Mammies and mothers : definitions of black and white womanhood in Imitation of Life and How to Make an American Quilt

This study examines the definitions of black and white womanhood that emerge in the context of two traditional women’s films, Imitation of Life (John Stahl, 1934) and How to Make an American Quilt (Jocelyn Moorhouse, 1995). In particular, the investigation focuses on the inclusion and transformation of the traditional "mammy" figure as a relevant point of comparison between the two films. Using both feminist and cultural analysis, the study demonstrates that stereotypes of both white and black women in American culture are perpetuated in these two films, and are often used as points of differentiation between American women of different ethnicities. Because the aim of the woman's film is generally to endorse traditional patriarchal values of marriage and motherhood for white women, the inclusion of African-American women as mammy figures both creates a foil against which white characters define themselves, and provides as well nurturer figures who direct white protagonists to make the necessary choice for marriage and motherhood. However, these "mammy" figures generally do not maintain traditional nuclear families themselves within the space of the film, creating a distinctly different definition of "womanhood" itself, according to race. As a result, these Hollywood films tend to validate and reinforce the feminist concern with existing divisions between women of different ethnicities in American culture.