Inventing Aunt Jemima (PART 3): Controlling Images and Modern Minstrelsy

Inventing Aunt Jemima (PART 3): Controlling Images and Modern Minstrelsy

In Part 2, we walked through the minstrel show and met its cast of characters. This episode picks up exactly where that left off, and asks the harder question: what were those characters for, and where did they go when the minstrel stage finally went dark? The answer is that they didn't go anywhere. They just got new costumes and they're still all around us. This episode is a direct continuation of Part 2, and it is a heavy one. Content note: This episode discusses slavery, sexual violence, racial caricature, and racist stereotypes in historical context. It includes discussion of lynching, the systematic terror of the post-Reconstruction era, and modern racialized violence and policing. We have approached this material with care and encourage listeners to do the same. Connect with Us! Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/TheBitchionary⁠ [http://patreon.com/TheBitchionary] Instagram ⁠@theb.chionary⁠ [http://instagram.com/theb.ichionary] Substack: ⁠https://thebitchionary.substack.com/⁠ [https://thebitchionary.substack.com/] Apple Podcasts: ⁠The Bitchionary⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bitchionary/id1786884396] Email: ⁠admin@thebitchionary.com⁠ for general inquiries. Email Becca at ⁠becca@thebitchionary.com⁠ or Lily at ⁠lily@thebitchionary.com⁠.  Sources ABC News. "The untold story of the real 'Aunt Jemima' and the fight to preserve her legacy." [https://abcnews.go.com/US/untold-story-real-aunt-jemima-fight-preserve-legacy/story?id=72293603] African American Registry. "Nancy Green, The Original 'Aunt Jemima' born." [https://aaregistry.org/story/nancy-green-the-original-aunt-jemima/] Allrecipes. "The Brand Formerly Known as 'Aunt Jemima' Becomes Pearl Milling Company." [https://www.allrecipes.com/article/aunt-jemima-pearl-milling-company/] Banks, Nina. "Black women’s labor market history reveals deep-seated race and gender discrimination." [https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated-race-and-gender-discrimination/] Economic Policy Institute. Bogle, Donald. “Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films.” 1973. CBS News Boston. "Aunt Jemima Brand And Logo Being Retired By Quaker Oats, Acknowledging Racial Stereotype." [https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/aunt-jemima-syrup-logo-retired-racial-stereotype/] Collins, Patricia Hill. “Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment.” 1990.  EBSCO Research Starters. "Mammy archetype" [https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/women-s-studies-and-feminism/mammy-archetype] by Elizabeth Mohn. Fiveable Class Notes. "Domestic work and labor exploitation | History of Black Women in America." [https://fiveable.me/history-black-women-in-america/unit-10/domestic-work-labor-exploitation/study-guide/iRHjUpmFSIBersMq] Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. "Nancy Green." [https://kcaah.org/women-in-history/nancy-green/] Kentucky Historical Society. "Civil War to Civil Rights: Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima." [https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/LegislativeMoments/moments14RS/web/legislative%20moment%2044.pdf] Lee, Jon J. "Racism and Trademark Abandonment." [https://www.gwlr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/91-Geo.-Wash.-L.-Rev.-932.pdf] The George Washington Law Review. London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA). "A history of branding." [https://www.lcca.ac.uk/blog/education/history-of-branding/] Morrison, Toni. “Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination.” 1992. New-York Historical Society. "Aunt Jemima." [https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/aunt-jemima/] Women & the American Story. New-York Historical Society. "Black Domestic Workers." [https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/black-domestic-workers/] Women & the American Story. Richardson, Riché. "Can We Please, Finally, Get Rid of 'Aunt Jemima'?" [https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/24/besides-the-confederate-flag-what-other-symbols-should-go/can-we-please-finally-get-rid-of-aunt-jemima] The New York Times. Roberts, Sam. "Overlooked No More: Nancy Green, the 'Real Aunt Jemima'." [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/obituaries/nancy-green-aunt-jemima-overlooked.html] The New York Times. Pearl Milling Company. "Our History." [https://www.pearlmillingcompany.com/our-history] PR Newswire. "Aunt Jemima Brand To Remove Image From Packaging And Change Brand Name." [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aunt-jemima-brand-to-remove-image-from-packaging-and-change-brand-name-301078593.html] The Quaker Oats Company. US Legal Forms. "Aunt Jemima Doctrine: Understanding Trademark Protection." [https://legal-resources.uslegalforms.com/a/aunt-jemima-doctrine] Legal Resources. University of Washington Digital Collections. "Early Advertising of the West, 1867-1918." [https://content.lib.washington.edu/advertweb/index.html] Wikipedia. "Aunt Jemima." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima] Wikipedia. "Mammy stereotype." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammy_stereotype] Wilmington College. "Powered by Pancakes: Debra Faulk to Share the True Story of Aunt Jemima." [https://www.wilmington.edu/news/powered-by-pancakes-debra-faulk-to-share-the-true-story-of-aunt-jemima] World’s Fair Chicago 1893. "Remembering Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima, and the 1893 World’s Fair." [https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2020/09/09/remembering-nancy-green-aunt-jemima-and-the-1893-worlds-fair/] "The Enduring Iconography of Exploitation: Aunt Jemima, Racial Mythology, and the History of American Consumption." Research Summary. "The Real Aunt Jemima." Podcast Script/Research Materials. "The Real Aunt Jemima: Nancy Green’s Story and the Legacy of a Stereotype." Historical Research Analysis.

