatta
A stereotype that was popular in early Hollywood, the "tragic mulatta,"
served as a cautionary tale for black people. She was usually depicted
as a sexually attractive, light-skinned woman who was of African descent
but could pass for Caucasian.
The stereotype portrayed light-skinned women as obsessed with getting
ahead, their ultimate goal being marriage to a white, middle-class man.
The only route to redemption would be for her to accept her "blackness."
Uncle Tom
The Uncle Tom
stereotype represents a black man who is simple-minded and compliant
but most essentially interested in the welfare of whites over that of
other blacks. It derives from the title character of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin,
and is synonymous with black male slaves who informed on other black
slaves’ activities to their white master, often referred to as a "house Negro", particularly for planned escapes. It is the male version of the similar stereotype Aunt Jemima.
Black brutes or black bucks are stereotypes for black men, who are
generally depicted as being highly prone to behavior that is violent and
inhuman. They are portrayed to be hideous, terrifying black male
predators who target helpless victims, especially white women. In the post-ReconstructionUnited States, 'black buck' was a racial slur used to describe black men who refused to bend to the law of white authority and were seen as irredeemably violent, rude, and lecherous.
From the Colonial Era to the American Revolution, ideas about African Americans were variously used in propaganda either for or against slavery. Paintings like John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark (1778) and Samuel Jennings's Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences (1792) are early examples of the debate under way at that time as to the role of black people in America. Watson represents an historical event, but Liberty
is indicative of abolitionist sentiments expressed in Philadelphia's
post-revolutionary intellectual community. Nevertheless, Jennings'
painting represents African Americans in a stereotypical role as
passive, submissive beneficiaries of not only slavery's abolition but
also knowledge, which liberty had graciously bestowed upon them.
As another stereotypical caricature
"performed by white men disguised in facial paint, minstrelsy relegated
black people to sharply defined dehumanizing roles." With the success
of T. D. Rice and Daniel Emmet, the label of "blacks as buffoons" was created. One of the earliest versions of the "black as buffoon" can be seen in John Lewis Krimmel's Quilting Frolic.
The violinist in the 1813 painting, with his tattered and patched
clothing, along with a bottle protruding from his coat pocket, appears
to be an early model for Rice's Jim Crow
character. Krimmel's representation of a "[s]habbily dressed" fiddler
and serving girl with "toothy smile" and "oversized red lips" marks him
as "...one of the first American artists to use physiognomical
distortions as a basic element in the depiction of African Americans."
Contemporary stereotypes
Crack addicts and drug dealers
Scholars agree that news-media stereotypes of people of color are pervasive. African Americans were more likely to appear as perpetrators in drug and violent crime stories in the network news.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, stereotypes of black men shifted and the primary and common images were of drug dealers, crack victims, the underclass and impoverished, the homeless, and subway muggers. Similarly, Douglas (1995), who looked at O. J. Simpson, Louis Farrakhan, and the Million Man March, found that the media placed African-American men on a spectrum of good versus evil.
A postcard showing an African-American girl eating a large watermelon
There are commonly held stereotypes that African Americans have an unorthodox appetite for watermelons and love fried chicken. Race and folklore professor Claire Schmidt attributes the latter both to its popularity in Southern cuisine and to a scene from the film Birth of a Nation in which a rowdy African-American man is seen eating fried chicken in a legislative hall.
The welfare queen stereotype depicts an African-American woman who defrauds the public welfare
system to support herself, having its roots in both race and gender.
This stereotype negatively portrays black women as scheming and lazy,
ignoring the genuine economic hardships which black women, especially
mothers, disproportionately face.
The magical Negro (or mystical Negro) is a stock character
who appears in a variety of fiction and uses special insight or powers
to help the white protagonist. The Magical Negro is a subtype of the
more generic numinous Negro, a term coined by Richard Brookhiser in National Review. The latter term refers to clumsy depictions of saintly, respected or heroic black protagonists or mentors in US entertainment.
In the 21st century, the "angry black woman" is depicted as loud,
aggressive, demanding, uncivilized, and physically threatening, as well
as lower-middle-class and materialistic. She will not stay in what is perceived as her "proper" place.
Controlling image
Controlling images are stereotypes that are used against a
marginalized group to portray social injustice as natural, normal, and
inevitable. By erasing their individuality, controlling images silence black women and make them invisible in society. The misleading controlling image present is that white women are the standard for everything, even oppression.
Education
Studies show that scholarship has been dominated by white men and women.
Being a recognized academic includes social activism as well as
scholarship. That is a difficult position to hold since white
counterparts dominate the activist and social work realms of
scholarship.
It is notably difficult for a black woman to receive the resources
needed to complete her research and to write the texts that she desires.
That, in part, is due to the silencing effect of the angry black woman
stereotype. Black women are skeptical of raising issues, also seen as
complaining, within professional settings because of their fear of being
judged.
