Understanding the present starts with reckoning with the past. The reality television portrayals of Black women we consume today are deeply rooted in a lineage of historical stereotypes—controlling images that have shaped social policy, public opinion, and media production for centuries.

The Mammy

Desexualized, loyal, and self-sacrificing. Mammy exists to serve white families—emotionally and physically. Her presence in media justifies service and silences autonomy.

The Jezebel

Hypersexual and morally deviant. The Jezebel stereotype fuels the dehumanization of Black women’s sexuality and reinforces rape culture dating back to slavery.

The Sapphire / Angry Black Woman

Aggressive, emasculating, irrational. This trope invalidates the legitimate emotional expression of Black women and constructs assertiveness as a threat.

The Aunt Jemimah

Tied to food, domestic labor, and maternal service, this figure reinforces the notion that Black women are best suited to roles that serve others.

The Savage

A trope that criminalizes Black existence and labels any deviation from submission as violent or animalistic.

Colorism

A system of bias that values lighter skin over darker tones within communities of color. In media, this leads to disproportionate representation and narrative positioning of light-skinned women as desirable or innocent, while darker-skinned women are cast as aggressive or combative..