The portrayal of Black women as lascivious by nature is an enduring stereotype. The descriptive words associated with this stereotype are: seductive, alluring, worldly, tempting, and lewd. Historically, White women, as a category, were portrayed as models of self-control, self-respect, and modest, and even sexual purity, but for Black women they were are often portrayed as innately promiscuous, even predatory. This depiction of Black women is signified by the name Jezebel.
The belief that Blacks are sexually lewd and promiscuous came from the institution of slavery in America. Europeans traveled to Africa and found scantily clad natives. This semi nudity was misjudged as lewdness.
The Jezebel stereotype was used during slavery as a justification for sexual relations between White men and Black women, especially sexual unions that include slavers and slaves. The Jezebel was depicted as a Black woman with an insatiable appetite for sex. She was not satisfied with Black men. At the same time, Black men convicted of raping White women were usually castrated, hanged, or both.
The idea that Black women were naturally and inevitably sexually promiscuous was reinforced by several features of the slavery institution. Slaves, whether on the auction block or offered privately for sale, were often stripped naked and physically examined. In theory, this was done to insure that they were healthy, able to reproduce, and, equally important, to look for whipping scars, the presence of which implied that the slave was rebellious.
Black slave women were also frequently pregnant. The institution of slavery depended on Black women to supply future slaves. By every method imaginable, slave women were "encouraged" to reproduce. Some slavers, for example, offered a new pig for each child born to a slave family, a new dress to the slave woman for each surviving infant, or no work on Saturdays to Black women who produced six children. Young Black girls were encouraged to have sex as "anticipatory socialization" for their later status as "breeders." When they did reproduce, their fertility was seen, as proof of their insatiable sexual appetites.
The portrayal of Black women as Jezebel whores began in slavery, extended through the Jim Crow period, and continues today. With hyper-sexualized images and media content, some black women have used prevailing stereotypes about the black female body for their own monetary gain. This leads to unwanted continuum of the portrayal of the black women. I am not an angry black woman, but I am a woman that god has blessed with understanding and consciousness.
The belief that Blacks are sexually lewd and promiscuous came from the institution of slavery in America. Europeans traveled to Africa and found scantily clad natives. This semi nudity was misjudged as lewdness.
The Jezebel stereotype was used during slavery as a justification for sexual relations between White men and Black women, especially sexual unions that include slavers and slaves. The Jezebel was depicted as a Black woman with an insatiable appetite for sex. She was not satisfied with Black men. At the same time, Black men convicted of raping White women were usually castrated, hanged, or both.
The idea that Black women were naturally and inevitably sexually promiscuous was reinforced by several features of the slavery institution. Slaves, whether on the auction block or offered privately for sale, were often stripped naked and physically examined. In theory, this was done to insure that they were healthy, able to reproduce, and, equally important, to look for whipping scars, the presence of which implied that the slave was rebellious.
Black slave women were also frequently pregnant. The institution of slavery depended on Black women to supply future slaves. By every method imaginable, slave women were "encouraged" to reproduce. Some slavers, for example, offered a new pig for each child born to a slave family, a new dress to the slave woman for each surviving infant, or no work on Saturdays to Black women who produced six children. Young Black girls were encouraged to have sex as "anticipatory socialization" for their later status as "breeders." When they did reproduce, their fertility was seen, as proof of their insatiable sexual appetites.
The portrayal of Black women as Jezebel whores began in slavery, extended through the Jim Crow period, and continues today. With hyper-sexualized images and media content, some black women have used prevailing stereotypes about the black female body for their own monetary gain. This leads to unwanted continuum of the portrayal of the black women. I am not an angry black woman, but I am a woman that god has blessed with understanding and consciousness.
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