Mental and emotional consequences
Due to the angry black woman stereotype, black women tend to become desensitized about their own feelings to avoid judgment.
They often feel that they must show no emotion outside of their
comfortable spaces. That results in the accumulation of these feelings
of hurt and can be projected on loved ones as anger. Once seen as angry, black women are always seen in that light and so have their opinions, aspirations, and values dismissed.
The repression of those feelings can also result in serious mental
health issues, which creates a complex with the strong black woman. As a
common problem within the black community, black women seldom seek help
for their mental health challenges.
Interracial relationships
Oftentimes, black women's opinions are not heard in studies that examine interracial relationships.
Black women are often assumed to be just naturally angry. However, the
implications of black women's opinions are not explored within the
context of race and history. According to Erica Child's study, black
women are most opposed to interracial relationships.
Since the 1600s, interracial sexuality has represented unfortunate sentiments for black women. Black men who were engaged with white women were severely punished.
However, white men who exploited black women were never reprimanded. In
fact, it was more economically favorable for a black woman to birth a
white man's child because slave labor would be increased by the one-drop rule. It was taboo for a white woman to have a black man's child, as it was seen as race tainting.
In contemporary times, interracial relationships can sometimes
represent rejection for black women. The probability of finding a "good"
black man was low because of the prevalence of homicide, drugs,
incarceration, and interracial relationships, making the task for black
women more difficult.
As concluded from the study, interracial dating compromises black love.
It was often that participants expressed their opinions that black love
is important and represents more than the aesthetic since it is about
black solidarity.
"Angry" black women believe that if whites will never understand black
people and they still regard black people as inferior, interracial
relationships will never be worthwhile.
The study shows that most of the participants think that black women
who have interracial relationships will not betray or disassociate with
the black community, but black men who date interracially are seen as
taking away from the black community to advance the white patriarchy.
"Black bitch"
The "black bitch" is a contemporary manifestation of the Jezebel stereotype. Characters termed "bad black girls," "black whores," and "black bitches" are archetypes of many blaxploitation films produced by the Hollywood establishment.
Strong black woman
The "strong black woman" stereotype is a discourse through that primarily black middle-class women in the black Baptist Church
instruct working-class black women on morality, self-help, and economic
empowerment and assimilative values in the bigger interest of racial
uplift and pride (Higginbotham, 1993). In this narrative, the woman
documents middle-class women attempting to push back against dominant
racist narratives of black women being immoral, promiscuous, unclean,
lazy and mannerless by engaging in public outreach campaigns that
include literature that warns against brightly colored clothing, gum
chewing, loud talking, and unclean homes, among other directives. That discourse is harmful, dehumanizing, and silencing.
The "strong black woman" narrative is a controlling image that
perpetuates the idea it is acceptable to mistreat black women because
they are strong and so can handle it. This narrative can also act as a
silencing method. When black women are struggling to be heard because
they go through things in life like everyone else, they are silenced and
reminded that they are strong, instead of actions being taken toward
alleviating their problems.
Blacks are stereotyped as being more athletic and superior at sports
than other races. Even though they make up only 12.4 percent of the US
population, 75% of NBA players and 65% of NFL players are black.
African-American college athletes may be seen as getting into college
solely on their athletic ability, not their intellectual and academic
merit.
Black athletic superiority is a theory that says blacks possess
traits that are acquired through genetic and/or environmental factors
that permits them to excel over other races in athletic competition.
Whites are more likely to hold such views, but some blacks and other
racial affiliations do as well.
Several other authors have said that sports coverage that
highlights "natural black athleticism" has the effect of suggesting
white superiority in other areas, such as intelligence. The stereotype suggests that African Americans are incapable of competing in "white sports" such as ice hockey and swimming.
Following the stereotypical character archetypes, African Americans
have falsely and frequently been thought of and referred to as having
little intelligence compared to other racial groups, particularly white
people.
This has factored into African Americans being denied opportunities in
employment. Even after slavery ended, the intellectual capacity of black
people was still frequently questioned.
Early minstrel shows of the mid-19th century lampooned the supposed stupidity of black people. Even after slavery ended, the intellectual capacity of black people was still frequently questioned. Movies such as Birth of a Nation (1915) questioned whether black people were fit to run for governmental offices or to vote.
Some critics have considered Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as "racist" because of its depiction of the slave Jim and other black characters. Some schools have excluded the book from their curricula or libraries.
Stereotypes pervaded other aspects of culture, such as various board games that used Sambo or similar imagery in their design. An example is the Jolly Darkie Target Game
in which players were expected to toss a ball through the "gaping
mouth" of the target in cardboard decorated using imagery of Sambo.
Other stereotypes displayed the impossibility of good relations
between black and white people, instilling the idea that the two races
could never coexist peacefully in society. The intent was to lead
audiences to the conclusion of the proper solution to remove blacks from
American society entirely.
