Work Text:
Black Packhood, Puphood and Dynamics: An Essay
In this essay, we will go over stereotypes involving the dynamics of African American populations and how they have shaped the African American community as well as the reality of dynamic for the African American population. Stereotypes involving the dynamics of African American populations have shaped cultural practices involving child rearing and community. After and during slavery, child rearing practices have been distinct from White packs.
Most dynamic based stereotypes generally can be split into two types; Those that sexualize the dynamic and those that are subservient towards White people. Any dynamic can be subject to a subservient stereotype, but it is especially betas and those who present as dynamic neutral that fall into a third space where they are more easily perceived as those stereotypes. On the other hand, those that embrace their dynamic, especially if that dynamic is alpha or omega aligned, are more in danger of hypersexual and hyperaggressive stereotypes being placed upon them.
The Mammy stereotype is that of a fat woman who raises the white children and enjoys her lot in life as a slave. She may have pups herself, but if she does, she must treat them with disdain compared to her white children. Frequently, she is said to smell like old grease or fried chicken. The Mammy stereotype serves as an explanation for how slavery is a good thing enjoyed by slaves and also that enslaved people are incapable of making their own packs, so it also serves as a justification for the selling of Black children and parents. A popular example of the Mammy stereotype is Aunt Jemima from The Pearl Milling Company.
The Uncle Tom stereotype is that of a smiling Black man who is exceedingly eager to appease White folk. The Uncle Tom trope is in a similar boat of Black subservienthood as the Mammy stereotype, however, it is applied to male African Americans. The Uncle Tom stereotype is frequently said to smell like sun baked skin and watermelon.
The Mammy and Uncle Tom stereotypes are particularly entangled in beta and dynamicless presentations. The Uncle Tom stereotype has also historically been employed towards alphas in order to take control of their alpha-hood and emasculate them, comparing their dynamic to an omega. What is notable about these stereotypes is that they are desexualized. This robs the beta of the opportunity to be considered a whole person and enforces the idea that if you are a Black alpha/omega, you must inherently be a sexual deviant, and if you are not, you must be required to be the caretakers of White children, and oppress your fellow Black people by keeping them under control for White authorities.
The Mandingo trope has created several miniature tropes itself, mainly BBC, and that African American males are sexually powerful deviants. The Mandingo trope is applied to male alphas to the point that very rarely do you see African American male alphas in non-erotic media. This stereotype often dovetails with the Angry Black Woman stereotype which is a newer stereotype that while applied to a similar demographic as the Mandingo trope, differs in the lack of sexual expression.
The Mandingo stereotype has served as justification for chemical castration, muzzles, and an increased rate of African American male incarceration. It also encourages Black alphas to desexualize themselves in order to avoid perception of violent sexuality. The Mandingo stereotype has served as justification for the sexual assault of African American alphas during rut.
The Angry Black Woman trope is a mix of sexism and racism to imply that all Black women are irrational and angry. This is often coupled with the Strong Black Woman trope which is that all Black women are emotionally strong and capable of handling any burdens on their own, but most typically, they can handle the burdens of their white counterparts.
The Angry Black Woman trope is mostly applied to alpha women in fiction. However, in reality, the angry Black woman trope gets applied to any Black woman regardless of dynamic. This means that Black people, regardless of dynamic, are perceived as more aggressive than their White counterparts.
This is a trope that gets applied to children as they are perceived to grow into their dynamics. This trope, among others, stands as a reason for the Black community to attempt to keep their pups from gaining a perceived presentation.
The Sapphire trope is similar to the Angry Black Woman trope in that it takes any Black woman and makes her seem unreasonable and cruel. Where this trope differs is that this trope is particularly applied to those who are married or in a pack. It is used on Black omegas to claim that Black omegas are incapable of a loving, romantic relationship without belittling and abusing traditionally alpha partners. The Sapphire stereotype is often used to the idea that Black people are not capable of having functional packs. This serves as another justification for more stereotypes involving the disruption of African American pack life that we will go over later in this paper involving African American packs.
The Jezebel stereotype is frequently applied to Black omega women in a very similar vein as the Mandingo stereotype. It is meant to make it appear that Black women are inherently sexual beings and are interested at all times. This is especially relevant due to the high number of sexual assault during heat cases among Black omega populations.
The Jezebel stereotype serves as another reason for African American packs to avoid perceived presentation in their pups. The sexualization of African American pups is always combined with the idea that African American pups present earlier than other races pups.
All of these stereotypes function the same way; To control the Black body, you must first sacrifice the sanctity of their dynamic. By assuming that Black instincts are inherently violent and must be controlled, those who seek to oppress African Americans create justification for abuse.
In the modern day, it is assumed that African American packs do not exist without the involvement of at least one White pack member. This is patently false. Historically, African Americans have had larger packs called, sometimes derogatorily called “Warrens”. In the antebellum South, such packs were frequently the cause of much heartbreak and are frequently cited as a reason for escape. That being said, there are only a handful of cases where a full pack was able to become free. Frequently, only a handful of members were able to escape and free each other. Such an example of this is within Ellen and William Craft. The two of whom were mates who escaped slavery together in order to start a pack together.
Historically, such packs were typically cared for by an elder Black woman, either a beta or omega, who would take care of the pups while the birth parents would be unable to caretake their pups. These warrens were distinct in structure from modern day packs due to the constant selling and buying of enslaved people, in particular, the separation of birth parents and pups. Such turmoil frequently caused deep distress within the enslaved community. This led to bouts of instinct driven insanity such as in the famous case of Margaret Garner who killed her two year old pup instead of allowing her pups to be taken back into slavery and be separated from her.
Eventually, such warrens dissolved due to the freedom of slaves. During the dissolution period, warrens would frequently band together to attempt to find each other and connect with what pack they had. This gesture has not entirely gone away for the African American community. Finding and keeping their pack is still an incredibly important deal to most African Americans.
Modern packs have many traits remaining inside of them that stem from slavery. The protections that many hold their pups to in order to keep their pups safe from perceived adultification are often restrictive.
The perception of adult qualities in African American pups starts as young as five. The reactions that African American packs have in order to protect their pups is undoubtedly justified. This is especially prominent in Black girlhood. Due to the frequent stressors of living as an African American, first presentation can happen up to a year earlier, at age seventeen, rather than at age eighteen. This has long lasting health implications, but also social implications.
Around 80% of African American packs start their pups of scent blockers at around age ten. Many of the participants that we have interviewed said that this is so that their pups do not seem “grown”. The implication being that African Americans are attempting to keep their pups’ childhood as long as possible.
The way that their pups dress themselves is also deeply important to African American populations. Their pups must be dressed cleanly so that they do not look like they are too grown or unkempt. This is because historically, CPS (child protective services) targets African American and other minorities’ children. This is yet again another way that Black packs are wrought with outside forces attempting to break them apart.
In total, African American puphood, packhood, and dynamic are deeply impacted by racism and slavery.