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Tiffany Pollard, a.k.a. New York from VH1 has been a polarizing figure ever since she bursted onto Flava of Love. She was wild, crazy, and coniving. People loved her for being a train wreck, a ghetto-mess, and great, mind-less, entertainment. But others hated her for giving black women a bad name. Black women were already suffering from being stereotyped in reality TV. It seemed like almost every show had their token black, b*tch. Then New York arrived and happily took that role, even calling herself the HBIC. Her success on VH1 is a by product of being this extreme caricature, even so much, her recent show made her into a cartoon. New York has starred in six reality series and looks to be doing a seventh with I Love New York 3. A paper was found online about Tiffany "New York" Pollard and how she portrays the new millinium steroetype of Jezebel and Sapphire. It talks about the similarities between the two including their extreme sexual appetite and her domineering, controlling nature. You can read it here. Here's an excerpt.
As we have previously iterated, the lead female characters on Vh1’s I Love New York represent contemporary examples of two of the most pervasive mediated caricatures of African American women during the 20th century—the Jezebel and Sapphire. Tiffany Pollard as the new millennium Jezebel is typecast in the same one dimensional way as the blaxploitation Jezebel of years past, and as such, she evokes and enacts many of the same troubling stereotypes. “New York’s” lustful appearance, promiscuous demeanor and manipulative behavior make her the perfect Jezebel for the 21st century. And, much like the caricature she embodies, most things about “New York” are a profound exaggeration, from her lengthy highlighted hair weave and thick protracted false eyelashes to the four inch stiletto shoes she dons, she is as complex as a Dick and Jane preschool text.
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