In the media, a modern black woman is sassy. She’s loud mouthed and stubborn and bossy. Not only that, but music videos depict them as “hoochie-mamas” and eye candy for the men. They’ll lounge on the rapper’s arm while he’s throwing money all over the place and in some risque videos, the rapper will pour champagne over her body. These media outlets stereotype the image of a black woman and it is because of these outlets that those very same images are starting to reflect back in black society. Now, the men who watch and aspire to be like the rappers in the videos don’t have to watch a Nelly video to see a girl like that. All he’ll have to do is look out his window. That same type of girl will be right outside wearing the same type of clothes. What ever happened to the image of a smart, successful black woman? She’s buried beneath the mountains of those very same images that black women face today.

It’s not only hip hop videos doing it, but TV shows and movies stereotype the image of a black woman. Just turn on the TV and in most of the shows on, there will be a black woman either being mean and bossy, or dumb and loose. A good example would be shows like “Flavor of Love” on VH1 or “For the Love of Ray J”. The girls there are mostly black, competing for the love and affection of the centered black male. Some of the girls are good examples of the black woman stereotype. She’ll wear a weave and talk dumb. She might wear really loose clothing and be overly sexual. If she’s not doing either of those, then she’s the raging witch that everybody hates. People watch these shows because shows like these are good for ratings. Why? Because people love to watch drama and who else to bring the drama but a black woman? That’s another stereotype thats not as widely spread but is most certainly visible. The black woman who brings drama wherever she goes. She’ll be bossy and overly mean to anybody just because. Sometimes, those type of black girls are categorized as the villain on either a TV show or a movie. It’s sad because not only are other ethnicities seeing these stereotypes and thinking that all black women are that way, but black women and men themselves are watching these images and thinking that this is what they’re supposed to be like. You see this more in the younger generations than in the older ones because the older girls weren’t barraged with the same images young black women are today. These girls will watch shows like this and hip hop videos from a young age and when they’re old enough to emulate it, they will. They emulate it because they see girls who are black like them, identify with them and look to them as role models.

The most dangerous stereotype is the black woman stereotype of a video girl. The video girls are the girls who are in the hip-hop videos usually oozing sexuality. They are the arm candy, the objects that these men pretend to have because of their riches. It’s dangerous because young black men will watch these videos and think that this is who they’re supposed to be. If they grow up thinking that, then they are more likely to objectify young black women for their own means. It’s more dangerous for the women. It’s more dangerous for the women because then they will start objectifying themselves. They’ll start to believe that they’re supposed to be eye candy for guys, and that the only way to get with a man like that is to let those men objectify them as sexual objects.

Even with all those scary concepts, there’s still hope in fighting these stereotypes. One way to fight them is by education. Black women need to educate themselves about their bodies and black men need to be taught how to respect a woman, instead of looking at the videos and learning to objectify them. Young black teens who are close to emulating those images need to be taught self-worth. If they believe they are worthy of a good education and respect, then they will respect themselves and seek a good education. Once they learn self-worth and learned to love themselves, then in the future they can fight the very same stereotypical images that the media has of them. Parents need to also teach their young black daughters that the men in those videos are no good, and those type of men will only seek to hurt you. They need to teach their daughters that just because the man has money, doesn’t mean that he has a right to treat them with no respect to their bodies.

In fighting the stereotype of the loud-mouthed and bossy black woman, not only does society as a whole have to stop emulating it, but the black community as well. Just because one black girl is loud mouthed and bossy doesn’t mean that all black women act alike. Also, just because a black girl is loud mouthed and bossy doesn’t mean that she’s not a bad person. It doesn’t make her a villain, nor does it make her dumb. There are some black women who do have these characteristics, but that’s not all their is to them. These vicious stereotypes need to be stopped, and the only way for them to stop is by education. Society has to teach each other that one person’s actions does not affect the other. If we can come together and do this, then these same vicious stereotypes can very possibly cease to exist. Then those mountains of images of the black woman: hoochie-mama, loud-mouthed, bossy, loose and dumb will be buried by the images of a strong and confident woman who knows what she wants, is educated, and proud of herself. When that image becomes prevalent, lots of young black women will look at that image and say to herself that that’s who she should strive to be. As that image becomes more wide-spread, words like “hoochie-mama” and “ho” will never be used to describe a black woman or, any other woman of ethnicity anymore.