She proceeds to show the reader, however, that being herself is amazing, it makes her who she is, a phenomenal woman.
The historical and social experiences of African women since slavery resulted in numerous images that defined African American women as deviant. For centuries, African American women have been contrasted with white women. While the Victorian concept of "true womanhood" defined white women as possessing unquestionable moral character, African American women were defined as immoral and sinful. In addition, African American women are forced to combat the dual stereotypes of race and gender. As women, they realized that they could not presume that the law would provide sufficient protection for them. As African American women, they realized that they could not demand such protection. There is a hierarchy when credibility issues arise in the courts. It is not only a simple hierarchy of men over women, but it is one where white women are found to be more credible than African American women.
Popular culture materials and commercial images are also very valuable tools for exploring the cultural constructs that framed the lives and experiences of African-American women. Because popular and commercial materials were created and disseminated to large segments of American culture, they served both to reflect and to perpetuate a range of race, gender, and class stereotypes and/or fears. Popular images of African-American women can be found in a variety of forms such as advertisements, postcards, calendars, letterhead, popular art work, sheet music, post cards, greeting cards, and other ephemeral items. These types of materials may exist in specific collections such as those listed below, but ephemeral and popular materials are often standard component in most collections. Nineteenth and early 20th century sheet music, postcards, and advertisements document the narrow stereotyping of African-American women as mammies, earth mothers, and seducers.
