Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment

Controlling images are stereotypes about Black women used to justify intersectional oppression. Key among these stereotypes are the images of the mammy, the matriarch, the Black welfare mother, and the Black sex worker. Each of these images defines Black women’s identities and social roles in ways that limit their freedom and potential. These images perpetuate themselves not only through interpersonal relations but through powerful institutions such as government organizations, the media, and schools. Controlling images are so pervasive that even many Black people internalize and perpetuate them. The image of the mammy—the loyal, hardworking, and deferential servant—exemplifies this tendency: “By teaching Black children their assigned place in White power structures, Black women who internalize the mammy image potentially become effective conduits for perpetuating racial oppression” (73).

Controlling images are contradictory and thus hold Black women to impossible standards. Mammies, for instance, are expected to spend long hours performing care work for their white employers, which takes them away from their husbands and children. By contrast, matriarchs are criticized for leaving their husbands and children to work outside the home. Mammies are expected to be meek, while matriarchs criticized for being strong. As Collins notes, Black women must navigate both stereotypes: “African-American women who must work encounter pressures to be submissive mammies in one