Mammy Two Shoes v. "Tom and Jerry"

Mammy Two Shoes v."Tom and Jerry"

Her SPEECH

Mammy Two Shoes

• They make her UNEDUCATED!!!
• She often combines "is" with a pronoun "I" or "you" to make "you is" or "I is"
• She also spells "out" wrong in one episode--"O-U-W-T"
• Generalization to a stereotype at this time? A gross stereotype that is mocking the minority.

Her SIZE!

Her VOICE

• Mammy is significantly larger than the rest
• Round and very tall
• Hands on hips
• Contrast to the white female owner who later appears
• Her size causes her to crash to the ground
• May add to some good humor
• However, mocks the body build of some African American women and leads to a stereotype

Children May Think

• Significantly louder than everyone else
• Exaggerated, stereotypical African American woman's voice--very expected
• Everything is drawn out and emphasized

• First appeared in the 1940s, Civil Rights movements were beginning
• Motives of the writers are left to speculation
• In my opinion, just a token character with too many inautheticities and stereotypes to have any real quality

• African American children: wonder why half of her is shown, why she's angry,hardly in the show, angry or upset that she can't spell.
• Other children: may have viewed her as the villain

Looking at the Name

• “Mammy” is a term for a mother, but a mother of what?
• The character doesn't have children
• Is"Mammy” meant to suggest that she represents the entire African American race?
• Or all African American women are meant to be housewives?

References

This scene...

Why No Quality? (Overview)

Her Job?

Looking at the Name: Second Half

• Ferris.edu. Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Ferris State University. 2012. Web. 7 October 2013.
• Youtube.com. Tom and Jerry Mammy Two Shoes. 2013. Web. 20 September 2013.

• She does not even have a real name, while the animals have real names
• Only the bottom half of her is depicted
• Stereotypical voice, looks
• She is rarely onscreen
• Her role is insignificant--to play the boss,scream, fall victim to pranks, leave

• Her character is only seen as a large woman who bosses Tom around
• Stern voice, apron, slippers
• Suggests she stays in the house and does only house work
• Would assume her jobs are cooking, cleaning, caring for the cat
• House wife or hired help
• Incorrect image of African American women

• The other half of her name contains “Two Shoes”.
• Only shoes she wears are red slippers v. white heels of white owner
• Wonder why the writers established, in the name, that she owns two shoes
• It is obvious that not much work was put into this character, and what work was put into her is insulting.

Conflicting Characteristics

• Hands on her hips--body posture says ready for confrontation + makes her much larger
• She is also bossy
• Image of this African American woman is bad
• But Tom misbehaves when she is out of the picture. Mammy's authority is not true authority over the house.
• Point to her being a token character.

Her appearance...