Photograph courtesy of Wendy Frank
What is your opinion of mammy dolls (past and present)? Do you find them offensive, unnecessary, or a vital part of history? Please share your comments and opinions. Thanks!
dbg
PS I published this blog prematurely. I had planned to save it as a draft and add additional pictures and text, but, it's early and the fingers pressed the incorrect key!
View a slideshow of mammy dolls here.
I have never really liked the "mammy image"!
ReplyDeleteIt's years, later that I have come to enjoy them, as a part of our history!
Dorothy
When you say "our" history, to whom do you refer? African Americans, all Americans, People who live in the south? etc. thanks!
DeleteThe black mammy doll is part of our history. My sister grew up in the 50s and she loved her black mammy doll. I am going to purchase one for my Grand daughter . I just love them. 💗
DeleteA. Mammy dolls are historical.
ReplyDeleteB. I wouldn't have one because I don't collect historical dolls.
offensive... and interesting
ReplyDeleteI have a golliwog... I know, they're terrible and totally offensive... *hides*
I don't and never found Golieog offensive or mammy dolls.
DeleteOm upset that McCalls took the 1990s mammy with man pattern because people found them offensive
My caregiver is black and loves my collection
I'm neutral. I have several. They remind me of the movie "Gone With The Wind" and I love movies. They do remind one of a true part of history that many would like to forget.
ReplyDeleteGone with the Wind is fiction and unfortunately, so was the life of "Mammy"...her feelings, the conditions under which she would have lived, her relationships, her own family and the possibility that they had been torn apart, the fact that she would have been sexually vulnerable for her whole life at the whim of any white man, etc. This kind of "history" is dangerously misleading. I too love film, but the reason I love any specific film has to have some specificity...I like dogs but not every dog. I like food but not every meal. I like people but not every person. Do you get my point here. Twelve Years A Slave is worth the painful watch because it portrays, much more accurately, the conditions which existed in that "peculiar institution".
DeleteI have a large collection of Mammy dolls and do not find them offensive. Once I did, I grew up during the 60's and Angela Davis and Black Power were my role models. Mammy did not fit my image of a strong Black woman.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as we age,hopefully we acquire some wisdom. I realized that Mammy was indeed a very strong Black woman who paved the way for a Angela Davis ! She had to endure slavery, Jim-Crow laws and racism. Behind that smile was an intelligent person who often had to hide how smart she really was so that she did not threaten or offend others.
Mammy worked hard rearing white children as well as her own while suffering abuse, sometimes even physical and sexual abuse.
Still she suffered in silence and "served with dignity and pride" so that we do not have to,
We owe Mammy, who could be our own Mothers, Grandmothers, etc, who have experienced similar hardships in work situations. Mammy should be admired, we owe her our thanks not our shame.
Yes! And we see here the differences in perspective in responses from people of color and people not of color.
DeleteThank you so much, Anonymous, for that wise, valuable and insightful perspective. I am white, but I must tell you that I have always adored Mammy dolls! Why? For all the reasons that Anonymous gave but also because when I was a child, my white teacher presented, in a most charming manner, the poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar such as "In the Morning," "When Malindy Sings," "Lincoln", "An Antebellum Sermon" and "The Boogah Man". We students all fell in love with the images that the poems conjured up and hung on every word of the engaging Black dialect which Dunbar so eloquently and wisely preserved in his magnificent poems. These poems depicted the way of life, manners and thoughts of the Blacks. When I became an adult, I went to the library and book stores to see if I could get hold of these poems and what to my sheer delight, I was able to purchase a book of the collected poetry of Dunbar! I had no idea he had written so very many and many also in standard Englis. In this book, I learned so much about the culture, the pain and the joys of the Black population in his day that spanned life in slavery and emancipation. This same teacher also introduced us to the Uncle Remus stories written by Joel Chandler Harris, a Southern white man who collected the wonderful African-American stories told to him by Blacks who brought the wonderfully engaging stories about how the smaller animals out-witted the larger predatory animals. I went to see these stories in Disney's movie production "Song of the South" when I was a youngster. When I became an adult, I found and bought Disney's book of Uncle Remus stories which I have to this day. I have raised my son and grandchildren on these fascinating tales and they, too, have become enthusiasts