April 1, 1998

Hortense J. Spillers

"Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe"

I

In this section, Spillers describes herself in stereotypes like, brown sugar and Miss Ebony First , to demonstrate that in order for a black women to understand what these terms mean, she must historically regress and locate their position years ago. She feels that society has determined the black community a matriarchy, eliminating the male role completely. It has been suggested that the problems of black youth in lower classes is a result of the overachievements of black females.

Spillers then moves into a discussion over the term ethnicity by discussing the body as containing identifying markings. For black people during enslavement, whippings were an example of markings, but skin color can also serve as a historical test as well. Through re-discovery of these terms, we can better understand the outcome of African-American life in the United States.

II

The slave trade demonstrates that the matrilineal line is difficult to follow when families were separated during the passage to the United States. Still, Spillers points out that males were granted more privilege and space on the boats during the passage over. Men outnumbered women on all slave ships, although the analogy to "slave" is almost always equivalent to "female."

III

Spillers discusses the internal slave system, arguing that a kinship system cannot belong to the mother when it is the master who actually possesses the woman and her corresponding reproductive rights. "Family" as we know it in western eyes, was not an institution practiced during slave times. If "family" was at all possible, the offspring would belong to the mother and father, but it did not under the conditions of slavery.

IV

This portion is a bit complicated, so bare with me! Basically, Spillers reinforces her point that although slave women produced, the slave offspring were robbed of both mother and father bonds. Because so many feminists equate females to the maternal role, she is saying that this is not possible for the African case. The African American male must therefore regain his own personhood and acknowledge the female within.

Summary

Spillers tends to be repetitive, but basically she feels it is important to go back and understand the meaning behind gender stereotypes through the people that would know best. Because females were exchanged through males and denied access to their offspring, the matriarchal structure is an impossibility for African American family structure.

Reading Notes by Lisa Schilz