Are Black Girls Made of Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice?
Last week, in need of a birthday card, I perused the offerings at my local drug store. I noted how many cards were illustrated with cherubic, little, white girls–all curls and blue eyes, surrounded by hearts and kittens and flowers. High up in the racks, I spied a sliver of brown skin and reached for it. This is what I found…
…a screw-faced, afroed, cursing black girl. On its own, the item from Carlton Cards is perhaps unremarkable, but in the context of all those other cards idealizing white girls as the embodiment of childhood innocence, sweetness and girlitude, it stinks.
Black women have long carried the burden of the neck-twisting, ball-busting, curse-you in-a-second, Sapphire stereotype. The card above is illustrative of how early our humanity and our femininity get stripped away…of why it’s so easy to demonize black women and girls…of why a missing 19-year-old Natalee Holloway gets wall-to-wall media coverage, but 15-year-old Enaesha Lattice Innis gets next to none.
The card demonstrates whom our society values and who it considered just a joke.
Wow! What drug store was this? I usually go to Rite Aid or CVS which have a great collection of African American themed birthday cards such as Mahogany.
I agree with the author’s point of the media demonizing Black women from an early age, but I don’t think greeting cards are the issue here, I would just chalk it up to poor selections at that particular store. Both cards look wack, btw.
this is not about where they are purchased; it is about who makes them.
i believe this company is a subsidiary of american greetings, a major player in the greeting card business.
i keep thinking a black person (a man) created this card.
If your’re looking for cards with positive images of Black folks, you should check out Target. Maybe it’s just because I live in Memphis which is majority Black, but Target has an awesome selection of cards and at 1 point even had retro Ebony magazine cards (and it wasn’t just for Black History month)!
Nope we’re filled with anger attitude and salt
Okay, I’m just going to say the thing that you’re not supposed to say. Yes, little black girls can be “sassy”. I’M a sassy black girl. I have white friends, and I am by far the most outspoken, wisecracking and eye-rolling of the group. I don’t take sh*t.
I think the problem is thinking that being sassy and being filled with sugar and spice are mutually exclusive. And I think that’s the dichotomy that our culture sets up.
It’s actually a GOOD THING that little black girls speak their minds. This does’t make them ANY LESS adorable, beautiful or valuable.
I was raised in Kingston, Jamaica where almost every damn girl is outspoken. Yes, of course, there were a lot of shy quiet girls. But I’d venture to say that, like, 55% of my classmates at my all girl’s preparatory and high school were not to be crossed.
But I wasn’t raised thinking that this was a bad thing or an “other” thing. I just thought it was a thing. One of the many things that make little girls a delight.
Based on my own proclivities, I have a feeling that my future child might have a bit of a mouth. But it won’t make her any less sweet and precious in my eyes.
@LN, you make a great point. I think there is a racist and sexist side to the way black women are portrayed. First, we need to interrogate why society thinks boldness in girls and women is a negative trait, but positive in boys and men. Then we can pull apart why black women are typically assigned these traits and demonized for them.
@LN
“It’s actually a GOOD THING that little black girls speak their minds. This does’t make them ANY LESS adorable, beautiful or valuable”
This is such a great statement!
@LN
Well, were you as protected as the average little white girl? Because I’ve heard that Jamaica is a ROUGH place in some areas, and therefore to be able to navigate that social climate, little girls would have to have a thicker skin.
@Tami “I think there is a racist and sexist side to the way black women are portrayed.” . With all honesty, you THINK there is a racist and sexist side? THINK? Um rap music put it out on FRONT street. Woooooooooooo. Denial is a STRONG emotion.
Aww that little black girl is still adorable. That card is very depressing and extremely stupid.