of them. I understand that there was a protest about how Blacks were portrayed in the movie but as a child, I was innocent and not sensitive to this. But I would like to plead the same rationale as Anonymous in favor of celebrating the fact that Harris valued the African stories preserving them for posterity and giving recognition and attention to the immense talent of the African story tellers for their unique insights depicted in the antics of the animal characters. As an adult, I also hunted down the book of the complete works of Joel Chandler Harris to appreciate the genius of the Black story tellers. As an adult, a close Black friend of mine with whom I worked in a library brought the slave narratives to my attention. I read six of them one after the other including Frederick Douglas' and was sick for three or so weeks over the inhumanity of man against man. However, armed with the love for the African stories and Dunbar's poetry, I began making sock mammy dolls and sold my first family set to my Black professor in college. I always sold them with a letter of introduction using Dunbar's dialectical style. My professor adored them and appreciated my use of the dialect knowing that I was charmed by it and meant no disrespect. Had the works of Dunbar and Harris not preserved the charm of the Black dialect and talents, I and many others would have been deprived of these cherished cultural experiences. None of us can help or change what happened in the past, but we need to be so careful not to throw away the treasures of the black cultural past with the sordid evil that existed during slavery and after. My desire to understand and gather up more of the writings of the Black experience prompted me to take a Black Literature course in graduate school. I feel enriched by my encounter with these writings that inspired me to make the dolls and write poetry and letters in the dialect.
DeleteI never given much thought but as I read a previous post. I thought about how many Caucasian children reared bye a strong black woman. that showed them love affection and she became a big part of their lives. This in itself could have been some of the change in the thinking of the Caucasian people in the south. knowing that the woman that nurtured them was black and most of them did love their Mammie.
DeleteWow Anon, Thank you for that....beautifully said.
ReplyDeleteCheers Wendy F
Thanks everyone for your comments. I truly appreciate your input.
ReplyDeleteDOC - I had to LOL @ your comment, but thanks for the confession about your lone golliwog. :-)
dbg
I do not find Mammy offensive. I have a couple of Gone With The Wind Mammy dolls in my collection that I purchased mainly because they depict a movie character. I love what Anonymous had to say.
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1970 (in the Caribbean) and from as far back as I can remember this image was symbolic of the female hawker. All the ladies selling their goods in the city back then dressed this way with an additional apron for putting the money from sales. I do not find the image offensive at all as it reminds me of my maternal great grandmother, grandmother and mother. I also bought (over paid) one of these dolls just for the reason of remembering my past. I don't see my relatives as often as I would like because of distance, time and money but I certainly enjoy passing by my doll and reflecting on my ancestors. I had an interestingly, wonderful childhood. (I'm smiling right now!!!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your input on mammy dolls. You are blessed to have had a wonderful childhood and a doll that allows you to reconnect with it.
Deletedbg
I think it is important that the Mammy Doll is present in our Doll Collection to remember our American History. There have been times I've been offended when I've seen the dolls, however, it is imperative that we don't forget history!
ReplyDeleteI agree Sandy, mammy dolls from the past are an important part of doll history. I do not necessary want to see doll artists make mammy dolls now, however. That would be a perpetuation of the past. However, we must know our history (the positive and negative) in an effort to improve our current status and to avoid the negative from recurring.
Deletedbg
I'm not American so don't share that part of history, but I don't think these dolls are offensive. The English had slaves also but they wore different clothes. What about the Ayah's in India and Duenna's in Europe - would they be offensive too? Or is it only offensive if the doll depicts a black woman? And how about the English "governess" as depicted in the Bronte sisters books?
ReplyDeleteKay Susan - you've posed some valid questions. Are there or were there actual dolls created in the likeness of female servants who are not black? Are these dolls still being made as often as modern mammy dolls are made? I suspect the answer is no.
DeleteThis nearly 4-year-old question: Mammy dolls, offensive or not? was posed to me by an Australian doll artist, who at the time was making mammy dolls and wanted to know if readers would find her dolls offensive.
