Many analyses of blackness on screen, and in particular of black spectatorship, take from W.E.B. Du Bois’s concept of “double-consciousness” (>). The most notable works being Jane Gaines’s “Fire and Desire” and Thomas Cripps’s Slow Fade to Black. The concept suggests that black identity is formed from a ‘truce’ between the dominant culture’s definitions of blackness and the individual’s knowledge of their self-worth (>). “Double-consciousness” situates black spectatorship as an internal struggle, where one is constantly looking at one’s self through the eyes of one’s oppressors (>). Historian Darlen Clarke Hine draws upon and revises Du Bois’s thesis in her influential essay “Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women in the Middle West: Preliminary Thoughts on the Culture of Dissemblance.” Hines referenced “dissemblance” in the context of black women’s sexuality by stating that black women often took on an asexual personae as a defense from the threat of sexual violence, especially in the workplace (>). She describes how black women from the slave era through to the middle of the 20th century had developed the ability to “dissemble”, or hide themselves, by rejecting stereotypes placed upon them and choosing instead to become the opposite of that stereotype (>). Hines argues that most black women in this era resorted to playing a role when working in white neighborhoods or households to protect their true selves from scrutiny (>). When looking at the career of Hattie McDaniel, the first black actor to receive an Oscar, one can apply Hine’s concept of ‘dissemblance’ when analyzing her role as ‘Mammy’ in Gone With the Wind (1939). It can be argued that due to the political and cultural circumstances of the early 1940s, in both African-American and White settings, McDaniel were refused the possibility of separating herself from her role.
Whereas ‘double-consciousness’ is presented as a psychological condition that one cannot escape, ‘dissemblance’ can be understood as a consciously adopted strategy that is particular to black women as they are most vulnerable to rape and sexual abuse (>). Du Bois argues that black spectatorship is met with a feeling of “twoness”, of being an American as well as a “Negro” (>). Hines points out that black women did not struggle with this internal struggle but rather took on an exterior of “twoness” as a means of survival (68 >). She argues that the conditions that left black women vulnerable to sexual abuse during times of slavery was still present after emancipation, primarily the fact that they were kept in isolation from the rest of the black community as they worked and/or lived in white homes (>). In the 1930s, 80% of black women in the workforce were employed for domestic work or as personal servants (>). Black women turned to domestic labor since it was often the only form of employment available during the first half of the century (>). ‘Dissemblance’ in turn became a prime survival strategy as black women “adhered to a cult of secrecy” to protect aspects of their personal life (4 >). While this provided a great deal of protection to black women, it also had a range of negative consequences. As black women took on “self-imposed invisibility”, stereotypes, negative images, and harmful assumptions remained in the space “left empty due to inadequate information about the true contributions, capabilities, and identities of black women” (5 >). Many black women who journeyed from the South were “self-propelled actresses” that sought well-paying jobs and a means to control their own sexuality (7 >). Historically, black women have had to put on an act for white culture so the term “actresses” in this context can be understood as a play on the notion of ‘dissemblance’ as a type of performance (>). When auditioning for roles in films, black women were often given one of two options: ‘Mammy’ or ‘Mulatto’ (>). Both are stereotypical portrayals of black women, the former being a sexless, jolly, and maternal figure that is content with her role as servant, and the latter being a figure whose sexuality is central to her character psychology (her character’s goal often being to marry a white middle-class man) (>). Black women soon realized that by taking on the role of ‘Mammy’, they could take charge of their sexuality as well as inner aspects of their life by adopting this second role that society understood as being ‘authentic’. The options given to black women at the time were so limited that taking on such offensive roles was their only option to succeed professionally (>). Looking at Hattie McDaniel’s portrayal of ‘Mammy’ in Gone With the Wind (1939), and the subsequent reception from Black and White audiences, one can note how her attempt at ‘dissemblance’ was a major success since her employers and audience failed to realize she was acting the part.
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In commenting on the emergence of the ‘Mammy’ figure, Patricia Morton claims it was in the “white-authored story of history that the mammy emerged” (>). The ‘Mammy’ figure is depicted as being a fat, jolly dark-skinned woman who shows her “unprecedented devotion to her white family” as an acknowledgment of her “racial inferiority” (2 >). She is seen accepting her role as a slave and holds an attachment to the white children she is given the responsibility of taking care of (>). Within the plantation household, she exercises considerable authority and maintains a measure of respect among the other slaves (2 >). Other blacks, however, are shown finding her untrustworthy because she identifies with her oppressors (2 >). It is through this character of ‘Mammy’ where one notes how it perpetuates a cultural myth surrounding slavery. According to George B. Tindal, “mythology” was a “new frontier” in Southern history, with the ‘Mammy’ figure making the myth of the Old South acceptable and accessible (>). David Leeming when describing myths describes them as the “dreams of mankind”, serving as an escape for individuals by representing their wishes and fears (Mythology 4 >). According to his definition, myths ultimately attempt to serve the dominant society. With the ‘Mammy’ figure, we are shown an individual who is a “willing participant of her own bondage” that affirms notions surrounding slaves being treated well by their masters and slavery not being all that terrible (>). This myth remains prevalent not only in American popular culture and literature but in American history as well (>). While it may have begun as a “white-authored” story, historians of color are equally at fault since they utilize these early representations to base their opinions of ‘Mammy’, perpetuating this myth of the Old South in the process (>).
Patricia Hill Collins notes in chapter 4 “Mammies, Matriarchs and other Controlling Images” in her book Black Feminist Thought the history of ‘Mammy’ and how it has been used as a form of justification for oppression surrounding race and gender (>). She argues that the images of ‘Mammy’ and images surrounding black womanhood are designed by people in power who want to make “racism, sexism, and poverty appear to be natural, normal, and an inevitable part of everyday life” (67-68 >). She acknowledges the complexity of the ‘Mammy’ image, as it was cultivated as a means of control by the dominant members of American society (>). Collin’s examination of ‘Mammy’ and other examples of black females demonstrates the importance of these images as they not only oppress black women “but are key in maintaining interlocking systems of race, class, and gender oppression” (68). ‘Mammy’ can therefore be understood as a controlling image, which was created to justify the economic exploitation of house slaves as well as black women being restricted to domestic labor (71). Patricia Morton’s Disfigured Images: The Historical Assault on Afro-American Woman attempts to explain how the ‘Mammy’ figure continues to live on as a result of American scholarly discourse that played a major role in constructing a factual account of black women’s history by endorsing the “most derogatory myths of Afro-American womanhood” (12). According to Morton, “she [Mammy] had truly become a legend” by evoking a romanticized story of the past and painting an idealized present, she had become a fully “mythical creature” (34-35).
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