Multicultural America

The Instagram social media account @women_you_should_know dives deep into the influential history of women and their stories sometimes left untold.  The account’s bio reads, “Representation, inspiration, empowerment since 2011.”  When diving into this female-inclusive account, you will find posts featuring short bios on various contributions women have made through the centuries.  Some of the Instagram posts include a link in their bio that provides more information on the remarkable women’s accomplishments.  I would like to highlight a few of @women_you_should_know’s recent Instagram posts.      

A post dated, April 10, 2020 recognizes an African American woman named Lucy Higgs Nichols.  Lucy had been born into slavery.  At the beginning of the Civil War, she gained freedom by escaping to the 23rd Regiment, Indiana Volunteers in 1862.  The post discusses how she worked as a nurse for the soldiers.  Post war, Lucy struggled to obtain pension for six years, and she was finally awarded pension in 1898.  Lucy stands out in the image included in the Instagram post, as she is the only African American and only woman in the photo.  Her photographic image in the post, “…can serve a multiple of purposes” and “mean different things to different people,” (Cartwright 2009).  Lucy’s image in the photo calls attention to the intersectionality of her being an African American woman, but also considers her sacrifice on the front lines during the Civil War.  It should be acknowledged that this was a time where women were not allowed to vote let alone were African Americans legally considered citizens in America. 

A post dated, March 25, 2020 recognizes Gloria Steinem.  The Instagram post acknowledges Gloria as a “journalist, founder, feminist, activist, thought-leader, speaker and author,” (Women You Should Know 2020).  Furthermore, Gloria has devoted her life to the fight for equality.  “Since the mid-nineteen century, there have been many arguments for and against the idea that photographs are objective renderings of the real world that provide unbiased truth,” (Cartwright 2009). The photographic image of Gloria gazing towards what appears to be an audience with a microphone in front of her, suggests to the viewer that she is in a leadership role speaking to an audience.  In combination with the post’s text, the image offers the viewer a deeper, subjective connection to Gloria.  

An Instagram post dated, March 10, 2020 recognizes civil rights champion and founder of Middle Tennessee’s first Girl Scout troops for African Americans, Josephine Groves Holloway.  The social media post discusses the hurdles that Josephine went through to obtain her degree in Sociology from Fisk University in 1923.  As a social worker at Bethlehem Center, the post discusses how Josephine’s focus was on “…establishing programming to help black girls and women,” (Women You Should Know 2020).  Ultimately, she was able to organize approximately 150 girls into Girl Scout Troops in Tennessee in 1924.  Josephine’s image in the post is of her and a girl giving the three-finger Girl Scout salute.  They are in uniform and appear full of pride and joy.      

The Instagram social media account @women_you_should_know recognizes women from Lucy Higgs Nichols and Josephine Groves Holloway to Greta Thunberg and Malala that have made instrumental strides towards gender and racial equality and environmental awareness.  The images of the women represented on @women_you_may_know’s Instagram account offer the viewer a sense of power and gratification while representing a multitude of multicultural women.    

The four-episode Netflix film, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, showcases the astonishing story of how Sarah Breedlove rose from poverty and became the first African American, self made millionaire.  Although the story takes place in the late 19th century, the film often connects the story line with modern day music when revealing Sarah’s internalized thoughts.  This theatrical approach really unites the viewer to how Sarah feels while reflecting on her struggles.  

Born two years after the Civil War ended, Sarah’s character leads the viewer on a journey as she navigates the creation of a product that would assist with the growth and condition of African American hair.  In the film, she was working as a laundress for a light-skinned, strikingly beautiful, African American lady named Addie Monroe.  Addie’s character was a successful, hair-care entrepreneur with a clear vision and determination of achievement.  Self Made depicts Addie’s image as a stereotypical jezebel.  Whereas, Sarah suffered from scalp ailments, brittleness and at times baldness due to the environmental conditions of the deep South at the time.  The film illustrates Sarah’s image with a mammy stereotype.  Even though Addie taught Sarah how to create her hair-care product, Addie dismisses Sarah’s ambitions of wanting to sell her products.  Addie’s self-identification of being more beautiful because of her lighter skin color classified Sarah as not having the “right look” for the business.  “But history, identity, ethnicity, and sexuality never were indexical,” (Mirzoeff 2003).  The animosity began a life long journey of competition between Sarah and Addie.  

