The depiction of African American women in recent films has served to highlight negative stereotypes against them and increase awareness of their plight. Negative stereotyping occurred before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which saw African Americans primarily bought and sold as slaves. It was not until the passage of the Amendment and the Civil Rights Act that African Americans were considered citizens of the United States, were given the opportunity to vote, and were entitled to equal treatment . As such, it empowered African American women, providing them with more work options and giving them freedom of decision-making. However, the negativity that skin color represented in the past is still pervasive. Cinema has therefore become a platform to expose the oppression and restrictions faced by women of color and to explore the disadvantages that afflict them. This gave rise to revisionism (Barbu, 2011), which gave African American women more compassionate views compared to their white counterparts. Although the oppression of African American women is highlighted, their ultimate power is not shown, leaving the audience wondering about their future. The pursuit and glorification of the “white standard of beauty” (Patton, 2006, p. 24) by Africans. American women in film shine a light on the insecurity and stigma they face because of their color. This desire to look like models on billboards and magazines has driven them to scour beauty product shelves, undergo plastic surgery and skin bleaching in order to have lighter skin. The mismatch between comparisons of their black physiques with the ideal body shapes of whites, resulted...... middle of paper ...... works for African American women. New Directions for Student Services, 2003(104), 19-27. doi:10.1002/ss.104Hudson, S.V. (1998). Recreational television: the paradox of change and continuity within stereotypical iconography. Sociological Inquiry, 68(2), 242-257. doi:10.1111/j.1475-682X.1998.tb00464.xJarman, M. (2012). Cultural consumption and the rejection of the precious Jones: inserting disability into the discussion of the sapphire push and the precious of Lee Daniels. Feminist training, 24(2), 163-185. Patton, TO (2006). Hey girl, am I more than my hair? : African American women and their struggles with beauty, body image, and hair. Journal of the NWSA, 18(2), 24-51. doi:10.1353/nwsa.2006.0037 Taylor, T. (director) (2011). Help [Motion Picture]. United States: Touchstone Studios. Yuval-Davis, N. (1994). Women, ethnicity and empowerment. Feminism and psychology, 4(1),179-197.