Evelynn M. Hammonds
Encyclopedia
Evelynn M. Hammonds is an American academic, Paige M. Gutenborg Professor of History of Science and African American Studies at Harvard University
and recently appointed Dean of Harvard College
. She is also a Black Feminist author, whose writing intersects the concepts of race with the academic fields of science and medicine. She has written articles that examine gender and the epidemic of HIV/AIDS (Evelynn M. Hammonds 1). This intersection is apparent in her article “Toward a Genealogy of Black Female Sexuality: The Problematic of Silence.”
. She also earned a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology
. She then went on to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), earning a masters degree in physics in 1980. She went to work as a software engineer for five years before returning to academia life. In 1993 Hammonds earned a doctorate degree in the history of science from Harvard University. At that time, MIT also invited Hammonds to teach. While she was there, she was a founding director of MIT’s center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and medicine. In 2002 she returned to Harvard and joined as a professor in the departments the History of Science and of African and African American Studies. She received the title of Dean at Harvard College and was only the 4th black woman to receive tenure within the Arts and Sciences College at Harvard University (History Makers 1). Hammonds has led a committee (to which she was appointed by former Harvard President Lawrence Summers
) focusing on improving searches for female faculty at Harvard to ensure women get fair consideration for promotion], and to explore ways to support them in meeting family demands. Harvard's announcement of her appointment referred to "targeted searches as a means of enhancing gender diversity on the faculty."
In 1997, Hammond's article “Toward a Genealogy of Black Female Sexuality: The Problematic of Silence” was published in Feminist Theory and the Body: A Reader. In this article Hammond focuses on the intersection of black female sexuality and AIDS. She argues that black female sexuality (from the 19th century to present) was formed in exact opposition to that of the white woman’s, and that historically many black feminists have failed to develop a concept of black female sexuality. Hammonds then discusses the limitations of black women’s sexuality and how that affects black women with AIDS.
Hammonds defines black woman’s sexuality as having so much sexual potential that it was none at all. By this she means that black women are capable of more than their socially acceptable definition of their own sexuality, but yet they are unable to express it. This is a consequence of black women being unable to define sexuality in their own terms. Hammonds, by using iconography, illustrates that the concept of black female sexuality has always been defined socially as the opposite of a white female sexuality. She dates the earliest records of these definitions in the early 19th century with Sarah Bartmann as the “Hottentot’s Venus”. This was a black woman who was put on display and seen as vulgar because she had larger anatomical body parts than those of her white counterparts. In more recent years, black woman exemplify the notion of an uncontrolled sexuality. This was largely in part due to the comparison of black women to Victorian white women. These white women were viewed to have sexuality only for the pleasure of her man. Victorian woman were not supposed to want sex for pleasure and were only to participated in sexual acts to make her husband happy. The belief of the time was since these women did not have penis they could not receive sexual gratification. Black women were seen as hypersexual. White society thought that black female sexuality undermined the morals and values of their society.
During the late 19th early 20th century black women reformers were set on developing a new definition of black female sexuality. This new definition was an image of a super moral black female to align itself with the super moral Victorian women. These black women were set on deconstruction the hypersexual notion of the black female sexuality. Hammonds argues that by silencing the voice of the black female, the reformers oppressed black women without deconstructing the notion of the hyper sexual connotation.
Hammonds states that in order for black women to be free from oppression, black women must reclaim their sexuality. The definition of black female sexuality was always defined by an outside group looking in, first by white males, then white females. Black females must define their own sexuality in order to overcome oppression. She states that this repeated silence has become a notion of “invisibility” to describe black females’ lives. Even women with prestige in academia are still under invisibility when they are told was issues they can and cannot lecture about. Hammonds continues to extend the “invisibility” of black women to the field of medicine and science. Black women have been oppressed for so many years that negative stereotypes have been formed about black women and now to black women with AIDS. These stereotypes have created a void between black women with AIDS and society. The public continues to hold black women up to the stereotype of hypersexual and black women with AIDS are forced to deal with this oppression.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and recently appointed Dean of Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. She is also a Black Feminist author, whose writing intersects the concepts of race with the academic fields of science and medicine. She has written articles that examine gender and the epidemic of HIV/AIDS (Evelynn M. Hammonds 1). This intersection is apparent in her article “Toward a Genealogy of Black Female Sexuality: The Problematic of Silence.”
