Amy Winehouse’s drug addiction is “a familiar black stereotype?”
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
You gotta read Lauren’s excellent post on Stereohyped, in response to James Hannaham’s recent Salon piece in which he had this to say about singer Amy Winehouse (emphasis mine):
Winehouse answers that question by digging deep for scraps of authenticity. In addition to foregrounding her knowledge of R&B history in her lyrics, she mines her personal experiences for material, naming names, keeping those names in the news, and in the process, all but eliminates the barrier between biography and artistic expression, tabloid and Billboard. Only a complete novice could wonder what her songs mean, to which events they refer, or about whom they are written. Meanwhile, she acts out and “keeps it real” by defending her drug and alcohol addictions, and by standing by her jailed ne’er-do-well husband. The whole package smells like a bizarre simulation of a familiar black stereotype.
Wha? This is why I love Lauren - check out what she wrote in response:
To me, she’s not simulating some familiar black stereotype, she is the embodiment of a familiar white one. But I guess I’m wrong.
Winehouse’s musical influences are black, so her sad, sad behavior can be boiled down to her being a little Jewish girl embracing drugs and rejecting her culture in a desperate-but-failed attempt to “keep it real.” Because white people, let alone famous (Jewish) ones, never engage in harmful drug use or marry ne’er-do-wells. If they did, white people like Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty and Lindsay Lohan would be criticized just as much as black hip hop stars for being terrible influences on the children who love their movies and music. Instead, they get pass after pass and often sympathy for what is seen as some isolated problem instead of what it really is, which is flat-out criminal behavior of the sort that non-famous people, particularly non-famous black people (or famous black people, for that matter) actually get sent to prison for.
But go read the rest here.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Fatemeh wrote:
OOOOOOH! Good response!
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 12:35 pm ¶
latinamericanprinces wrote:
Yes excellent response, and can we add Britney and Paris to the list? I mean Cosby and many are ranting about Ghetto, but how much more ghetto than Britney, Amy and Paris can you get?
And by ghetto I DON’T MEAN BLACK! Ghetto and criminality does not equal black despite popular belief and use. Ridiculous and criminal behavior can and is perpetrated by all colors, religions, ethnicities, etc. etc.
Unfortunately class and structural issues are still seen in terms of color: “acting white”, “black enough”, etc. Why should getting a higher education be “acting white”? Society (and I mean this globally) is still brainwashed with the belief that black (or brown) is bad and white is good.
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 2:31 pm ¶
Pick Nit wrote:
Right points, but the Salon writer (or proofer) actually should’ve used “black archetype”.
Lauren has room to say”white stereotype” regardless, without apologies, but shouldn’t have to mix’n'match for examples to rebut/refute. That’s the defensive norm every time one of those Salon type pieces comes out.
The numbers game of who’s more f*’d up (”blacks”, “whites”, or, “Jews” etc.) doesn’t dispel the association folks have of messed up blacks, whites, or Jews. Doing that requires a challenge to the image itself.
If I had a pick to add, I think the right poles to consider here are Linda Thompson and Joe Cocker vs. Janis Joplin/Billie Holliday/David Ruffin. She’s that good, that destructive & volatile, that much of an addict, and that prone to what’s at work around her.
The difference: rehab and recovery translates into time spent away from the charts, and speculation in the rag sheets as to why. Culturally addiction and substance abuse is talked about nonstop to the point of recreational activity in and of itself. I’m guessing that plays a role too.
I just can’t help if there’s a gender thing here as well. The Whitney comparison and her hounding (compared to Britney) is a better one to make. Aren’t some women (and women of color) almost egged into (or not stopped from becoming) public train wrecks by media and “friends” isn’t it punished vs. celebrated when male celebs do the same thing (until they die or wind up in jail)?
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 3:34 pm ¶
Kaonashi wrote:
I don’t exactly see ANYONE applauding Amy’s behaviour; in fact, I see nothing but criticism, Death pool bets, etc and I think it’s because unlike the other stars, Amy just puts her issues right on out there. In fact, I don’t see ANY of these woman getting cookies for their behaviour; in fact I see the exact opposite (especially with Spears). All you have to do is look at most of the celeb blogs out here to see that.
What the hell at that whole Salon piece. Whoo-hee ho. She sings old-school R and B, wears her hair in a beehive, so she MUST be trying to emulate Black stereotypes in a sad attempt to boot, right? IT COULDN’T POSSIBLY BE because she’s an addict and possibly has some mental issues that need to be addressed, now could it? Addiction is addiction, it’s not a race thing and it makes me very angry that was even brought up in the article. Addiction will snatch a knot in your ass regardless of race, sexuality, religion, etc.
Instead of being “a little Jewish girl embracing drugs and rejecting her culture in a desperate-but-failed attempt to “keep it real” let’s call it what it is–a complicated woman with a addictive personality in ALL things (drugs, relationships, etc) who makes life ten times more chaotic than what it needs to be.
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 4:24 pm ¶
dnA wrote:
Winehouse is Jewish? She’s not getting buried in a Jewish Cemetary with all those tats. She better start shopping around…
Wait so having a beehive is a hallmark of addiction?
Cosign on everything else that was said. But I think race is a part of any conversation about Amy Winehouse, given her music.
