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HelpRe: Jemima
in reply to a message by queenv
ETA: Is it the pancake brand association?
*Formerly SlytherClaw*
"How am I the lucky one? I do not deserve to wait around forever when you were there first” - Cold War Kids
http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/165610
*Formerly SlytherClaw*
"How am I the lucky one? I do not deserve to wait around forever when you were there first” - Cold War Kids
http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/165610
This message was edited 12/22/2017, 5:03 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Yes. Since the old advertising is no longer used, and the image has been changed, a lot of people, especially younger, people, may not be aware of the Aunt Jemima character's racist origins. I hesitate to post any of the old advertisements here because they are so offensive. You can find out easily by Googling "Aunt Jemima racist" and "Aunt Jemima old racist ads".
But I once had a book on the subject. Yes, an entire book on Aunt Jemima and its racist origins. It explained how an ad man, back between 1910 and 1920, dreamed up an entire back story for the character, that she had been a slave on a plantation before The Civil War, and her favorite thing to do was to make pancakes for the white folks, and how after the war a Northern company came to her, asking for her pancake recipe, and presto Aunt Jemima pancake mix was born. It was a huge ad campaign that ran for years.
So yeah, it's the mammy stereotype of a black woman being sexless, overweight, and with no identity but to serve white people and be happy doing it.
But I once had a book on the subject. Yes, an entire book on Aunt Jemima and its racist origins. It explained how an ad man, back between 1910 and 1920, dreamed up an entire back story for the character, that she had been a slave on a plantation before The Civil War, and her favorite thing to do was to make pancakes for the white folks, and how after the war a Northern company came to her, asking for her pancake recipe, and presto Aunt Jemima pancake mix was born. It was a huge ad campaign that ran for years.
So yeah, it's the mammy stereotype of a black woman being sexless, overweight, and with no identity but to serve white people and be happy doing it.
This message was edited 12/22/2017, 5:18 PM
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Oh, thank you for explaining. I'd never seen it before, and upon a quick google search I was like, "What's so wrong with pancakes?" God, those ads are horrendous. Do you think Jemima will ever again be usable?
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Hard to say. Maybe in another hundred years or so.
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Yes, but it's a little more than that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima
In the UK it's most associated with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck - we actually used to call a cousin of mine Jemima Puddle-Duck. I think it's quite sweet as a name, but certainly not usable in the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima
In the UK it's most associated with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck - we actually used to call a cousin of mine Jemima Puddle-Duck. I think it's quite sweet as a name, but certainly not usable in the US.
This message was edited 12/22/2017, 5:15 PM
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