The matriarch
In literature, African American mothers face overpowering stereotypes. One of these, as discussed by Patricia Hill Collins in Black Feminist Thought, is that of the matriarch. Collins
describes the matriarch in the following way:
"While the mammy typifies the Black mother figure in white homes, the matriarch symbolizes the mother figure in Black homes. Just as the mammy represents the 'good' Black mother, the matriarch symbolizes the 'bad' Black mother... Spending too much time away from home, these working mothers ostensibly could not properly supervise their children and thus were a major contributing factor to their children's failure at school. As overly aggressive, unfeminine women, Black matriarchs allegedly emasculated their lovers and husbands. These men, understandably, either deserted their partners or refused to marry the mothers of their children. From the dominant group's perspective, the matriarch represented a failed mammy, a negative stigma to be applied to African-American women who dared reject the image of the submissive, hardworking servant." (pg. 75)
describes the matriarch in the following way:
"While the mammy typifies the Black mother figure in white homes, the matriarch symbolizes the mother figure in Black homes. Just as the mammy represents the 'good' Black mother, the matriarch symbolizes the 'bad' Black mother... Spending too much time away from home, these working mothers ostensibly could not properly supervise their children and thus were a major contributing factor to their children's failure at school. As overly aggressive, unfeminine women, Black matriarchs allegedly emasculated their lovers and husbands. These men, understandably, either deserted their partners or refused to marry the mothers of their children. From the dominant group's perspective, the matriarch represented a failed mammy, a negative stigma to be applied to African-American women who dared reject the image of the submissive, hardworking servant." (pg. 75)
"Bad" Mothers in At-Risk
In At-Risk, Amina Gautier includes examples of the matriarch, specifically in the story "Yearn." In this story, Stephan's mother represents a seemingly "bad" mother and embodies many of the characteristics Collins describes. She is aggressive as can be seen in a confrontation between herself and Stephen regarding Stephen's choice of friends:
"She slapped him across the face, 'I don't want to hear another word. He's not my boy, you are, and I don't care what you say about him! You got another thing coming if you expect me to put with you disobeying me!'..." (pg. 147).
She is also assertive, so assertive that it resulted in her being a single mother. This can be assumed based on the following quote from the book:
"He wondered if his father had seen his mother with her short pixie hair and lips dark as grapes and seen all the possibilities with her only to find out that she saw only pitfalls to be avoided, that she kept her feet rooted firmly to the ground and would not pick up and follow him wherever, that she would rather hear him tell her that the bills were paid on time than say she was beautiful..." (pg. 148)
While these traits may seem undesirable to those in the dominant group of society, these are traits which have kept her family safe. Her aggression and assertiveness appear to be a contributing factor to keeping her son out of a gang and ultimately alive. These traits, though deemed negative by society, stem from a place of love: "If you could just listen sometimes. You're my baby and I'm just trying to keep you alive." (pg. 149)
Young Mothers
A similar stereotype which can be seen in literature including African American women is that of young mothers. Collins references this in Black Feminist Thought when she says that "Black motherhood is a fundamentally contradictory institution." (pg. 195) On one hand "Coping with unwanted pregnancies and being unable to care for one's children is oppressive." (pg. 195). However, "For many, becoming a biological mother is often seen as a significant first step towards womanhood" (pg. 106). She also says that: "Mothering is an empowering experience for many African American women." (pg. 198). Essentially then, young mothers face many hardships, but the experience can be rewarding.
Young mothers in At-Risk
Amina Gautier incorporates teen pregnancy in At-Risk. In the story, "Held" Kim is a teenage mother. Like many teen mothers, Kim has difficulty adjusting to being a parent and is often unsure of how to care for her infant. For instance: "She didn't run; the baby was always crying and it was never over anything important." (pg. 123). She frequently asked her sister to care for her baby as often as possible and holds her as little as possible. Eventually though, Kim embraces being a mother and there is hope that she will use it as a step towards womanhood and will be empowered by it:
"She realized that she was holding the baby incorrectly and brought her back down. She put her hands around the baby's waist and lifted her back into the air. She did it swiftly and the baby began to gurgle and make nonsense noises...There was a little bit of her in her daughter. She could see herself...feeling like the two of them were the only two people that had ever been in the world. And they were only now just meeting." (pg. 139).
Sources
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of
Empowerment. London: Routledge, 2000.
Gautier, Amina. At-Risk. University of Georgia Press, 2011.