Sapphire

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Jim Crow - Sapphire Dixie Postcard.jpg

The Sapphire stereotype describes black women as rude, verbally abusive, mean, loud, stubborn, and domineering. This was also known as the Angry Black Woman (ABW) stereotype. This stereotype was popularized in movies and on television. She has a mean tongue, one hand on the hip and the other pointing and poking, shaking her head violently and rhythmically, mocking the crimes committed by African Americans, ranging from unemployment to sex Pursue white women. She is a grumpy, full of irrational state of anger and indignation, often despicable and insulting others. Although African Americans are her main target, people who insult or disrespect her will be harmed by their tongue.

The Sapphire is a rough depiction of African-American women, but it's more than that; it is a social control mechanism used to punish black women who violate social norms that encourage them to be passive, non-threatening, servile, and invisible.[1]

Sapphire Stevens

Sapphire Steven played by Ernestine Wade

From the 1800s to the mid-1900s, black women were often portrayed as "Sassy Mammies" in popular culture. Until the "Amos 'n Andy" radio show that portrayed the characteristics of African-American women as domineering, aggressive, and ambitious did she begin to be generally associated with the name Sapphire.[1]

Sapphire stereotype was born through the popular show "Amos 'n Andy." This popular TV series was broadcast on the radio in 1926 and developed into a TV series, which ended in the 1950s.[2]

Sapphire Steven married George "Kingfish" Stevens, leader of the lodge. Sapphire Stevens regularly scolded him as a failure because Kingfish was lazy, easily confused, constantly unemployed, financially incompetent due to malapropism.[1]

"Amos 'n Andy" showed the character of Sapphire as a domineering and tenacious woman who has been engaged in verbal battles with her husband, Kingfish. Sapphire Steven has the emotional combination of Mammy and Aunt Jemimah. Her strong independence and greedy character made her a matriarch. She gave his stupid husband the upper hand by verbal insults. This stereotype is very humorous to white Americans.[2]

Sapphire became shorthand for a black woman who scolded harshly, harp indiscreetly, and was just angry. Therefore, even though Sapphire is a fictional character of a white television writer's imagination, she eventually becomes the incarnation of an angry black woman.[3]


The Sapphire stereotype

Sapphire is related to the image of an "angry black woman" and represents the image of a woman who is prone to get angry with anything. Sapphire represents the image of black women who may speak rude words.[4]

The sapphire stereotype is best described as a verbally abusive and violent matriarch. Also, Sapphire is often considered overly emotional in conversations. In the eyes of white Americans, this personality trait is the main characteristic of all African American women. Sapphire is also often portrayed as a person who does not hesitate to commit physical violence because she can’t always control her anger. In addition to being loud, Sapphire also has quite "threatening body language," which includes heavy gestures, hands on the hips, and neck/eye-rolling.[5]

The sapphire stereotype has been controlling the images that shape the impression of black women in American culture. Sapphire is considered vain because she cannot control her anger, and she has been beating others, especially men. Therefore, today, people usually call it the Angry Black Woman stereotype or ABW, which means that when black women are in any other state but happy or laughing, other people usually think they are angry. If a black woman is at work and serious, if she less smiles, people usually think that she is angry for no reason. This may cause black women to be threatening, dangerous, and insecure, in addition to emotional instability.[3]

Black actress Kelechi Okafor said she was eager to eliminate the stereotypes of angry black women. She was aware that as a black woman in the series, she was considered the representative of all black women in Britain. “I was always laughing, smiling, I never had any drama. I knew if I reacted in any way that was like negative or shouting that people would be like: ‘There she goes, black girl giving the attitude.’” She said.[6]

An American Author, Brittney Cooper, said, “It is OK to be angry. And it is OK to reclaim that anger because part of what I think then happens is that when we feel the right to be angry.” she thought that it was okay if black women were angry. Because when a person feels entitled to be angry, they also allow themselves to feel the other things they feel about that anger. And because it tries to restore the kind of full feeling of our emotional life.[3]

Sapphire on TV

Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon

Black people in TV are overrepresented in plot comedies but underrepresented in dramatic works. One problem with this imbalance is that black people in sitcoms are portrayed as racial stereotypes that cause people to laugh. The canned laughter prompted the TV audience to laugh because the angry black women, sapphires, insulted and mocked black men.[2]

Several black female characters who portrayed the sapphire stereotype:[7]

With the "Love and Hip Hop" and "Real Housewives" series, all kinds of black women can find their own representatives. There is often an "angry black woman" in the cast of these series. Still, it is balanced with the impetuous, naive, and various other personalities displayed by black women because black women are not the same. The representation of black women almost has been corrected, and the cultural and economic value of the nuanced representation of African American women’s stories has also been recognized.[6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dr. Pilgrim, David. The Sapphire Caricature. Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. August 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Green, Laura. Negative Racial Stereotypes and Their Effect on Attitudes Toward African-Americans. Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Anger: The Black Woman's 'Superpower'. NPR. May 15, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  4. Lalitya, Denissa. THE MODERN REPRESENTATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN BASED ON THE CHARACTER OF OLIVIA POPE IN TV SERIES’ SCANDAL SEASON 1. Neliti. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  5. Versluys, Eveline. Stereotypes of African American Women in US Television. Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Dash, Daniellé. Why is reality TV so obsessed with the ‘angry black woman’? The Guardian. August 28, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  7. Angry black woman. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 26, 2021.