A Black Jezebel is a black woman (or women) depicted as lascivious, sexually deviant, exotically alien, and often eager for male (especially white male) attention. Her primary role in the work is to act as Ms. Fanservice (or, in more blatant portrayals, as a mockery of her race's appearance), often with little personality other than love or lust — again, especially for white men. This stereotype is easiest to spot when the character is the most (or only) sexualized or outright objectified woman or character in the work.
The Trope Namer Jezebel comes from historical account of Princess Jezebel of the Phoenician empire who married King Ahab. She was demonized for her worshipping of multiple different gods (i.e. polytheism) as opposed to sticking to worshiping the Abrahamic God, Yahweh (i.e. monotheism) and comes to be associated with fallen, abandoned or promiscuous women. The racialized aspect of the name has its roots in the 17th century, with some European explorers seeing African practices (such as polygamy and tribal dances that the Europeans often considered to be orgies) as proof that black people were inherently sexually deviant, in contrast to the supposed typical demure white woman (who was especially idolized in the Victorian era). This was used as a justification for the enslavement of black people during the age of the slave trade.
This is going the way of becoming a Discredited Trope with societal progress on race and female sexuality. Many scholars
have pointed out harm that has resulted from the stereotype, with black women and girls being seen as inherently more sexual. For one thing, the stereotype has been known to lead people to take sexual assault against black women less seriously, sometimes to the point that they're considered to deserve to be sexually assaulted for being promiscuous. As a result, straight examples are rarer, and cases that do appear in contemporary media are increasingly likely to be either played for edgy, raunchy comedy, used for satirical purposes, or given more nuance and positive traits in an attempt to avoid being seen as derogatory. This trope sometimes comes up in works exploring anti-black racism, usually with bigots who believe that all black women fit this stereotype, even if none of the black female characters who appear in the story actually do.
The male version of this trope is called Mandingo, a stereotype of a black man with a huge sexual appetite and a huge penis. Both have the effect of dehumanizing black people, because both stereotypes reduce them to their sex drives and associate them with animals.
Compare to All Women Are Lustful, where all women are portrayed as inherently more sexual than men regardless of race, and Asian Hooker Stereotype, for when Asian women are fetishized. Compare to Uncle Tomfoolery, another black stereotype meant to show the white protagonist in a more flattering light. Contrast to Mammy, which desexualizes black women and plays up their maternal roles and is another common stereotype for black women. Compare to Where da White Women At? where black men are depicted as cartoonishly lusting after white women. Sassy Black Woman is a very common personality trait given to the Jezebel. If she is meant to be tragic, she will very likely be light-skinned and face Half-Breed Discrimination. For transgender black women, it may overlap with Trans Chaser. If the story doesn't take place in a modern setting, she might be a Nubile Savage.
Examples:
- This◊ 50s ad for a drink stirring set with a stereotypical black woman with bare exposed breasts. This is especially notable with how strict the censorship regarding nudity for white women in the 1950s was.
- This◊ gift card from the 50s depicts a stereotypical black child with a sexually suggestive pose and the implication that she is pregnant.
- Angelfood McSpade, one of Robert Crumb's most notorious creations, may be the trope codifier, being a black woman with large exposed breasts, large buttocks, and almost no clothing save for some jewelry and a skirt made from palm leaves. The narration regularly describes her voracious sexual appetite, and claims that she has to be confined to "the wilds of darkest Africa" because civilization would collapse if she were allowed to run free. Crump had a Parody Retcon in 2004 claiming she was a criticism of the stereotype, but the fact that he retired her in the 1970s really didn't help.
- Voodoo (2011) inspired some controversy for this. On the one hand, it's DC Comics' first series to star a black woman! On the other, she's a stripper and that's how the first issue opens. The second issue has her raping someone.
- Angel Heart has Epiphany Proudfoot (played by Lisa Bonet) whose sex scene is so graphic that the film almost earned an X rating. Her entire plot involvement is having sex with the hero who turned out to be her father and then get raped and killed.