The American "mammy," as often illustrated in books and portrayed in media as happy and content-to-be-a-servant, is a figment of the imagination of those who created her. Their intent was to justify slavery with mammy and other happy servant caricatures. Of course there were black women who were maids and caretakers of children who were not their own, but I cannot imagine anyone being happy and satisfied to be an unpaid/underpaid servant for anyone, particularly where mistreatment and abuse were often involved.
While I own a few mammy dolls (modern ones that depict the characters from the book Gone With the Wind and souvenir type island dolls dressed in the traditional mammy attire, I currently feel there is no place in today's society for newly created dolls of any color that depict people in postures of servitude.
dbg
Last paragraph, edited for punctuation: While I own a few mammy dolls (modern ones that depict the characters from the book Gone With the Wind and souvenir type island dolls dressed in the traditional mammy attire), I currently feel there is no place in today's society for newly created dolls of any color that depict people in postures of servitude.
Deletedbg
Offensive, along with so many other dolls that were made. I being a dark woman can't stand dark black dolls with red lips especially when they didn't make them look beautiful. I've seen so many people mock dark women by putting black paint on their faces and red lipstick on. However, I do understand that many people who were not artists made dolls with what material they had, or could afford for their little girls.
ReplyDeleteI am a white girl who has been a black doll collector for 50+ years. I have a hard time with Mammy and servants of color, so I turn the tables every chance I get! My antique (c 1870) dollhouse collection has white servants which makes me feel good, and the white servants have to wait on a beautiful aristocratic black lady in a silk gown, and her beautiful brown child. I wish America had found a way to create and glorify dignified and beautiful dolls of color like Europe did in the 19th century. Christy Harrison
ReplyDeleteHi Christine,
DeleteThanks for sharing your opinion about mammy dolls.
America was still in the midst of enslaving people in the 19th Century. A concern for creating dignified images of black people and others of color was far beyond her scope of imagination during that time period.
dbg
When I see a Mammy doll I go to a feeling of motherly love. #1..I'm white, but we called my grandmother Mammy. #2 My Mom told us that many white children were raised by Black Mammys who loved them even tho they themselves were discriminated against. #3..as anonymous points out, what happened yesterday is only pertinent if it serves as inspiration to do something different today.
ReplyDeletei grew up in the south, in a predominantly black neighborhood. some of my neighbors were some of my closest friends. i grew up and moved away and have lost touch with them and think of them often. i have a love for blues music and for jazz music. a lot of our jazz and blues artists are black. i currently live on the west coast and if any of y'all know, it's difficult to find good down home southern cookin' on the west coast. i don't own any mammy dolls, but i don't think they are racist. the history behind them tell a story about our country's past. our ancestors' past. sure, some might want to forget, but it's a story that needs to be told, so we make better choices in the future. so we don't keep making the same mistakes. these strong black women who raised white children i have only the deepest respect for. they did a job that was impossible. but they did it. for them, i am grateful.
ReplyDeleteI am very late to this discussion, but it is interesting. I would say, that to a large degree, that it depends on the doll, the look of, and behind that, the intent of the doll. I don't think Wendy Frank's doll at the top is offensive (I should confess I am a fan of Wendy Frank's dolls, and have corresponded with her). The doll is beautiful, and was made with love, care, and respect. The headscarf indicates that she works. (Still, it was not the doll of hers that I chose to buy). However that is not really my call, in relation to the response of people of colour. I think that (the majority of) the people being referred to (in any situation) have the strongest say in whether something is offensive (though even they will not all agree!).
ReplyDeleteBlack dolls that are caricatures do not appeal to me. For some reason Golliwogs are back in vogue and apparently no longer 'un-PC' (?). Most of them to me are unappealing and inappropriate. Sometimes there are dolls that are vaguely Golliwog style but quite cute and appealing, I think that may be OK, if they are not characatures? but I would not buy one that could be construed as ridiculing a coloured person.
I am of anglo-saxon/european descent (I have always considered 'white' a terrible misnomer!),and have half West African grand-children, who are fairly dark brown in complexion. They are lower and middle primary school age, and to date, in Australia, as far as they seem aware, they have come up against almost no discrimination. No doubt it will happen. I can only hope not too badly. And an interesting question is how (if?) to prepare them for that. It seems wrong to say to them, when they have no notion of it, that some people will look down on them because of the colour of their skin. I guess we can only make them aware that people do tease or pick-on others for no better reason, than that they are different (in all kinds of ways), and to have them understand that this is not right for them, or for anyone else to do. And to teach them life itself is about variety and variation.