In film, black people are also shown in a stereotypical manner that
promotes notions of moral inferiority. For female movie characters
specifically, black actresses have been shown to use vulgar profanity,
be physically violent, and lack overall self-control at a
disproportionately higher rate than white actresses.
African-American women have been represented in film and
television in a variety of different ways, starting from the
stereotype/archetype of "mammy" (as is exemplified the role played by Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind) drawn from minstrel shows, through to the heroines of blaxploitation movies of the 1970s, but the latter was then weakened by commercial studios. The mammy stereotype was portrayed as asexual while later representations of black women demonstrated a predatory sexuality.
Fashion
In print, black people are portrayed as overtly aggressive. In a
study of fashion magazine photographs, Millard and Grant found that
black models are often depicted as more aggressive and sociable but less
intelligent and achievement-oriented.
In Darwin's Athletes, John Hoberman
writes that the prominence of African-American athletes encourages a
lack of emphasis on academic achievement in black communities.
Several other authors have said that sports coverage that highlights
"natural black athleticism" has the effect of suggesting white
superiority in other areas, such as intelligence.
Some contemporary sports commentators have questioned whether blacks
are intelligent enough to hold "strategic" positions or coach games such
as football.
In another example, a study of the portrayal of race, ethnicity, and nationality in televised sporting events by the journalist Derrick Z. Jackson in 1989 showed that blacks were more likely than whites to be described in demeaning intellectual terms.
According to Lawrence Grossman, former president of CBS News and PBS,
television newscasts "disproportionately show African Americans under
arrest, living in slums, on welfare, and in need of help from the
community."
Similarly, Hurwitz and Peffley wrote that violent acts committed by a
person of color often take up more than half of local news broadcasts,
which often portray the person of color in a much more sinister light
than their white counterparts. The authors argue that African Americans
are not only more likely to be seen as suspects of horrendous crimes in
the press but also are interpreted as being violent or harmful
individuals to the general public.
Mary Beth Oliver, a professor at Penn State University, stated
that "the frequency with which black men specifically have been the
target of police aggression speaks to the undeniable role that race
plays in false assumptions of danger and criminality."
Oliver additionally stated that "the variables that play contributory
roles in priming thoughts of dangerous or aggressive black men, are age,
dress, and gender, among others which lead to the false assumptions of
danger and criminality."
New media stereotypes
Social media
In 2012, Mia Moody, assistant professor of journalism, public relations and new media in Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences, documented Facebook fans' use of social media to target US President Barack Obama
and his family through stereotypes. Her study found several themes and
missions of groups targeting the Obamas. Some groups focused on
attacking his politics and consisted of Facebook members who had an
interest in politics and used social media to share their ideas. Other
more-malicious types focused on the president's race, religion, sexual orientation, personality, and diet.
Moody analyzed more than 20 Facebook groups/pages using the keywords "hate," "Barack Obama," and "Michelle Obama." Hate groups, which once recruited members through word of mouth
and distribution of pamphlets, spread the message that one race is
inferior, targeted a historically oppressed group, and used degrading,
hateful terms.
She concluded that historical stereotypes focusing on diet and
blackface had all but disappeared from mainstream television shows and
movies, but had resurfaced in newmedia representations. Most portrayals
fell into three categories: blackface, animalistic and evil/angry.
Similarly, media had made progress in their handling of gender-related
topics, but Facebook offered a new platform for sexist messages to
thrive. Facebook users played up shallow, patriarchal representations of
Michelle Obama, focusing on her emotions, appearance, and personality.
Conversely, they emphasized historical stereotypes of Barack Obama that
depicted him as flashy and animalistic. Media's reliance on stereotypes
of women and African Americans not only hindered civil rights but also
helped determine how people treated marginalized groups, her study
found.
Hip hop music
has reinforced stereotypes about black men. Exposure to violent,
misogynistic rap music performed by African American male rappers has
been shown to activate negative stereotypes towards black men as
hostile, criminal and sexist.
Hip hop portrays a stereotypical black masculine aesthetic and has
stereotyped black men as hypersexual thugs and gangsters who hail from
an inner city gehtto.
Listening to this misogynistic and violent Hip hop has effects on
African American Men and their cognitive performance. They perform worse
in tests resembling the Graduate Record Examination, after listening to this kind of music compared to white men under the same conditions. African-American women are degraded and referred to as “bitches” and “hoes” in rap music. African-American women are over-sexualized in modern hip hop music videos and are portrayed as sexual objects for rappers.
Over-sexualization of African American women in Rap music videos may
have health implications for viewers of such videos. In a survey study,
adolescent African American women watching Rap videos and perceiving
them to contain more sexual stereotypes were more likely to binge drink,
test positive for marijuana and have a negative body image.
