Ondines Struggle to Ending Negative Stereotypes Regarding Elderly African American Women in Toni Morrisons Tar Baby

From a literary gerontology approach, based specifically on age and gender studies proposed by Margaret Gullette, this paper discusses the complex issue of negative stereotypes and related ageist myths associated with the elderly African American women. Through Ondine Childs experience in Tar Baby, this paper seeks to read and understand Toni Morrisons novelistic reflection of the issue. While it maintains that Morrison provides the elderly African American female character with a strong voice to explore broad social concerns, including the popular and pervasive Mammy figure, it posits, among others, the recollection of African American cultural heritage as a powerful tool for reversing age, race and gender stereotypes produced by the dominant white culture and spread throughout America.