Hellow Paxmas,
DeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts regarding mammy dolls.
I particularly appreciate your description of how you might warn your young grandchildren about the potential of encountering people who will view them differently because of their skin color I recently read the following paraphrased statement: The only reason someone should look down on someone is to look at their shoes. (As for me... that's not a very good reason to look down on someone, but I'd prefer for someone to look down at my shoes than to look down on me for something I have no control over that does not and cannot define the whole person I am.)
dbg
I did not grow up in the South so I was not familiar with mammy dolls; however, when I started making cloth dolls someone suggested that I make Mammy Dolls. Not knowing what that was I asked my husbands step mother and she told me that every little girl had a mammy doll when she was young... (1930's) I then tried to make my version for a shop in Houston, my husband was not happy and thought it disrespectful but all I could think of was how I had grown up wishing Aunt Jemima was my mother. LOL the dolls sold well (1980's) but I only made a dozen or so as my husband objected so much.
ReplyDeleteHi Carrey,
DeleteThanks for sharing your experience with mammy dolls. I have mixed emotions when it comes to reproduction of relics that represent slavery and the immediate antebellum period in the US. Mammies, however, are part of American history, a figure that cannot be ignored. As long as dolls that represent this figure are created respectfully and are not caricature images (grotesque-looking or with otherwise exaggerated features to make them appear inhuman), I do not have a problem with the dolls being created today. From your description of the dolls you made, they were tastefully done.
dbg
I was a year old when my grandmother gave me a Saralee doll for my birthday,I loved that doll,and still do I am 67 and still have her.I thought she was beautiful,every picture of me up to the age of 5 I have Saralee with me.Children don't see color,women at my grandmother's church were black,loving and fun to be around,I never looked at them any differently.These dolls are a part of every Americans history,red,black white,people today are way too sensitive,and feel racism is more alive now,then it was in the 60's.What happened it wasn't like this in the 70s 80s 90s we were all Americans
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that you owned Saralee as a child and even more wonderful that you still have the doll. You were obviously raised by adults who viewed people as people. This, unfortunately has not been the case in some homes where children were taught to see color, which resulted in learned racism.
ReplyDeleteIn today's age of modern technology racial infractions are often captured on cellphone video. As a result, it appears that racism is more prevalent now than in decades prior. It's not; it's just now being recorded and shared.
dbg
I appreciate this conversation. I'm getting back to fill making after my youngest started college - for years my sewing has been halloween costumes, Harry potter robes and stuffed animals. I spent years as an inner city preschool teacher and I worked hard to find Black baby, dollhouse, and Barbie-type dolls for my students. Addressing empowering dolls for all kids is so important. But I'm shocked now as I look at New rag doll patterns that depict Mammy style dolls, "primitive Black dolls" that are deliberately grunted up, and rag dolls with extreme features designed by white doll makers. I'm trying to think how I want to see Black dolls that empower Black children, and these folks aren't it. I'm thinking rag dolls reflecting African culture, as one idea. I'm not saying for those of us who are whites that we can't sew Black dolls but I want a careful conversation about doing so. Glad I found this conversation!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you found this conversation helpful. While mammy dolls have their historical significance, Black dolls that reflect people in today's society are more relevant in my opinion. Children, particularly African American children, need to see themselves in a positive light. Therefore, it is more important for today's Black dolls to reflect today's Black children. If you are unable to find patterns that illustrate this, perhaps you can modify existing ones or create your own. I'd prefer the latter as to support those who create patterns that denote stereotypical images supports that thinking.
DeletePigeonholing an entire race of people into one era of history is what many white doll artists tend to do. People of African descent were more than slaves with a history that includes kings and queens.
It warms my heart to know you recognize the need to move past the continued portrayal of Black people in positions of servitude. Why can't a Black doll just be a doll that represents a Black child, one that celebrates the culture (natural textured hair, for example), devoid of stereotypical characteristics?
dbg