Artist Renee Cox portrays the plight of African American women. Yo Mama, a photograph taken in 1993, illustrates a slender and muscular black woman. She is naked and appears to be strong and powerful; she holds an infant in her arms as she stares intentionally into the viewer's eyes. The artist sought to capture the lingering horrors among African American families that stem from slavery and the separation from loved ones. African American family ties are notably strong today, as the illustration portrays (Source: Chicago, Judy and Lucie-Smith, Edward.
Women and Art: Contested Territory. The Ivy Press Limited, 1999.).
5 comments:
I'm glad you said that BOBaghdad.
I've got mixed feelings about this piece and I don't understand any of them.
Undeniably female, this woman is simultaneously man-like. The pumps seem like an odd afterthought, strangely out of place. The way she holds the child disturbs me, while the child's happy demeanor conveys all is well in the world.
Despite the fact this woman is stark naked and has a beautiful body, I feel little sexual attraction towards her. She has a masculine energy that works like a man repellant. Guarded. Defensive. Hostile.
At the same time, I feel kinship with her and wish her well.
Is she a mother? Is she a wife? Is she a lesbian? Is she a bit of a whole lot of things? Has our culture, under the guise of “multiculturalism” reduced diverse people into a gender blurred, culture blurred androgynous monolith of sameness? Has the complete rearrangement of roles been a blessing or a curse for our society?
I am particularly interested in some female insight. What do you see in this piece?
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This seems to be the embodiment of so many projections; strong, mother, professional, no-nonsense, distant, and resolute but everything about this image is repellent. The problem as I see it is the woman, attempting to be everything to everybody, satisfy every projection. Every ideal until no one understands her or knows how to be associated with her. I think black women have been caught up in this peculiar net. We can not be too strong or weak, we can not be too smart or stupid, we can not be too sexy or prude, to beautiful or ugly and so we attempt to morph into some middle ground thing until at last we just end up being gawked at with dismay.
This seems to be the embodiment of every projection; strong, mother, professional, no-nonsense, distant, and resolute but everything about this image is repellent. The problem as I see it is the woman, attempting to be everything to everybody, satisfy every projection. Every ideal until no one understands her or knows how to be associated with her. I think black women have been caught up in this peculiar net. We can not be too strong or weak, we can not be too smart or stupid, we can not be too sexy or prude, to beautiful or ugly and so we attempt to morph into some middle ground thing until at last we just end up being gawked at with dismay.
Although a Black woman, this piece does not "speak to" or "capture me" at all. DV, I agree the heels are the strangest part of the portrayal. I noticed them before I even noticed that the woman was completely nude. Unlike some of the other posters, I dont see a downtrodden, worn, every-thing-to-every-body Black woman. That woman is feminine and beautiful despite some physical flaws. She looks like our mothers. Here, I see some type of statement on contemporary black female sexuality. Yeah, DV, she's clearly a lesbian, perhaps the artist is weighing in on the gay parenting debate.
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