Black Women

Black women have come a long way from just being the typical housewife and mother. They have excelled over the years. Now you have female entrepreneurs, astronauts, doctors, professors, etc. Back then, females were not even allowed to work. To try to degrade someone for their gender is discrimination at its best. Because of stereotypes and old myths, Black Women were viewed as lazy, angry, intimidating, unintelligent, etc. It was said that Black Women were only good for making babies and being on welfare.

Black Woman Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study, that examines gender as a social and cultural construct, the social status and contributions of women, and the relationships between power and gender. Women are held to this standard of being the one to cook, clean, cater to her spouse and care for the children but it should be more than that. When women go above their expectations, they are accused as being wrong and are sometimes told to not pursue their dreams. Women should be held on the same scale as men in society, this method could prevent gender issues.

Being a black woman, in a “white man’s” world, is a very hard thing to encounter; especially growing up in the south where racism is still clearly evident. Georgiana, Al, the small town I grew up in, a white man owns everything. The only exception is the night club that is open only Thursday thru Saturday, but even that business is on the way of being shut down just because it is a popular business owned by a black man. Growing up I have seen first-hand racism, discrimination, and stereotyping against towards the black community.

Who is the African - American women ? What value does she hold in the Black community? Is she a simple submissive puppet that has no voice? Is she simply an object used to do work and make babies? Or is she physically, mentally, and emotionally weaker than her opposite sex, which means she can never be called an equal? In society, we are faced with different forms of designations and descriptions that lead to the establishment of a person 's identity. These identities would entail gender inequality, race, ethnicity, economic background, and religion. Identities are used to oppress individuals making it nearly impossible to overcome the obstacles that are insinuated with these traits. Overcoming any of these identities is an epic feat and

Since the enslavement of blacks, black women have played an integral role in mothering America’s population, both literally and figuratively. During slavery, slave masters often impregnated slaves for two reasons: to further populate their own plantation or to prepare to sale them to make a profit. About 100 years later, though slavery had ended, a majority of black women found work by working as a maid, also known as “the help,” for wealthy white families. As part of their job, black women were often the sole caretakers of the children. In these jobs, black women in the South served as a cook, housekeeper, nursemaid, or some combination of the three. By analyzing the role of southern black women as mothers, two specific things are revealed: black southern mothers are forced to live a twofold-complicated life and they serve as the cornerstone for both white and black southern households. In recognizing these two things, there is a better understanding of the vital role that black women play in the American South.

Imagine not being in total control of your own life, having someone else tell you what you can and cannot do. Being a prisoner and constantly being policed everyday and every second in a world that does not want to set you free and allow you to advance into your full potential. Black women have to live in world that does not see them or treat them as equals. They have to work ten times harder than anyone else, and then they only break the surface. It

Our history has displayed a lot of different injustices that have occurred to various different types of people, races, ethnicities, and or genders. Any and all injustices towards a certain group can and always seems to have an everlasting effect. One huge injustice that occurred in our history that until this day has had everlasting effects is the enslavement of blacks. White men were considered dominant and superior while white women and both black men and women were powerless and controlled. Compared to white women and black men, black women were found deeply at the bottom of the hierarchy. Black women not only had no rights, they were also constantly dehumanized and degraded. In order to maintain in power white men manipulated laws by dehumanizing a black women’s individuality by means of controlling their sexuality and their reproduction without any punishment. Today we see a repetition of this injustice with human trafficking, which is considered today’s modern day slavery. In order for men to remain in power, all men of different races and ethnicities have come together to manipulate the legal system by brutalizing all women’s individualism by means of monitoring their sexuality and their reproduction without any punishment, through the act of human sex trafficking. We see our history repeating it self by seeing men using women’s bodies again as a way to be powerful. All different kinds of men are taking full advantage of their masculinity to control vulnerable,

The unique issues that black women have to deal with are far too often overshadowed by the issues that white women deal with, leaving those of us with less institutional power to wait and hope for a trickle-down equity that history has shown us will never come.

