...African American Women & America’s Standards of Beauty: What Legacy Will You Pass On? For most young girls, the mother or “mother figure” is a model. Without truly knowing for herself what it is to be a woman, a girl finds, both consciously and unconsciously, some direction from her mother. Imitating her mannerisms, her characteristics, her every make and move, young girls start to identify with their mothers and subscribe to many of their beliefs. Commonly, little girls are fond of all the “rituals” that women in our society, their mothers, practice in order to be “beautiful,” and one will see everything from “mother and daughter” apparel in catalogs to the fun and simpler “dress-up” days at home, where small girls wear mommy’s make-up, clothes, and high-heel shoes. While this “mother-daughter” scenario exists in our society as a whole, the mothers in some ethnic groups sometimes have different takes on what it is to be “beautiful” and, naturally, pass these confusing and sometimes self-deprecating values and beliefs to their daughters. For many young African American girls, particularly, sometimes the imitation of their mother and all that is sacred to her results in low self-esteem. When daughters are exposed to “race-conscious mothers,” who “admonish [them] to make it a habit to pull their noses to make them thinner” or to do other things to alter their physical appearance, it is difficult for them to feel good about themselves (Seyersted 51). Julia A. Boyd, author...
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...are blue, but you ain't white! Your hair is straight 'cuz you pressed it last night!" -School Daze Dehumanization comes in its most rampant form, towards black women, as colorism. A community of African American women stand by with broken self-esteem from a history of colorism creating stigmatism on the ideal body image of an African American female in today's society. The quest for straight hair was often a torturous obsession for the slaves, but it was not just about conforming to the prevailing fashions of the day. Straight hair translated to economic opportunity and social advantage. Because many of the more than one hundred thousand free Blacks in nineteenth-century America were the mulatto offspring of the first African arrivals and their European companions, lighter...
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...INTRO Historically, African American women has exuberate extraordinary resilience, determination, work ethic, perseverance, and brainpower. Though they are historically overlooked, African American women have been, are, and will continue to use their unique perspective to effectively lead. By understanding the way African American women communicate, we can better analyze their leadership roles, whether its in faith, management, social justice movements, family, politics, or education and understand the challenges and success they face. It is evident that faced with systematic pressure, African American women have adapted a unique communication style that is implemented in their leadership. They have used their creative communication style to brake down barriers an place themselves in positions of power. To effectively analyze their leadership, we must first get a better understanding of their communication style. COMMUNICATION Conceptualizing African American women’s communication is very difficult; weaving both gender and racial communication. Thus...
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...In fact, African Americans are the racial/ethnic group that are mostly influenced by HIV/AIDs. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, by the end of 2008, an estimated 240,627 blacks with and AIDs diagnosis has died in the United States (CDC, 2012). Contrary to the evident statistics affecting the African American population as a whole, there remains a small amount of research studies, dedicated towards HIV/AIDs healthcare promotion and prevention strategies specifically designed for the African American women. However, there is a large proportion of African American women affected by HIV/AIDs. In 2009, black women accounts for 30% of the new estimations of HIV infections among blacks. The rate for HIV infections as compared to other populations is 15 times more than white women, and three times as high for Latina women (CDC, 2012). This is confirmed by social media, primarily directed at African American males. In regards to the African American women, personal beliefs, cultural practices, and social norms act as a backdrop in determining the risk behavior of acquiring HIV/AIDs. This study serves to address the need for prevention strategies among single African American women of 18-22 years of age in college from the middle socioeconomic class. The subjects for the study are voluntary and motivated to learn with no developmental barriers noted. In particular, the study will investigate the use of sexual barriers among the college women as a preventive...