Inventing Aunt Jemima (PART 2): Minstrelsy and the Mammy Myth

In Part 1, we met Nancy Green, the woman hired to become America's first living trademark. To understand what she was actually performing at that 24-foot flour barrel, and why it worked so powerfully on white audiences, we have to go back further. Before the brand. Before the fair. Back to the minstrel stage. This episode is a direct continuation of Part 1, and it's a heavy one.  In this episode we: * Trace the origins and structure of the American minstrel show, the dominant popular entertainment of the 19th century * Examine the cast of characters it produced: the Mammy, Uncle Tom, the Jezebel, the Pickaninny, Jim Crow * Unpack what each character was built to hide and what realities about slavery and its aftermath they were designed to make invisible * Explore the role of sexual violence in the institution of slavery, and the specific myths constructed to mask it These were not the casual racism of an unthinking era. They were tools, constructed with purpose. Once you see their architecture, you can't unsee them  because they didn't end when minstrel shows did. Content note: This episode discusses slavery, sexual violence, racial caricature, and racist stereotypes in historical context. It includes discussion of lynching and the systematic terror of the post-Reconstruction era. We have approached this material with care and encourage listeners to do the same. Connect with Us! Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/TheBitchionary⁠ [http://patreon.com/TheBitchionary] Instagram ⁠@theb.chionary⁠ [http://instagram.com/theb.ichionary] Substack: ⁠https://thebitchionary.substack.com/⁠ [https://thebitchionary.substack.com/] Apple Podcasts: ⁠The Bitchionary⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bitchionary/id1786884396] Email: ⁠admin@thebitchionary.com⁠ for general inquiries. Email Becca at ⁠becca@thebitchionary.com⁠ or Lily at ⁠lily@thebitchionary.com⁠.  Sources ABC News. "The untold story of the real 'Aunt Jemima' and the fight to preserve her legacy." [https://abcnews.go.com/US/untold-story-real-aunt-jemima-fight-preserve-legacy/story?id=72293603] African American Registry. "Nancy Green, The Original 'Aunt Jemima' born." [https://aaregistry.org/story/nancy-green-the-original-aunt-jemima/] Allrecipes. "The Brand Formerly Known as 'Aunt Jemima' Becomes Pearl Milling Company." [https://www.allrecipes.com/article/aunt-jemima-pearl-milling-company/] Banks, Nina. "Black women’s labor market history reveals deep-seated race and gender discrimination." [https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated-race-and-gender-discrimination/] Economic Policy Institute. CBS News Boston. "Aunt Jemima Brand And Logo Being Retired By Quaker Oats, Acknowledging Racial Stereotype." [https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/aunt-jemima-syrup-logo-retired-racial-stereotype/] Collins, Patricia Hill. "Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment" EBSCO Research Starters. "Mammy archetype" [https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/women-s-studies-and-feminism/mammy-archetype] by Elizabeth Mohn. Fiveable Class Notes. "Domestic work and labor exploitation | History of Black Women in America." [https://fiveable.me/history-black-women-in-america/unit-10/domestic-work-labor-exploitation/study-guide/iRHjUpmFSIBersMq] Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. "Nancy Green." [https://kcaah.org/women-in-history/nancy-green/] Kentucky Historical Society. "Civil War to Civil Rights: Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima." [https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/LegislativeMoments/moments14RS/web/legislative%20moment%2044.pdf] Lee, Jon J. "Racism and Trademark Abandonment." [https://www.gwlr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/91-Geo.-Wash.-L.-Rev.-932.pdf] The George Washington Law Review. London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA). "A history of branding." [https://www.lcca.ac.uk/blog/education/history-of-branding/] New-York Historical Society. "Aunt Jemima." [https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/aunt-jemima/] Women & the American Story. New-York Historical Society. "Black Domestic Workers." [https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/black-domestic-workers/] Women & the American Story. Richardson, Riché. "Can We Please, Finally, Get Rid of 'Aunt Jemima'?" [https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/24/besides-the-confederate-flag-what-other-symbols-should-go/can-we-please-finally-get-rid-of-aunt-jemima] The New York Times. Roberts, Sam. "Overlooked No More: Nancy Green, the 'Real Aunt Jemima'." [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/obituaries/nancy-green-aunt-jemima-overlooked.html] The New York Times. Pearl Milling Company. "Our History." [https://www.pearlmillingcompany.com/our-history] PR Newswire. "Aunt Jemima Brand To Remove Image From Packaging And Change Brand Name." [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aunt-jemima-brand-to-remove-image-from-packaging-and-change-brand-name-301078593.html] The Quaker Oats Company. US Legal Forms. "Aunt Jemima Doctrine: Understanding Trademark Protection." [https://legal-resources.uslegalforms.com/a/aunt-jemima-doctrine] Legal Resources. University of Washington Digital Collections. "Early Advertising of the West, 1867-1918." [https://content.lib.washington.edu/advertweb/index.html] Wikipedia. "Aunt Jemima." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima] Wikipedia. "Mammy stereotype." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammy_stereotype] Wilmington College. "Powered by Pancakes: Debra Faulk to Share the True Story of Aunt Jemima." [https://www.wilmington.edu/news/powered-by-pancakes-debra-faulk-to-share-the-true-story-of-aunt-jemima] World’s Fair Chicago 1893. "Remembering Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima, and the 1893 World’s Fair." [https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2020/09/09/remembering-nancy-green-aunt-jemima-and-the-1893-worlds-fair/] "The Enduring Iconography of Exploitation: Aunt Jemima, Racial Mythology, and the History of American Consumption." Research Summary. "The Real Aunt Jemima: Nancy Green’s Story and the Legacy of a Stereotype." Historical Research Analysis.

