Popular Culture Review Vol. 10, No. 2, August 1999 | Page 53

African American Female Identity

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W aiting to E xhale, S e t I t Off, and African American Female Identity
In order to fully understand the degree to which each movie challenges
the controlling images traditionally held of African American women, this critical
analysis will examine each movie independently and then provide a comparative
analysis of the overall impact such movies have on the social construction of Afri
can American female identity.
The movie Waiting to Exhale has been held in high regard as a positive
visual text that provides an alternative image of African American women. Upon
closer examination, however, one can observe a dialectical tension that challenges
such observations. The movie is positive in that the women are presented as suc
cessful women of the 1990’s; unfo rtunately, their relationship choices further pre
serve the very controlling images the African American community aims to dis
mantle. The preeminent images that demonstrate this tension and are integral parts
of understanding cinematic portrayals of African American women are the matri
arch and the Jezebel.
As previously noted, Collins (1993) describes the matriarch as being “cen
tral to the interlocking system of race, class and gender oppression”(p. 71). This
image is t)qDically perceived as resultant of role reversal in the African American
community whereby males and females (husbands and wives) exchange roles for
the purpose of maintaining the family. In the absence of the male, however, the
female takes on the role of father and mother for the sake of her children. According
to Collins (1993), this role reversal stems from the systemic and purposeful destruc
tion of the African American family through the slave system of Africans in the U.S.
The matriarch is often perceived as a superwoman possessing incredible strength
that enables her to effectively maintain her multiple roles within the family.
Unfortunately, the very qualities that exemplify her strength and charac
ter have been manipulated to construct an image of an overbearing, controlling
woman committed to emasculating the African American man. The character that
typifies this contradictory image is Gloria, a single mother and successful business
owner of a beauty salon. As a parent, Gloria is very caring and attentive, yet when
her son begins to mature, Gloria’s role as mother and caregiver becomes more
pronounced. She exhibits very controlling behaviors in that she attempts to heavily
monitor her son’s school and extracurricular activities as well as his sexual esca
pades. Though the reality of such parental obligations is magnified by her status
as a single mother, the physical attributes and qualities of the character further
support this perception of the matriarch. The matriarch is often presented as unat
tractive, overweight, and devoid of sexual identity. Throughout the movie, we ob
serve Gloria’s preoccupation with food, thus contributing to the overweight iden
tity, and her feelings of low self-esteem which is quite evident in her choice to
engage in meaningless, unfulfilling sex with her bisexual ex-husband. In compari-