Mammy Archetype

Mammy Archetype

All African–Americans have been portrayed in stereotypical roles since their arrival into American society for the entertainment and amusement of others. Many people find it difficult to appreciate the diversity of the African American women. So instead of trying to do this, they create identities based on negative stereotypes. There are several negative stereotypes associated with the African American woman. The Mammy archetype is the one chosen to be analyzed in this essay. Collins described the mammy as "–the faithful, obedient domestic servant. Created to justify the economic exploitation of house slaves and sustained to explain Black women's long–standing restriction to domestic service..." (72) She is commonly seen trying to soothe ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...Mammy is also seen as a very loyal and faithful woman to the one she cares for, but still not respected.

Like the traditional mammy figure, the modern day mammy is almost always large, asexual, and wise. One factor that might separate the modern day mammy from the traditional mammy is that the modern day mammy seems to have a little more attitude or sass. She also comes in many different skin tones, but still not light skin.

Mabel "Madea" Simmons is a fictional character created and played by Tyler Perry himself. The character is a tough elderly black woman. Madea gets even, mostly in a bad way. Madea is also highly overreactive. She is seen willingly threatening the use of deadly weapons, destroying property, using physical violence, and she loves to take on the law. Because of her overreactive ways, Madea has repeatedly landed herself in court, anger management classes, house arrest, and even prison.

Despite some of the negative traits that she does possess, Madea does exhibit the traits of the Mammy such as: being a nurturer, a caregiver, and a protector, while also maintaining the basic appearance of a Mammy. Historically, Mammy was shown to have extreme loyalty to the white family that she cared for and showed devotion towards them while not showing a lot of attention to her own family, if she even had one at all. Madea does this but in her own way. She has the same loyalty and dedication but hers is

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