3 Damaging Stereotypes About Black Women That Need to Go

Editor’s Note: This video uses the word “lazy” in a way that has ableist connotations. While we love the informative content of the video, we know that ableist language is harmful, and we hope that as more and more people learn why, we will collectively erase this language from our vocabulary forever.

(Content warning: racism, misogynoir, anti-black stereotypes)

The sassy friend, the oversexualized woman who wants it all the time, the helpful maid – sadly, if you’ve come across black women in pop culture, then you’ve probably come across these stereotypes.

So where did these images come from – and what’s the impact of their popularity in our media?

Here’s Franchesca Ramsey with a clear explanation of the disturbing history behind several black woman stereotypes, and how they continue to show up in the media and affect the world around us today.

It’s time to demand better – what kinds of characters would you like to see instead?

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

 

 

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Franchesca “Chescaleigh” Ramsey is a graphic designer and video blogger based out of New York City. With over 100k subscribers on her two YouTube channels, Chescaleigh and Chescalocs she and her videos have been featured on numerous style and entertainment blogs and news publications including MTV, The New York Times, Essence.com, and The BBC. In addition to making YouTube videos, she’s the writer-at-large for Upworthy.com and host of the MTV News webseries “Decoded”. Follow her on Twitter @chescaleigh.