After Sarah and her daughter, Lelia moved to Indianapolis, Sarah connected with Charles James Walker, and soon they were married.  Sarah began formulating her own hair-care product and her (and CJ’s) business, Madam C.J. Walker took off.  Concurrently, Addie found her way to Indianapolis and continued to do what it took to take down Madam and her business with the belief that she stole her product.  In the film series, Madam crosses paths with a dominant, controversial, leader of the African American community, Booker T. Washington at a Men’s Club.  She courageously presses her agenda for an endorsement towards a manufacturing facility.  Booker was not thrilled by her ambitions, as he believed the “beauty culture was frivolous,” and the woman has a place, and it’s behind a man (Smith 2020).  In addition, the series portrays conflicting views of African American female empowerment between Madam and her husband, CJ.  The representation of both Sarah and Addie’s characters in Self Made portrays a paradigm intersectionality of not only being African American women but also how Addie’s lighter skin color was thought of being more beautiful.  In reflection, one can correlate the representation of their characters in Self Made to Sojourner Truth’s famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech.

Nevertheless, Madam persevered and received an endorsement from Booker’s wife and confidants.  Consequently, Madam C.J. Walker opened a manufacturing facility, which employed thousands of women.  Soon after, she opened a salon in Harlem during the peak of the Harlem Renaissance.  In the film, she struggled with her health towards the last years of her life; however, she continued to build an empire helping black woman feel beautiful.  In the series, Madam C.J. Walker’s character stated, “if I help one person, I’m lifting us all up,” (Spencer 2020).    

The film, Self Made is an emotional rollercoaster narrating the struggle of the African American woman post-Civil War era, and offers the viewer a sense of compassion.  It unpacks unfortunate life struggles of African Americans during Jim Crow America including rape and lynching.  In addition, the film, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker unfolds the truth of how black women’s hair has been entangled in issues of race, politics, and pride for generations.  

Hair is an identity. Hair is culture.   

Modern Family is a television sitcom that focuses on the lives of a privileged patriarch along with his second wife, step-son, daughter (her family), and son (his family).  The Modern Family series showcases how the family adapts to the societal cultures in America today.  The representation of white people in Modern Family is noticeably predominant, and the writers appear to exaggerate the whiteness stereotypes of the characters.  “The assumption that white people are just people, which is not far off saying that whites are people whereas other colors are something else is endemic to white culture,” (Dyer 2003).  With an awareness to the stereotypical whiteness of the predominate characters in the series, I would like to focus this blog on the racial imagery of two specific cast roles which are not white.  

The patriarchal image of the father, Jay seems both traditional and cliché considering Jay is a much older, white man.  However, the sitcom narrates the story with his second wife, Gloria in a powerful role.  The representation of Gloria’s character brings a necessary intersectionality of being a female, Columbian immigrant to the modern family dynamic.  Gloria’s history before meeting Jay was complex, unstable, and the narration depicts her life struggles in hindsight.  Even though Gloria is much younger than her husband, her role is not at all submissive to the white male power structure.  Gloria is a loud, outspoken woman and has a deep connection to her Colombian roots, which could play on a Latinx stereotype.  

Another thought-provoking character in the Modern Family series is Lily.  Jay’s son is married to a man, and their adopted daughter is Lily.  In the Modern Family series, Lily is Vietnamese; however, in reality the actress’ background is Korean-American.  It can be said that her role brings a needed awareness of cultural diversity within families.  However, this also generates a conversation regarding accurate representation of ethnicity in television.  Representing minorities in the media is crucial towards the progression of a pluralistic society.  Does casting a Korean-American in a Vietnamese role narrate a stereotype that people with Asian backgrounds look alike?  I invite you to take an “Examination of Asian Experience in America,” which showcases people of three different Asian cultures and you decide what you believe to be their background.  As society evolves, the Modern Family series does emphasize the uniqueness in family structures and relationships, which I believe needs to be represented in television today.