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...decisions to date interracially for African American women consist of a great deal of struggle, due to the criticism brought on within their community and society. The African American community is currently experiencing a shortage of available men for African American women to choose from due to incarceration and unemployment. While the community as a whole is showing improvement in areas such as social status, education, decrease in poverty, and health, the rise can mainly be attributed to the African American woman. With the increased success of African American women at a rate higher than that of the African American man, women have started considering dating other races. The Family Dynamic of an African American Woman Interracial marriage is not entirely accepted amongst today’s society. Within the African American community, there remains a lot of resistance. The common scenario in the past has been African American male/Caucasian woman; nevertheless, we are starting to see a rise amongst, African American woman/Caucasian man. Consequently the expectations set by the African American family are set higher for an African American women to date and marry within her own race. Due to those expectations the African American woman places, a great deal of consideration when choosing whether or not she will date outside of her race. At the same time, there are many external and internal forces at work threating the African American community: low expectations set by adults...
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...Running head: TARGETING BREAST CANCER AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..3 Background…………………………………………..……………………………………………4 Preparing and Adapting to the Field..……………………………………………………………..5 Medical Anthropology Fieldwork Methodology...………………………………………………..6 Ethnographic Fieldwork Data Analysis …………………………………………………………..9 Reflective Comments/ Conclusion……………………………………………………….…….....9 References………………………………………………………………………………………..11 Targeting Breast Cancer among African American Women in Nash County: A Proposal to Identify Enabling and Reinforcing Factors of Seeking Preventative Screening Services Introduction Ethnographic field work is an excellent strategy in understanding and describing a cultural group. Field work is also an asset in performing a needs assessment in the planning phase of developing health promotion interventions. As described by Bailey (2002), “ethnographic techniques are integral tools for galvanizing and mobilizing communities for social action relative to generating a promotion and disease prevention agenda.” (Bailey, 2002) This paper serves as a proposal to conduct a medical anthropology field work project to assess reinforcing and enabling factors that promote the use of early detection and preventative breast cancer screening services among African American women. The study design consists of a qualitative ethnographic approach utilizing observation and focus group methodology....
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...INTRODUCTION A number of African American women are succeeding on the long road to career advancement and leadership positions. Nevertheless, racism and sexism still hinder their efforts for career advancement and leadership positions. Black women are facing an intense combination of discrimination in American institutions. Because we live in a white male-dominated society, it is easy to underestimate African American women’s leadership potential and abilities. African American women are looked at as inferior beings, rather than as equals capable of accomplishing any and everything a man can. The purpose of this research will be to investigate how education influences career advancement and leadership positions of African American...
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...African- American women or women in general are on a daily discriminated more against than men are. I myself have been discriminated against for not being the ideal colored or hispanic teen. This topic is important to me because many women on a daily are treated terribly and it's just completely overlooked. African American women or women in general aren't valuable to society. "For many people, especially African Americans, her tale of overcoming racism and sexism is inspirational." This just proves how many people tried to bring her down with all of their negativity and she was able to overcome it. As a women myself I don't know how men and other women themselves can have so much hatred and disrespect towards other females. "Women of color...
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...has influenced African American women’s perception of their natural hair. Advertisement reflected and influenced African American women’s negative perception of their natural hair. The stages as to why they are starting to go natural are coming back in style. The issue is examined throughout history from slavery to present day with a visual analysis of hair care advertisements. Natural hair is gaining more positive implications; this can be affected by creating more positive images with natural hair. Image is part of the problem, image can create the solution. Loving yourself in your natural state; there is nothing like it! If people believe on the opinion based beauty tips in advertisements, they often...
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...4 African-American Women Pioneer in Sports Over the years, there are a number of black women athletes that have excelled in various types of sports. Breaking the barriers of racial segregation in sports hasn’t always been smooth. You can thank the African-American athletes who help pave wat for the current generation of black athletes in professional sports. Here are some of the most popular and notable figures in women’s sports. 1. Lousie Stokes – In 1932, she competed in the 100 meters category in the US Olympic Trials and won the 3rd place. Her won led her to compete in the 4 x 100-meter relay and became the first African-American women alongside Tidye Pickett to join in the Olympics. However, the team’s coach decided to leave both of...
