As a white simmer from outside America, this stereotype is only faintly familiar to me.
Do I understand correctly that the racial stereotyping here is done with the head scarf and lipstick? Is there something more I am not connecting to it? The jeans outfit?
Please do not take this as obnoxious baiting. I would genuinely like to recognize this stereotype.
This is a larger image of the outfit on a randomized (white) sim, for viewing ease. I assume the game had given her the tattoo separately?
@Strangelovekraft The head scarf and lipstick are reminiscent of “Mammy” figurines, which depicted enslaved African-American women as happy domestic workers raising white children. They were usually full-figured and wore head scarves because many slave owners required slave women to wear head wraps and it was even the law in Louisiana.
It’s not 100% a Mammy figurine because those wore period full long skirts, but from the neck up… I can see the OP’s point.
"Aunt Jemima" is a product mascot loosely based on "Mammy," and probably closer to the outfit style.
Thank you @xochiquetzl_xkvn
From the neck up I can see what you mean, this "Mammy" stereotype I had an idea of before and can see the scarf and very noticeable red lipstick combination.
On the other hand, I have also understood in some black communities to this day have really eye-catching and beautiful head scarf trends?
I was confused if the jean outfit was part of the same racial stereotype or linked to some unsavory reference I'm not familiar with.
I honestly feel uncomfortable being "the authority" in this discussion, as I'm a white girl, 😉 but I'll do my best. Also, I've heard PoC say that it's annoying that they always have to be the ones to do the educating! so hopefully I won't screw it up...
Yes, many black communities have beautiful head scarf traditions! especially in Africa. In Louisiana, they had the Tignon Law requiring African-American women to cover their hair with a scarf, and many of these women made gorgeous hair coverings and wore them with pride. So no, not all head scarves are racist!
On the other hand, yeah, if you do a google image search for "Mammy" or "Aunt Jemima" you get a lot of stereotypical images of full-figured, dark-skinned women wearing very utilitarian headscarves and you know, the way these stereotypes work is you know it when you see it? and you're more sensitive to it if it's been used against you. ☹️
So, in short:
Yes! there are absolutely African-American women who wear a head scarf with pride!
No, I'm not going to invalidate the OP's feelings about this outfit. Again, you know it when you see it, and they would know better than I would! I'm not trying to talk over the OP, just remove some of the "It's not their job to explain how racism works while complaining something is racist" burden, and we should listen to the Simmer of Color as the authority.
I hope that helps!
