Sisterhood

The lack of communal relationship of Black American women presented on t.v. perpetuates the volatile image of the Angry Black woman stereotype. The deprivation of the Black sisterhood on television is due to the fact that producers want to create a storyline that they knew viewers would find interesting and deepen their pockets. According to Amber’s Is Reality Tv Destroying the Reality of Black Women,  a cast member on a predominantly Black show states that “the producer  will ask you, ‘Are you fighting with anyone right now?”(87). The intent of these producers are clear:  to “create conflict between Black women” and “[potentially] tear people apart” (Amber 87). If the producers are helping facilitate drama among Black female cast members, how can sisterhood prevail? The producers of these all Black cast shows are not the only culprits to blame, but rather viewers themselves. Basketball Wives producer Shaunie O’Neal decided to take on a “softer” approach on the show by minimizing the violent, fighting scenes (aka editing out scenes of members fighting)  the fans were sorely disappointed (Amber 89). There was a huge backlash response from viewers who in sense felt cheated by the new violence limitation policy. The viewers fired back with angry tweets to O’Neal stating “how are you gonna cut out the fight” and that “if this how it’s going to be, you might as well take it off the air!”(Amber 89). The viewer’s resistance to the editing out fighting scenes reveals how unsatisfied they are when their stereotypical standards are not fulfilled. The fighting between Black American women on reality shows has not only become an attention grabbing to viewers but it has normalized violence. When viewers see Black women on television they expect over the top drama to ensue between cast members. It almost  rare to see a civil disagreement among Black American women partly due to the producers have normalized and popularized Hothead African American woman image so that anything other than that image is deemed bland, in other words nonprofitable.

The only kind of “sisterhood” exemplified on the reality television is shown as juxtaposition between two (or more) warring cliques. Within each clique entails gossiping among and against each other and making snarly remarks between rivals. The pseudo-friendships make a mockery of true sisterhood, depicting sisterhood as simply being the shoulder to be cried on when some other Black female member insults your feelings during a highly tension argument perpetrated by both cliques. The authentic portrayal sisterhood is essential because since some viewers confuse reality shows as their truths and  young Black girls emulate misbehavior  Black American women on t.v., we need to show them that Black women  can be and want to be affectionate towards each other not want view each other as a competitor. If  Black sisterhood were portrayed more on reality shows, showing more “strong images of women and [their] refusal to be linear”(Smith23) that those young girls that emulate behavior could possible habituate image of sisterhood rather thinking that catty behavior is acceptable and normal. It would challenge the normalization of violence between Black women and make aims to make all to be seen as equals.Black sisterhood shows that all Black women are fighting the good fight of the racist, sexist world we live and together we can be each other’s support system. Too much energy is spent on fighting (or rather producers creating hostility) between Black American women and not enough time cultivating love and harmony. Some Black women often use pseudo kinship term “sista” among each other but is often used in passing but never meant to be something deeper. If we are going to use that term, we need to put into action on how we treat other.

 Black Female Anomaly

Cast member, Ariane from Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, is the only person on the show who appears to be the most reserved and normal in behavior. She only appears in a few episodes but only in relation to consoling her best friend Mimi. She has never been in episode that the topic involved her. So one can say she stays pretty clear show’s discourse which a good thing : her dirty laundry isn’t aired. However, it is a shame that Ariane often gets left of conversation because she is “uninteresting”. Perhaps, her role isn’t suppose to be a part of the main characters of the show; maybe she is just the supporting character. Supporting character in both literally and metaphorically speaking: literally she is the good listening ear to Mimi’s complaints about her relationship with Stevie J and metaphorically, she builds more character development on Mimi. Whether this assumption of Ariane being the supporting character of Mimi’s development is intentional or accidental is unclear; regardless, she is the anomaly to the volatile African American female. The fact that she is forgotten is because a reserved African American female is not associated with high tv ratings.

Black Woman Solidarity

By no means am I trying to say that an aggressive, outspoken Black American female shouldn’t be portrayed on reality shows because it does portray the reality of some Black American female and nor do I make the argument that an assertive Black female is a negative image. The portrayal of the Black female on reality shows are often independent, say-what-I-think kind of ladies and that is certainly not bad at all. However, the image is over exhausted and exaggerated. Rather than seeing  an assertive African American females as powerful, she is powerless. She becomes powerless because she is constantly in combative stance with everyone. She believes everyone is against her and transforms from the  independent woman to the mad Black woman. The volatile, angry Black female is overrepresented and inherently becomes a stereotype. She becomes more two-dimensional on the basis that she is already on a show that fabricates reality and brings about a narrow view of African American females. The overrepresentation paints a false perception of the Black American community and neglects to show the other images of Black women. On the flip side, the Angry White woman parallels their Black women counterparts; however, the Angry White woman receives less of the stigma. The reason why is that certain behaviors is raced. In terms of power hiearchy, Black women and other non-White women are on the lower rungs of ladder, so they’re behavior is policed more and more detrimental to them than White women. As well, the portrayal of White women on reality shows is on spectrum from the less tacky of The Real Housewives of Orange County to super tacky  Jersey Shore. The different representations of White women are due to their implied privilege. White privilege infiltrates all sectors of society including the media. One of the luxuries the White women have is that have broad representation and not to be penalized as much as for their behavior. To be “raging bull” on reality shows is permissible and damn near expected for Black women because they have been stereotyped to be such; regardless of their recent stardom status or previous popularity on reality shows.  However, when a Black women challenges this notion or sheds light on a different image of them, media and its viewers tune them out. First of all why that may be is because the volatile Black woman is a lucrative business: she is the entertainer. Despite their White female counterparts, the Black woman is going to perform to the fullest because she is already been perceived to act a certain way and the pressures of not living up the demands means she doesn’t to become a household name and doesn’t make money; thus, she might internalize these stereotypes to keep her afloat. The Black women anomalies challenge our prejudices about them and make people feel uncomfortable with their lack of representation. Also, it reveals to us our own ignorance and how we fail to acknowledge to ourselves. Rather than having an open mind to different perception of Black women, stereotypes keep us “mentally organized” or easy to categorize them to behave a certain way.

Amber, Jeanine. "Is Reality TV Destroying the Reality of Black Women?" Essence. January 2013: 85-89. Print.

Smith, Barbara. “Towards a Black Feminist Criticism.” The Radical Teacher, No.7 March 1978: 20-27. JSTOR. 27 March 2013

 "Pregnito." Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta. 2:15-2:45. VH1, 2011. Web.

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Images:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2287696/Piers-Morgan-dishes-harsh-words-Omarosa-Celebrity-All-Star-Apprentice-gets-fiery-start--Bret-Michaels-fired.html

http://blog.vh1.com/2009-07-16/see-new-yorks-worst-jobs-and-funniest-moments/