‘All the women are White, all the Blacks are men, but some of us are brave’: The (mis)representation of Black women in the media

Abstract

Western media is dominated by ‘whiteness’ although little research has been produced to provide empirical evidence for this, or investigated how it may harm those excluded – particularly Black women. This study sought to account for the underrepresentation of Black women in the media, and see how racialised appearance ideals relate to the character and job status of Black women. Sixteen of the UK’s 20 most binge-watched series in 2017 were analysed in relation to representations of physical appearance, character status (extra or substantial role) and job status. The majority of Black women featured in the programmes (N=59) had medium sized lips (59.3 per cent), darker skin (64.4 per cent), medium sized noses (50.8 per cent) and the most common hair type was type one (straight hair/no curl pattern) (35.6 per cent). Black women were rarely represented in these Netflix series (N=325, 6.19 per cent) and when they were represented, were most likely to be an extra (66.1 per cent) and thus not represented in any job. This study emphasises the stark under-representation and stereotyping of Black women in popular television shows.