Black Womanhood: Essence and its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women
Abstract
One could assume it is a given that Essencemagazine dispels stereotypical images of Black women and that it works to liberate them from the strictures imposed on them by a world in which they live as an undervalued and marginalized minority. After all, this is the only longstanding women’s magazine that targets Black women and addresses specifically their cultural and emotional needs as African Americans and women. This content analysis examines whether Essenceworks as a liberating feminist text that dispels, as opposed to validates, stereotypical images of Black women. We hypothesize that (a) there will be more evidence to dispel the stereotypes than to perpetuate them and (b) that of the four major African American women stereotypes—mammy, matriarch, sexual siren, and welfare mother or queen—the matriarch and sexual siren stereotypes will be dispelled more frequently. Results support the former hypothesis entirely and the latter hypothesis partially.
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Essence launched in the 1970s to address Black women's unique experiences, features affirming visuals, and highlights aspirational lifestyles navigating hegemonic norms of the marketplace and Black empowerment scripts.
“The magazine, launched in the 1970s to address Black women's unique experiences, features affirming visuals, and highlights aspirational lifestyles navigating hegemonic norms of the marketplace and Black empowerment scripts (Saffold, 2020;Woodard & Mastin, 2005).”
From The memeification of "woke culture": a multimodal critical discourse analysis of its articulation in Essence; O, The Oprah Magazine; and Teen Vogue (2023) · cites this paper as Woodard & Mastin, 2005
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- Authors
- Woodard, J. B., & Mastin, T.
- Affiliations
- Middle Tennessee State University (US)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Black Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2005-11
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 264-281
- ISSN
- 0021-9347 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-4566
- OpenAlex
- W2034679522
- Cited by
- 111
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 3.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Black Studies (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Media, Gender, and Advertising
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Feminist Theory and Gender Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
- Keywords
- Black women, stereotypes, mammy stereotype, African American women, women's magazines, feminist media, representation of Black women
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