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What do you watch on TV these days? Music videos, reality TV, chances are it isn't the news! Shows like "The Flavor of Love" and "I Love New York" are common choices for teens today. They may seem like harmless fun but take a closer look, and see that the way African American women are portrayed is far from the truth.

New York

"New York" aka, Tiffany Pollard isn't portrayed as a young successful woman. She is made out to seem unintelligent, lazy, vulgar, rude and overtly sexual. She appears very critical and disrespectful. These are all stereotypes of what people believe to be true about young black women.

Unfortunately, mainstream media has done a successful job of convincing people that this is what real African American women are like. Black women have been put in roles throughout television history that show them in a totally different light than what they really are. Black women are not just servants or angry mean girls who curse and commit crimes.

The Cosby Show

Televisions, "Cosby Show" was one of the first shows where the female black characters were shown as successful, and intelligent. The lead actress was a black woman who was a lawyer, a homemaker, a mother and a wife. This was a break from televisions usual black female character, but she was one of few.

African American women have been shown to be successful as athletes or as entertainers, but that in itself is a stereotype. Black women are better at sports, white women are less coordinated. That isn't always true. Some black women can't dribble, or can't sing, while some white women have been highly successful in these areas.

African American Character Types

In the past black women have been portrayed in one of three types of characters, the mammy, the sapphire, and the jezebel. The mammy character would be the nurturer, the caregiver or the servant, like Nell Carter on Gimme A Break or Florence the housekeeper on the Jefferson's. The Sapphire character was made popular on Amos And Andy, she was critical and mean spirited but it came across as funny on the show. The Jezebel character was the sexy vixen that was right in the middle of any catfight or taking someone else's man.

Fighting The Stereotypes

But, how are young black women to be successful in fighting against these stereotypes? How can they show the world that an African American woman has just as much ability as anyone else to succeed in today's world?

It is important that black women do not support television shows that perpetuate these stereotypes.

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