What can research tell me about the way black women are portrayed in films and television and how it affects them? The gaze, notions of femininity, and intersectional will be a few of the key concepts that I use to help build my argument. Annotated References Givens, Sonja M. Brown, and Jennifer L. Moahan. “Priming Mammies, Jezebels, and Other Controlling Images: An Examination of the Influence of Mediated Stereotypes on Perceptions of an African American Woman.” Media Psychology 7.1 (2005): 87-106. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. Annotation for this Source In this study, the authors exam how mediated portrayals of African Americans women influence judgments of African American women in social situations. The participants observed a mammy, jezebel, or no stereotypic image on video, and then observed mock employment interviews involving either an African American or white woman. Participants associated the African American interviewee with negative terms and not with positive terms. Tyree, Tia. “African American Stereotypes in Reality Television.” Howard Journal of Communications 22.4 (2011): 394-413. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. Annotation for this Source The author conducts a study that analyzes ten reality television shows between 2005 and 2008. The author wanted to investigate whether producers cast participants who fit into traditional and new African American stereotypes. The analysis determined all ten shows had at least one participant who fit into stereotypical characters including the angry black woman and hoochie. Chen, Gina Masullo, Sherri Williams, Nicole Hendrickson, and Chen. “Male Mammies: A Social- Comparison Perspective on How Exaggeratedly Overweight Media Potrayals of Madea, Rasputia, and Big Momma Affect How Black Women Feel About Themselves.” Mass Communication and Society 15.1 (2012): 115-35. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. Annotation for this Source This is an in-depth interview with black women, who say that exaggeratedly overweight depictions of Black women portrayed by men dressed up as women had a strong effect on their identities. These “mammy-like” characters heightened the stereotypes these images evoke. The male mammy portrayals increase the mockery of Black women in the media and contribute to the effeminization of African American men. Boylorn, Robin M. “As Seen On TV: An Autoethnographic Reflection on Race and Reality Television.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 25.4 (2008): 413-33. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. Annotation for the Source The author discusses the multiple consciousness of a black female scholar. The author proposes the use of an oppositional gaze and oppositional reading to interrogate and engage images and representations of black women on reality television shows. A critical awareness could untimely alter or inform the images of black women we see on reality television, given the historical legacy of black female representation and the destructive images that result. Mascaro, Thomas A. “Shad.

1. What can research tell me about the way black women are
portrayed in films and television and how it affects them? The
gaze, notions of femininity, and intersectional will be a few of
the key concepts that I use to help build my argument.
Annotated References
Givens, Sonja M. Brown, and Jennifer L. Moahan. “Priming
Mammies, Jezebels, and Other Controlling Images: An
Examination of the Influence of Mediated Stereotypes on
Perceptions of an African American Woman.” Media
Psychology 7.1 (2005): 87-106. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
Annotation for this Source
In this study, the authors exam how mediated portrayals of
African Americans women influence judgments of African
American women in social situations. The participants
observed a mammy, jezebel, or no stereotypic image on video,
and then observed mock employment interviews involving
either an African American or white woman. Participants
associated the African American interviewee with negative
terms and not with positive terms.
Tyree, Tia. “African American Stereotypes in Reality
Television.” Howard Journal of Communications 22.4 (2011):
394-413. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
Annotation for this Source
The author conducts a study that analyzes ten reality television

2. shows between 2005 and 2008. The author wanted to
investigate whether producers cast participants who fit into
traditional and new African American stereotypes. The analysis
determined all ten shows had at least one participant who fit
into stereotypical characters including the angry black woman
and hoochie.
Chen, Gina Masullo, Sherri Williams, Nicole Hendrickson, and
Chen. “Male Mammies: A Social- Comparison Perspective on
How Exaggeratedly Overweight Media Potrayals of Madea,
Rasputia, and Big Momma Affect How Black Women Feel
About Themselves.” Mass Communication and Society 15.1
(2012): 115-35. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
Annotation for this Source
This is an in-depth interview with black women, who say that
exaggeratedly overweight depictions of Black women portrayed
by men dressed up as women had a strong effect on their
identities. These “mammy-like” characters heightened the
stereotypes these images evoke. The male
mammy portrayals increase the mockery of Black women in
the media and contribute to the effeminization of African
American men.
Boylorn, Robin M. “As Seen On TV: An Autoethnographic
Reflection on Race and Reality Television.” Critical Studies in
Media Communication 25.4 (2008): 413-33. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
Annotation for the Source
The author discusses the multiple consciousness of a black
female scholar. The author proposes the use of an oppositional
gaze and oppositional reading to interrogate and engage images
and representations of black women on reality television shows.
A critical awareness could untimely alter or inform the images

3. of black women we see on reality television, given the historical
legacy of black female representation and the destructive
images that result.
Mascaro, Thomas A. “Shades of Black Homicide: Life on the
Street: Progress in Portrayals of African American Men.”
Journal of Popular Film and Television 31.2 (2004): 10-19.
Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
Annotation for this Source
The author discuss how although African American women
have gained entry into primetime television, the shows often are
drawn in a way that reinforce negative stereotypes. African
Americans in general and black women in particular,
historically have been denied access to dramatic roles that
permit them to comment on social realities.