Biography
Hammonds was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1953. Her mother was a school teacher and her father was a postal worker. She grew up in the time right after segregation and was forced to deal with many racial issues growing up. Hammonds attended public school in the south and in 1976 earned her first two degrees. She earned a bachelors degree in physics (1976) from Spelman CollegeSpelman College
Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
. She also earned a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
. She then went on to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT), earning a masters degree in physics in 1980. She went to work as a software engineer for five years before returning to academia life. In 1993 Hammonds earned a doctorate degree in the history of science from Harvard University. At that time, MIT also invited Hammonds to teach. While she was there, she was a founding director of MIT’s center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and medicine. In 2002 she returned to Harvard and joined as a professor in the departments the History of Science and of African and African American Studies. She received the title of Dean at Harvard College and was only the 4th black woman to receive tenure within the Arts and Sciences College at Harvard University (History Makers 1). Hammonds has led a committee (to which she was appointed by former Harvard President Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Henry Summers is an American economist. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010.Summers is the...
) focusing on improving searches for female faculty at Harvard to ensure women get fair consideration for promotion], and to explore ways to support them in meeting family demands. Harvard's announcement of her appointment referred to "targeted searches as a means of enhancing gender diversity on the faculty."
Writing
Hammonds research focuses on the intersection of science and medicine and human race. Many of her works analyze gender and race in the perspective of science and medicine. She is concerned with how science examines human variation through race. Hammonds mainly studies the time period of the 17th century to present while focusing on history of diseases and African American feminism. Within these broad fields of research she is concerned with the relationship between African American women and AIDS.In 1997, Hammond's article “Toward a Genealogy of Black Female Sexuality: The Problematic of Silence” was published in Feminist Theory and the Body: A Reader. In this article Hammond focuses on the intersection of black female sexuality and AIDS. She argues that black female sexuality (from the 19th century to present) was formed in exact opposition to that of the white woman’s, and that historically many black feminists have failed to develop a concept of black female sexuality. Hammonds then discusses the limitations of black women’s sexuality and how that affects black women with AIDS.
Hammonds defines black woman’s sexuality as having so much sexual potential that it was none at all. By this she means that black women are capable of more than their socially acceptable definition of their own sexuality, but yet they are unable to express it. This is a consequence of black women being unable to define sexuality in their own terms. Hammonds, by using iconography, illustrates that the concept of black female sexuality has always been defined socially as the opposite of a white female sexuality. She dates the earliest records of these definitions in the early 19th century with Sarah Bartmann as the “Hottentot’s Venus”. This was a black woman who was put on display and seen as vulgar because she had larger anatomical body parts than those of her white counterparts. In more recent years, black woman exemplify the notion of an uncontrolled sexuality. This was largely in part due to the comparison of black women to Victorian white women. These white women were viewed to have sexuality only for the pleasure of her man. Victorian woman were not supposed to want sex for pleasure and were only to participated in sexual acts to make her husband happy. The belief of the time was since these women did not have penis they could not receive sexual gratification. Black women were seen as hypersexual. White society thought that black female sexuality undermined the morals and values of their society.
During the late 19th early 20th century black women reformers were set on developing a new definition of black female sexuality. This new definition was an image of a super moral black female to align itself with the super moral Victorian women. These black women were set on deconstruction the hypersexual notion of the black female sexuality. Hammonds argues that by silencing the voice of the black female, the reformers oppressed black women without deconstructing the notion of the hyper sexual connotation.
Hammonds states that in order for black women to be free from oppression, black women must reclaim their sexuality. The definition of black female sexuality was always defined by an outside group looking in, first by white males, then white females. Black females must define their own sexuality in order to overcome oppression. She states that this repeated silence has become a notion of “invisibility” to describe black females’ lives. Even women with prestige in academia are still under invisibility when they are told was issues they can and cannot lecture about. Hammonds continues to extend the “invisibility” of black women to the field of medicine and science. Black women have been oppressed for so many years that negative stereotypes have been formed about black women and now to black women with AIDS. These stereotypes have created a void between black women with AIDS and society. The public continues to hold black women up to the stereotype of hypersexual and black women with AIDS are forced to deal with this oppression.