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...Throughout history, African American women have struggled with accepting the hair that grows from our very own scalp. But why? Why don’t African American women embrace their natural curls? I identify with this topic because at one point I did not believe my natural hair was beautiful, instead I desired for my tresses to be long and straight. This misconception that I had learned from those around me led me to getting a relaxer until I finally realized I did not need to have straight hair to be beautiful and the same for other African American women. I know that since our childhood years we have been influenced to believe that long, straight, and silky hair was beautiful and that if our hair wasn’t straight or naturally curly ,it was “nappy”. I also know that there is a notion that to have “good hair” is to have loose curls or wavy hair and “bad hair” is considered as coarse, less defined curls that are often called naps. At a young age, we are accustomed to sitting between our mother’s knees while she combs out every “nap” until it is semi straight and easier to braid or twist. As we got older, we would go to the same salon as our mothers to get our hair “hot combed” until we are old enough to get a texturizer and then a relaxer by the time we are in our mid-teens. Although, the...
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...blacks and whites had everything separated. White Americans did not let African Americans have the same equal rights or use the same public facilities as them, all living apart from each other. Three women Katherine , Mary and Dorothy went through so much to make their dreams come true. These three women made a change in their lives but also for the world. For example, the three women that were first to make their dreams come true and worked for NASA , she started from the bottom and raised all the way to the top was Katherine Globe.One of the intelligent women that made her dreams come...
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...privileged position with respect to other groups and offer individuals unearned benefits based solely on group membership; historical and systemic patterns of disinvestment in non-privileged groups are major contributors to the low social and economic position of those groups; Intersectional analysis provides an important lens for reframing and creating new knowledge because it asserts new ways of studying power and inequality and challenges conventional understandings of oppressed and excluded groups and individuals. Collins (2000) in her discussion of Black feminist thought as critical social theory states: For African American women, the knowledge gained at intersecting oppressions of race, class and gender, provides the stimulus for crafting and passing on the subjugated knowledge of Black women's critical social theory. As a historically oppressed group, U.S. Black women have produced social thought designed to oppose oppression (215)....
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...The Radical Reconstruction period from1868 to1877 provided suffrage to the African American community in tremendous ways. This Reconstruction period provided new prospects for the African American community for example, voting, labor, ownership of property, education and restoration of family life. In addition, to providing many opportunities the Radical Reconstruction made it very challenging for African American’s to take advantage of their “freedom”. In this paper my aim is to prove that African American women were relentless individuals, who controlled voting in southern African American communities through the use of their counterparts. Furthermore, African American women overcame the challenges that came along with the opportunities’ that were given during the reconstruction period, they utilized many strategies particularly violent ones. Elsa Barkley Brown article The Labor of Politics, substantially supports my argument. Brown provides numerous testimonies and examples of how African American women manipulated the vote through African American men. Throughout the article Brown uses African American women to emphasize her argument that ex-slaves developed their politics differently from their white Republicans allies. After the Civil War African American’s reconceptualizatize their role to vote in politics and one may wonder how can a group of people who have been recently emancipated do such a thing? Well Brown argues that the Black Richmonders, operated in two different...
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...“Rain or shine, cold or hot, you will find them there – Negro women, old and young – sometimes bedraggled, sometimes neatly dressed … waiting expectantly for Bronx housewives to buy their strength and energy for an hour…”- Ella Baker (Holt, 3). African American women faced the most hardships, from the beginning of slavery throughout the entire Civil Rights Movement. Protection of not only African American rights, but the rights of African American women, specifically, was nonexistent. African American men were perceived as second-class citizens, while women were treated as less than such. Women of color had to face mistreatments like abuse, rape, and a lack of employment and education. Not recognized for their hard labor both in the workforce and their acts contributed to the Civil Rights Movement, African American women still fought for the same end goal....
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