Inventing Aunt Jemima (PART 1): Nancy Green

This season begins with a woman most of us were never taught about, though many of us grew up seeing the character she was hired to perform. Nancy Green was born enslaved in Kentucky in 1834. In 1893, at the Chicago World’s Fair, she became America’s first “living trademark,” portraying the fictional figure known as Aunt Jemima. This episode lays the foundation for a multi-part series. In this first episode we We begin with Nancy Green’s life.We trace the industrialization of food production.We examine the birth of modern branding and trademark law.We introduce the minstrel traditions that shaped the Aunt Jemima character. And we begin to ask harder questions about plantation nostalgia, racial caricature, and the foundational, yet marginalized,  labor of Black women in American history. This is an intentionally dense episode. We are building context before we go deeper. In the coming episodes, we’ll explore: * Minstrelsy and the “mammy” myth * The politics of representation at the 1893 World’s Fair * The economic realities of Black women’s labor * The evolution of the Aunt Jemima brand and its 2021 retirement This series is not about canceling a logo. It’s about understanding how and why it was invented and what the larger cultural implications of that invention were.. Content note: This episode discusses slavery, racial caricature, and racist stereotypes in historical context. Connect with Us! Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/TheBitchionary⁠ [http://patreon.com/TheBitchionary] Instagram ⁠@theb.chionary⁠ [http://instagram.com/theb.ichionary] Substack: ⁠https://thebitchionary.substack.com/⁠ [https://thebitchionary.substack.com/] Apple Podcasts: ⁠The Bitchionary⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bitchionary/id1786884396] Email: ⁠admin@thebitchionary.com⁠ for general inquiries. Email Becca at ⁠becca@thebitchionary.com⁠ or Lily at ⁠lily@thebitchionary.com⁠.  Sources ABC News. "The untold story of the real 'Aunt Jemima' and the fight to preserve her legacy." [https://abcnews.go.com/US/untold-story-real-aunt-jemima-fight-preserve-legacy/story?id=72293603] African American Registry. "Nancy Green, The Original 'Aunt Jemima' born." [https://aaregistry.org/story/nancy-green-the-original-aunt-jemima/] Allrecipes. "The Brand Formerly Known as 'Aunt Jemima' Becomes Pearl Milling Company." [https://www.allrecipes.com/article/aunt-jemima-pearl-milling-company/] Banks, Nina. "Black women’s labor market history reveals deep-seated race and gender discrimination." [https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated-race-and-gender-discrimination/] Economic Policy Institute. CBS News Boston. "Aunt Jemima Brand And Logo Being Retired By Quaker Oats, Acknowledging Racial Stereotype." [https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/aunt-jemima-syrup-logo-retired-racial-stereotype/] EBSCO Research Starters. "Mammy archetype" [https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/women-s-studies-and-feminism/mammy-archetype] by Elizabeth Mohn. Fiveable Class Notes. "Domestic work and labor exploitation | History of Black Women in