Using intersectionality as a guiding framework, the current study examined how gendered and racialized perceptions of Black women as "strong Black women" may be shaped by colorism. This experimental study sampled 314 Black and White participants from the community. Participants were presented with a vignette that described a Black woman coping with workplace stress in one of two ways, one congruent with strong Black womanhood (emotional restriction) and one incongruent with strong Black womanhood (emotional vulnerability), alongside the image of a light skin or dark skin Black woman. Then, participants were asked to rate how "strong" they perceived the woman in the vignette to be. A factorial ANCOVA was conducted to test how perceptions of the woman in the vignette varied based on her emotional response to workplace stress and skin tone, while controlling for perceptions of likability and competence. As hypothesized, we observed that participants perceived the woman responding to workplace stress with emotional restriction as stronger than the women who responded with emotional vulnerability. However, skin tone, nor the interaction between emotional response and skin tone had a bearing on participants' perceptions. There were also no differences in perceptions based on participant race. Through its intersectional framing, this study challenges scholars and practitioners to consider how the interplay between racism, sexism, and colorism shapes how Black women are seen by others and, in turn, how they may see themselves as strong Black women. Implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc2332555 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Jean-Ceide, Cassandre Jennie |
| Contributors | Jones, Martinque K., Watkins, Clifton E., Kaminski, Patricia |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | Text |
| Rights | Public, Jean-Ceide, Cassandre Jennie, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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