Saturday, August 28, 2010

Blog Entry #1













 This photo displays the change of what the old and “new” Aunt Jemima.



Aunt Jemima is the face of breakfast foods such as pancake flower and syrup, which is now owned by the Quaker Oats Company.  Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood were the founders of the instant pancake mix, and they were inspired after watching a Vaudville performance based on a slave named Nancy Greene. She was a stereotypical “mammy” type-- heavy, gregarious, dressed as a servant wearing an apron and a bandana to the song “Old Aunt Jemima.” This image inspired the face of the pancake mix.  Back at the time, that was a classic stereotype of African American women.  However, as time has gone on, Aunt Jemima has lost her bandana and a lot of weight!  Over time, the image of Aunt Jemima has changed drastically.  She now has lost a lot of the stereotype of the black slave, and just looks like a normal woman. 

Clearly in this advertisement, it is stereotyping the speech of a black women or slave at the time. 




1 comment:

  1. I too believe that the image of Aunt Jemima has changed drastically as she now shares less resemblance with the past "mammy" persona.In my opinion this change is meant to allow her to appeal to a larger audience of consumers.By depicting her in this manner the company is trying to eliminate their previous portrayal of the spokesperson as a jolly, old slave with that of a sophisticated and motherly old woman. In doing so, they help to make Aunt Jemima seem less slave-like and make the role of her character less demeaning.

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