America." [https://fiveable.me/history-black-women-in-america/unit-10/domestic-work-labor-exploitation/study-guide/iRHjUpmFSIBersMq] Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. "Nancy Green." [https://kcaah.org/women-in-history/nancy-green/] Kentucky Historical Society. "Civil War to Civil Rights: Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima." [https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/LegislativeMoments/moments14RS/web/legislative%20moment%2044.pdf] Lee, Jon J. "Racism and Trademark Abandonment." [https://www.gwlr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/91-Geo.-Wash.-L.-Rev.-932.pdf] The George Washington Law Review. London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA). "A history of branding." [https://www.lcca.ac.uk/blog/education/history-of-branding/] New-York Historical Society. "Aunt Jemima." [https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/aunt-jemima/] Women & the American Story. New-York Historical Society. "Black Domestic Workers." [https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/black-domestic-workers/] Women & the American Story. Richardson, Riché. "Can We Please, Finally, Get Rid of 'Aunt Jemima'?" [https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/24/besides-the-confederate-flag-what-other-symbols-should-go/can-we-please-finally-get-rid-of-aunt-jemima] The New York Times. Roberts, Sam. "Overlooked No More: Nancy Green, the 'Real Aunt Jemima'." [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/obituaries/nancy-green-aunt-jemima-overlooked.html] The New York Times. Pearl Milling Company. "Our History." [https://www.pearlmillingcompany.com/our-history] PR Newswire. "Aunt Jemima Brand To Remove Image From Packaging And Change Brand Name." [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aunt-jemima-brand-to-remove-image-from-packaging-and-change-brand-name-301078593.html] The Quaker Oats Company. US Legal Forms. "Aunt Jemima Doctrine: Understanding Trademark Protection." [https://legal-resources.uslegalforms.com/a/aunt-jemima-doctrine] Legal Resources. University of Washington Digital Collections. "Early Advertising of the West, 1867-1918." [https://content.lib.washington.edu/advertweb/index.html] Wikipedia. "Aunt Jemima." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima] Wikipedia. "Mammy stereotype." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammy_stereotype] Wilmington College. "Powered by Pancakes: Debra Faulk to Share the True Story of Aunt Jemima." [https://www.wilmington.edu/news/powered-by-pancakes-debra-faulk-to-share-the-true-story-of-aunt-jemima] World’s Fair Chicago 1893. "Remembering Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima, and the 1893 World’s Fair." [https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2020/09/09/remembering-nancy-green-aunt-jemima-and-the-1893-worlds-fair/] "The Enduring Iconography of Exploitation: Aunt Jemima, Racial Mythology, and the History of American Consumption." Research Summary. "The Real Aunt Jemima." Podcast Script/Research Materials. "The Real Aunt Jemima: Nancy Green’s Story and the Legacy of a Stereotype." Historical Research Analysis.