Addressing the issue of identity when it comes to black women and examining the intersectionality of race and gender in vary spaces of socio-economic is essential. Systematic racism and sexism are an embodied in the experience of being Black and female. It requires resistance to established norms and cultures, and it requires finding ways to create change (Nair, 2014). Being a Black woman living in a white supremacist patriarchal society, the claim that the internal, psychological, emotional, and personal experiences of black women are political and societal is made valid, because of the fight with derogatory assumptions about their character and identity in turn leading doubts of worth. The study, "Lifting As We Climb: Women of Color, Wealth, and America's Future," found that while the median net worth of single white women ages 36-49 is $42,600 which is sixty-one percent of the median wealth for same-aged, single white men, while single women of color in the same age group have a median wealth of just $5. Women of color are also drastically worse off in a broader age bracket, with almost half of women of color between the ages 18-64 reporting zero or negative wealth (Kieser). This study will operationalize black feminism as the lens to investigate. The black feminist framework

Ever since slavery started when the first African- Americans were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of crops such as tobacco; the controversy of skin color in the black community began (Slavery in America). It is a legacy of slavery and plantation society that placed white slave-owners at the top of the social ladder, followed by those who were mixed race/lighter skinned-- who were given work in the house, with the added job title of being the master’s mistress, and lastly the darker skinned black men and women, who were also raped and treated like they were animals – at the bottom of the ladder doing the backbreaking labor in the fields. While, the physical chains of slavery may

The reasons Black women suffer excessively from mistreatment are multifaceted. Racism and sexism are two of the prevalent problems that Black women in America encounter. But because many Black women and men believe racism is a bigger issue than sexism, Black women have a habit of feeling obligated to put race matters ahead of sex-based matters. Even when black women do speak up or pursue support, they habitually experience criticism from people of their communities who believe we are airing out dirty laundry and making ourselves look bad in front of White people.

To conclude, Black feminist are constantly striving to overcome sexism, class oppression, and racism. They have also argued that black women are positioned within structures of power in fundamentally different ways than white women (Collins). Black feminist organizations had to overcome three different challenges that no other feminist organization had to face. The first challenge these women faced was to prove to other black women that feminism was not only for white women (Burns). They also had to demand that white women share power with them and affirm diversity, and fight the misogynist tendencies of Black organizations (Burns). Black feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably bound together (Collins). All three aspects are related to one another through intersectionality, which is the study of intersections between different disqualified groups or groups of minorities; specifically, the study of the

The Black Feminist Movement is said to have grown out of the Black Liberation Movement and the Women’s Movement that took place in the United States of America. In both movements Black women were being openly discriminated against and found it hard to voice their opinions and gather solidarity. Author, Cherise Charleswell writes in her article, Herstory: Origins and Continued Relevancy of Black Feminist Thought in the United States, that ‘“Black” was equated with black men and “woman” was equated with white women; and the end result of this was that black women were an invisible group whose existence and needs were (and many would rightfully argue continues) to be ignored.’ This became the reason for Black Feminism to be

I don't think I quite remember when I started to identify as a black feminist. There was never that moment of clarity because to me black women are equal to everyone, we deserve to be recognized and celebrated just like everyone else. This movement was founded on the historical disadvantage of women. Black feminism to be specific is the desire for equal access to opportunities for females, not systemic racism, sexism, mass incarceration etc. People get so hung up on the word but fail to realize that feminism fights for gender equality in a culture that has historically devalued women. Feminism isn't about making women stronger, we're already strong. It's about society acknowledging that strength and treating us as equals. What everyone fails

Like white women, black women have rights such as voting and having kids, but there seems to be an unfair treatment of black women that causes discrimination since the beginning of time. Sheryl Estrada confirms that to date black women demonstrate excellent results in education. “The share of Black women with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased by 23.9 percent between 2004 and 2014. Black women are the group of women with the second-largest improvement in attainment of higher education during the decade.” However, it seems black women are still concentrated in low paying jobs, and thus they are underpaid. Additionally, black women are more vulnerable to violence and a higher likelihood of