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 4:35 pm ¶
Kaonashi wrote:
Well DUH, the beehive is where the drugs are hidden! ^^
This is a woman who has actually been caught on tape sneezing, then puling a KLEENEX out of her ‘hive and wiping her nose with it. Caine only knows what other wonders one can find in there!
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 6:46 pm ¶
Ana wrote:
Just FYI: it’s a complete urban legend that inked Jews are forbidden burial in Jewish cemeteries. Thought I’d clear up that persistent misconception.
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 8:05 pm ¶
Brakeline wrote:
Goodness, I just read the Salon piece, and you’d think he was writing about Sly Stone, 70s era Steven Tyler, maybe Steven Nicks, but very few of the women Ms. Winehouse has cited as her stronger deeper influences.
I see too much mixing of Motown myth, Hi legend, Malaco folktale, and fusion of “black music” industry gossip in between. I also think there is an expectation of what is considered “proper” for a woman to do versus a man. But then I keep thinking, what if it wasn’t the combination of alcohol, drugs, violence, and sex and her “whiteness” Are there black artists celebrated for such a combustible mix or vilified to the same degree and for the same reasons? Is it because she’s crossing the line that makes her so dangerous?
The Salon piece just plays unfair and nasty and clueless on too many scores to count with context and accuracy with what cultural references and markers it attempts to name check and compare, I think it captures two things going on here.
There’s the “does she channel or transcend her influences” guessing game any artist faces, which leads to the “how closely does she emulate or succumb to the lifestyle of her influences” hurdle. Not everyone survives either one unfortunately.
So I guess I wonder which “black” artist(s) exactly she is or isn’t supposed to be compared to favorably or unfavorably at any given time.
I’m especially miffed the Salon piece misrepresented (out of complete cluelessness) the sweet personal victory of Sharon Jones, captured much better in the East Bay Express recently
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/music/don_t_call_it_neo_soul/Content?oid=596688
We’re going to hear her in “The Great Debaters” soon, and if it took Amy Winehouse’s admiration of her and other influence growing up, then so be it. Amy Winehouse is a mess, but she’s a mess who knows her stuff to at least choose great influences who know how to pay their dues.
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 8:08 pm ¶
Rebecca M wrote:
dNA– matter of fact, Jews with tattoos can be buried in Jewish cemetaries. It’s an urban legend, and a widespread one at that. I suspect is was started by parents not wanting their kids to get tattooed.
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 8:31 pm ¶
invisible_hand wrote:
yeah winehouse is def jewish…
and reading the comments on lauren’s piece, as well as the salon piece and lauren’s piece itself, i am a bit disturbed by the way her jewishness is thrown back at her.
i actually saw the words “act overly jewish” on lauren’s comment page, and it made me hopping mad. thankfully, someone commented right away.
but anyway, yeah i think it’s shameful that having a drub problem is equated with “acting like a black stereotype.” in my mind, she’s playing the rock star role, and it’s a shame too.
i mean, come on! hair metal! they were all white! they all did blow off of strippers’ asses. wall street, same deal. old arguments… don’t need to hash em over.
Posted 18 Dec 2007 at 8:46 pm ¶
dnA wrote:
Dude my parents have been telling me that since I was 16!
Posted 19 Dec 2007 at 12:55 am ¶
invisible_hand wrote:
rebecca m is totally right.
it’s an outrageous extension of the Biblical prohibition to get tattooed.
check it out here: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/daily_life/TheBody/Adorning_the_Body/Tattoo.htm
Posted 19 Dec 2007 at 1:30 pm ¶
Mike wrote:
dnA
Sounds like your parents did not want you to get any ink. Did you bite it, LOL.
I was under the impression that the beehive was a popular white hairstyle at first.
I am still amazed how bad behaviors that are universal are atributed to blacks.
Or better yet how some one who sings “black” songs becomes the example of all that is right and wrong of black culture.
Posted 19 Dec 2007 at 4:32 pm ¶
meownette wrote:
I guess I’m a little confused about how being a singer is somehow a rejection of her Jewish heritage. I can’t tell if Lauren is being tongue-in-cheek in the first sentence of the second paragraph, because I really don’t see the connection otherwise.
Posted 19 Dec 2007 at 5:13 pm ¶
Kaonashi wrote:
Are there black artists celebrated for such a combustible mix or vilified to the same degree and for the same reasons?
Hendrix. Miles Davis, and Marvin Gaye are ones I can think of right off the top of my head, and I’m sure there’s more. Both Hendrix and Davis’s drug usage has been glamourized as just being “part of the times” while Gaye has been romanticized as this “amazingly talented, tortured (not to mention good-looking) man, so he gets a pass as well. The only women I can think of who gets celebrated for that druggie glam vibe is Billie Holliday.
Is it because she’s crossing the line that makes her so dangerous?
No, it’s because she’s a woman.
Posted 20 Dec 2007 at 4:15 pm ¶
abw wrote:
Therein lies the rub. Gaye, Davis and Hendrix were all men. Winehouse use is slightly glamourized but if the singer was a black female;Her having a career while publicly confessing to using drugs would probably face more roadblocks without any special mystique.
Posted 01 Apr 2008 at 5:07 am ¶