From Witches to Trad Wives (PART 6): Tradwives

In the final episode of Witches to Trad Wives, we bring this series to its present-day conclusion. Across these episodes, we’ve traced how fear of women repeatedly organizes itself into moral panic—each time wearing a new, era-appropriate costume. What begins as witchcraft becomes medical diagnosis, criminal spectacle, political threat, and wartime anxiety. Today, that same fear reappears as something softer and more palatable: the tradwife. In this episode, we examine how tradwife culture functions not as a neutral lifestyle trend, but as the latest iteration of an old containment strategy—one that reframes submission as empowerment, domesticity as freedom, and hierarchy as harmony. Drawing connections between Cold War conservatism, anti-feminist organizing, reproductive panic, and social-media aesthetics, we name the pattern beneath the panic. This episode closes the Witches to Trad Wives arc by asking why women’s gains are so often followed by systems designed to quietly take power back. Connect with Us! Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/TheBitchionary⁠ [http://patreon.com/TheBitchionary] Instagram ⁠@theb.chionary⁠ [http://instagram.com/theb.ichionary] Substack: ⁠https://thebitchionary.substack.com/⁠ [https://thebitchionary.substack.com/] Apple Podcasts: ⁠The Bitchionary⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bitchionary/id1786884396] Email: ⁠admin@thebitchionary.com⁠ for general inquiries. Email Becca at ⁠becca@thebitchionary.com⁠ or Lily at ⁠lily@thebitchionary.com⁠.  Sources

From Witches to Trad Wives (PART 5): Night Witches: The All-Female Soviet Pilots Who Terrorized the Nazis

In WWII, German soldiers on the Eastern Front whispered about witches in the night—figures who arrived silently and dropped bombs before vanishing into the dark. They were real. In this episode, we tell the story of the Night Witches, an all-female Soviet night bomber regiment that flew obsolete wooden planes with no radar, no parachutes, and almost no support. Facing relentless sexism and brutal conditions, these women adapted, innovated, and helped turn the tide of the war. This is a story about women erased from history, brilliance misread as magic, and what happens when women are underestimated and fight anyway. Connect with Us! Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/TheBitchionary⁠ [http://patreon.com/TheBitchionary] Instagram ⁠@theb.chionary⁠ [http://instagram.com/theb.ichionary] Substack: ⁠https://thebitchionary.substack.com/⁠ [https://thebitchionary.substack.com/] Apple Podcasts: ⁠The Bitchionary⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bitchionary/id1786884396] Email: ⁠admin@thebitchionary.com⁠ for general inquiries. Email Becca at ⁠becca@thebitchionary.com⁠ or Lily at ⁠lily@thebitchionary.com⁠.  Sources https://invisiblewomen.ca/marina-raskova/ [https://invisiblewomen.ca/marina-raskova/] https://wrightmuseum.org/the-soviet-night-witches/ [https://wrightmuseum.org/the-soviet-night-witches/] https://www.history.com/articles/meet-the-night-witches-the-daring-female-pilots-who-bombed-nazis-by-night [https://www.history.com/articles/meet-the-night-witches-the-daring-female-pilots-who-bombed-nazis-by-night] https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/night-witches-soviet-women-pilots-who-terrified-nazi-soldiers [https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/night-witches-soviet-women-pilots-who-terrified-nazi-soldiers]