Way back in April Taylor sent in a link to a post at Media Assassin about some interesting depictions of Black women in a couple of ads. This one is for Lord and Taylor:
Apparently the Black woman just can’t control her naughty self.
The rest of the post is not safe for work–the first image mildly so, the second one definitely not safe.
A screenshot from an Old Navy TV commercial, in which the Black model’s dress is torn off to show how in-demand the dresses are:
A United Colors of Benetton ad from the 1980s:
About that ad, Benetton says,
Two images of the campaign for equality between black and white caused the strong reaction of the black community in the US: that of a black woman breastfeeding a white baby – which represents the most-awarded image in Benetton’s advertising history – and one featuring two male hands, one black, one white, handcuffed together.
Yes. I can really see how an image of a Black woman’s bare breast as she nurses a White baby would increase equality between the races. Because there’s no history of Black women caring for and nursing White children in a context of exploitation and…oh, wait. Right.
A recent ad for Michael Kors, sent in by Captain Crab:
In another post, Media Assassin quotes Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, author of Skin Deep, Spirit Strong: The Black Female Body in American Culture:
Images of Black women that are in fact “national, racial, and historical hallucinations” have been ingrained into the collective conscience of the United States since slavery. Black women have been depicted as either naked, generally in an ethnographic context, or as laborers, usually domestic, their social status playing a crucial role in the development of visual identity. With rare exceptions, representations of the Black woman in art and photography have followed these prescribed lines. (p. 182)
There are, of course, ads and other images that do not depict Black women in this manner, but it’s curious that we continue to see so many that do. For another discussion of the ways non-White women are often portrayed, check out Reading National Geographic by Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins.
[Apparently there was a problem with these links, but they’re fixed now.] Also check out our posts on vintage Jezebel-themed products, Black women portrayed as animals, Black women tending White women, and images of Condoleeza Rice.
Comments 21
Marta — June 18, 2009
I think that the point of the photo by Oliviero Toscani (the woman breastfeeding the baby) was exactly to remember the "history of Black women caring for and nursing White children in a context of exploitation" - and in general to talk about the "white" world feeding off the "black" one. But then again, Toscani is notorious for "outrageous" (or would-be-outrageous) images that are very "polished" (I cannot find a better word) as well - and leaving the audience wondering whether he wanted to raise awareness or just to shock.
(I mean, another of his photo for Benetton was a man killed by the Mafia - his body covered, but you could see the blood on the pavement; and his wife grieving - which is not exactly a "neutral" subject in Italy.)
AJ — June 18, 2009
the links at the bottom dont work >
Also check out our posts on vintage Jezebel-themed products, Black women portrayed as animals, Black women tending White women, and images of Condoleeza Rice.
Gwen Sharp, PhD — June 18, 2009
Thanks for the tip, AJ! Fixed now.
Jess — June 18, 2009
The black women taking care of white babies gave me some food for thought, about my cultural expectations and reactions to them. I was too young in the 80s to know what the general reaction would have been at the time, but in this age of trendy international adoptions of babies of colour by white parents, my first response is to think that it's unusual (possibly refreshing) to see it happening the other way around. I was also reminded of this Newsweek article about a black family who adopted a white girl, and the various negative reactions to that. (The article itself is, as one commenter said at the site where I got it from, uneven in its cluefulness, but the problems it describes are very telling.)
Of course there is a greater historical context of exploitation of black women in colonial settings, which the breastfeeding image in particular brings to mind. However, to me, steeped as I am in current popular culture, the very first reaction was to the inversion of what I'm used to seeing, which is a whole different kind of exploitation. (I'm talking about the kind of international adoption that creates a market for, basically, selling babies, or coercing women of colour to give up their wanted babies.)
Cynthia — June 19, 2009
My mind automatically went to this photograph by Robert Frank:
http://antiquesandthearts.com/Archives/2009/05-May/images//2009-05-19__15-16-31Image3.GIF
Abby — June 19, 2009
Wait a minute, why is a picture of a woman breastfeeding "not safe for work"? I mean, obviously there is a lot more boob showing than a typical nursing mom reveals, but it's not pornographic.
Gwen — June 19, 2009
I have learned over time that many people have workplaces with much stricter regulations on what is "inappropriate" than what I would have thought, and that many readers could definitely have some problems if they were caught looking at that on a work computer. Keep in mind, I bet a lot of people work in places where a nursing mother *would* be seen as horrifically inappropriate. So my "not safe for work" label isn't an indication that I personally think it's problematic, but just that I've learned that for many people's workplaces, it would be.
Sociological Images » Rich Moms are Bad Moms: Vogue Italia’s “Vagaries of Fashion” — June 20, 2009
[...] to other images of Black women tending White children here (also see the link at the bottom to the post about Black women tending White [...]
Kandeezie — June 22, 2009
It was the colonialists that decided to "clothe" the "uncivilized". It's European culture that has shaped many of our understandings of "decency" and "body". I wonder if this obsession has an element of voyeurism as well. Probably in the context of seeing whiteness as bland/without culture and non-whites as with culture/ethnicity (from which whiteness has to draw from). These images raise some interesting questions for me.
NSFW!!! More Clothed-White-Woman/Naked-Black-Woman Images » Sociological Images — September 4, 2009
[...] naked Black woman/clothed White woman imagery that we see often, such as in the ads we discussed here. Leave a Comment Tags: gender, race/ethnicity, race/ethnicity: Blacks/African-Americans, [...]
truthserum — November 9, 2009
So what? A black woman is caring for a baby who is clearly not her own. Babysitters of many races do it all the time.
So what? She's flashing someone. She's got charisma. Could it be that its seen as sexy? The audience is white America, they like stuff like that! Why do you think white women started the womens' movement??? If the black woman wasn't the one doing it, people would argue 'WHY CANT THEY LET A BLACK WOMAN BE THE OUTGOING, SEXY ONE?! Why does the white woman get to the be flashing eye-candy?' You can't have it both ways. Why bitch about something like this?
If you want to bitch about something make it relevant. Question why everytime a birth control pill commercial or other 'womens' prescription' commercial comes on and there is a black woman among the white women, why they ALWAYS aim at her face when they announce 'this pill does not protect against HIV, AIDS...". If they don't aim at her face, she's the only one standing up or doing something where you can pick her out of the crowd.
Or how about how the black cartoon/commercial characters always seem to have the sista girl voice-- and the blatant sista girl voice, at that. Like a well-spoken black woman was told 'be more ghetto' and so she tried-- and failed. But it works for the mainstream. Bitch about that.
Karen — January 16, 2011
Part of the debate might be relevant and interesting... I gave up half way... but it no doubt is.
However if you at the same time complain that no one uses other than white Caucasian models...
then this is the kind of blog / reaction that stops companies from diversifying the models they use.
Anonymous — March 2, 2011
I would love to ha ve been that baby
john Shepard — March 2, 2011
What is her E-mail address
William Lincoln — August 12, 2017
Black women have always been the 'NANNY' and 'MILK NURSE". Always being forced to neglect her own children, expecially in these times, of extremely high imprison rated for young Black men and women.
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