- The Birth of a Nation (1915) has half-black Lydia Brown, the main characters' housekeeper whose screentime is spent being aroused when she sees the main villain giving orders. She eventually becomes his mistress while using her sexuality to manipulate him. She is contrasted by the Genki Girl Flora and The Ingenue Elsie. The film also has Gus as the male version of this trope, being a perverted black soldier who attempts to rape Elsie.
- Pam Grier is known for playing characters that update the trope, mixing it with some of the no-nonsense and stubborn traits of the Sassy Black Woman.
- Foxy Brown: On the one hand, Foxy Brown has the motive of enacting brutal revenge for the murder of her boyfriend and takes on a drug syndicate single-handedly. On the other hand, her fight scenes are filmed with gratuitous Male Gaze, with Foxy receiving sexualized Clothing Damage. Even scenes of Foxy being brutalized were sexualized to such an extent that critics described it as borderline soft-pornographic.
- Coffy: Similar to Foxy Brown, Coffy is a woman on a revenge mission, this time against those who enabled her sister's heroin addiction. She's a Heroic Seductress who disguises herself as a call girl to Honey Trap her primary target. These scenes also deploy a Male Gaze perspective that highlight Grier's sex appeal. The tagline for the film highlights the Interplay of Sex and Violence: "They call her 'Coffy' and she'll cream you!"
- Monster's Ball has Leticia Musgroves whose main characterization and involvement with the plot relies on sex scenes and her relationship with her white racist boyfriend.
- Invoked and deconstructed in the 2019 Netflix film Jezebel 2019. Tiffany, a black woman, became a cam girl on a fetish site and took on the name Jezebel. The film explores the impact that has on her life as she became a top earner.
- 12 Years a Slave: Invoked by the racist Southern plantation owner Mary Epps who feels jealous and threatened by Patsey when her husband Ed rapes Patsey and other female slaves. Mary blames her and the other black slaves for "seducing" her husband, while making excuses for his outbursts of rage, violence and lust.
- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Zigzagged, in that while Violet Sephotho is portrayed negatively as a Gold Digger using her charms to avoid having to work, the fact that she's black plays no part in it since, well, everyone else is black in Botswana.
- Ayché from Tamango, a story by Prosper Mérimée, is shown serving liquors to Captain Ledoux days after her husband Tamango drunkenly sold her to him. He had to threaten her with a device used against adulterous women at home.
- In Living Color!: Played for Laughs in the "Wrath of Farrakhan" skit, where Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan beams aboard the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek and rallies the crewmembers against Captain Kirk. In particular, he claims that Nyota Uhura has never been allowed to do anything of note and, emboldened by his words, she then angrily berates Kirk for not allowing her to contribute anything to the crew, other than occasionally serving as his "Chocolate fantasy".
- This stereotype is invoked in The Handmaid's Tale: Moira, as a "gender traitor" (a lesbian) is forced to become a Handmaid. After a failed escape attempt, she is assigned to be a sex worker at a club literally called "Jezebels", which caters to Commanders. She deliberately puts on a stereotypical façade in order to survive, for example by calling people "sugar" and faking a Southern accent.
- Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs has the main character (a parody of Snow White named "So White") Race Lift into a stereotypical black woman who is lusted after by every male character in the short. She has a pair of very exaggerated big breasts and a similarly large backside and the animator will focus on it whenever she is not singing. This is especially in contrast with the far more innocent Snow White in the box office hit Disney version released 6 years earlier that the short is parodying.
- Drawn Together: Foxxy Love is the only black woman among the main cast. She's also the Ms. Fanservice of the group and has a very strong sexual appetite even compared to her housemates, resulting in numerous abortions and abandoned children. She's often contrasted against the white Princess Clara, who is not only more innocent but very racist; in the first episode, the two girls make out, with Clara literally singing the praises of the "black chick's tongue." Her name is also an explicit reference to Foxy Brown.
- Goldie in Santa Inc. is a a female reindeer largely characterized as an incredibly promiscuous bisexual, who will happily flirt, kiss or sleep with anybody regardless of gender or species, as proven when she makes out with Devin, a male human. With her very strong "African-American woman" vocal mannerisms, she's clearly meant to be evoking this trope despite her being a different species.
