Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:11:35.440Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Stereotypes of Black Women: Clinical Implications

from Part I - Black Women in Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2023

Donna Baptiste  and
Adia Gooden
Donna Baptiste
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Illinois
Adia Gooden
Affiliation:
Unconditionally Worthy, Co.
Get access

Summary

In this chapter, we review historical and contemporary stereotypes of Black women in America driven by histories of racism, sexism, and classism. We discuss how these stereotypes impact the mental health of Black women as they navigate these stereotypes, which can cause Black women to feel constrained. We provide recommendations to clinicians for supporting Black women in challenging stereotypes and constructing their own authentic identities. This chapter also discusses ways that clinicians might unconsciously hold common stereotypes about Black women and how unexamined stereotypes can affect the therapeutic alliance. We guide readers to examine their biases toward Black women so that they do not unintentionally affect treatment negatively.

Keywords

stereotypesBlack womendiscriminationcopingidentity
Type
Chapter
Information
Promoting Black Women's Mental Health
What Practitioners Should Know and Do
 , pp. 88 - 105
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Books

Angelou, M. (1969). I know why the caged bird sings. Random House.Google Scholar
Harris-Perry, M. V. (2011). Sister citizen: Shame, stereotypes, and Black women in America. Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hooks, B. (2001). Salvation: Black people and love. HarperCollins Publishers.Google Scholar
Morris, M. W. (2016). Pushout: The criminalization of black girls in schools. The New Press.Google Scholar
Morrison, T. (1970). The bluest eye. Holt.Google Scholar
Walker, A. (1982). The color purple. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar

References

Abdou, C. M., & Fingerhut, A. W. (2014). Stereotype threat among Black and White women in health care settings. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(3), 316–323. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036946Google Scholar
Adeyinka-Skold, S. (2020). Barriers in women’s romantic partner search in the digital age. In Kalish, R. (Ed.), Young adult sexuality in the digital age (pp. 113–137). IGI Global. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-3187-7.ch007Google Scholar
Ashley, W. (2014) The angry Black woman: The impact of pejorative stereotypes on psychotherapy with Black women, Social Work in Public Health, 29(1), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2011.619449Google Scholar
Beasley, M. A., & Fischer, M. J. (2012). Why they leave: The impact of stereotype threat on the attrition of women and minorities from science, math and engineering majors. Social Psychology of Education, 15(4), 427–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218–012-9185-3Google Scholar
Blascovich, J., Spencer, S. J., Quinn, D., & Steele, C. (2001). African Americans and high blood pressure: The role of stereotype threat. Psychological Science, 12(3), 225–229. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00340Google Scholar
Brown, D. L., & Segrist, D. (2016). African American career aspirations: Examining the relative influence of internalized racism. Journal of Career Development, 43(2), 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845315586256Google Scholar
Brown, T. N., Sellers, S. L., & Gomez, J. P. (2002). The relationship between internalization and self-esteem among Black adults. Sociological Focus, 35(1), 55–71.Google Scholar
Carr, E. R., Szymanski, D. M., Taha, F., West, L. M., & Kaslow, N. J. (2014). Understanding the link between multiple oppressions and depression among African American women: The role of internalization. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 38(2), 233–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684313499900Google Scholar
Daniels, L. (Director). (2009). Precious [Film]. Lee Daniels Entertainment.Google Scholar
Decaille, N., & Hatzipanagos, R. (2019, January 11). What “Surviving R. Kelly” tells us about race and sexual abuse. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/11/what-surviving-r-kelly-tells-us-about-race-sexual-abuse/Google Scholar
Essed, P. (1991). Understanding everyday racism: An interdisciplinary theory. Sage.Google Scholar
Greene, B. (2000). African American lesbian and bisexual women. Journal of Social Issues, 56(2), 239–249. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00163Google Scholar
Harris-Perry, M. V. (2011). Sister citizen: Shame, stereotypes, and Black women in America. Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Heilman, M. E. (2012). Gender stereotypes and workplace bias. Research in Organizational Behavior, 32, 113–135.Google Scholar
Hill, J. (2019, January 11). R. Kelly and the cost of Black protectionism. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/01/r-kelly-and-cost-black-protectionism/580150/Google Scholar
Hill, M. J. (2013). Is the Black community more homophobic?: Reflections on the intersectionality of race, class, gender, culture and religiosity of the perception of homophobia in the Black community. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 17(2), 208–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2013.768089Google Scholar
Jerald, M. C., Cole, E. R., Ward, L. M., & Avery, L. R. (2017). Controlling images: How awareness of group stereotypes affects Black women’s well-being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(5), 487–499. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000233Google Scholar
Jerald, M. C., Ward, L. M., Moss, L., Thomas, K., & Fletcher, K. D. (2017). Subordinates, sex objects, or Sapphires? Investigating contributions of media use to Black students’ femininity ideologies and stereotypes about Black women. Journal of Black Psychology, 43(6), 608–635. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798416665967Google Scholar
Jones, C., & Shorter-Gooden, K. (2003). Shifting: The double lives of Black women in America. HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Kanahara, S. (2006). A review of the definitions of stereotype and a proposal for a progressional model. Individual Differences Research, 4(5), 306–321.Google Scholar
Klesse, C. (2005). Bisexual women, non-monogamy and differentialist anti-promiscuity discourses. Sexualities, 8(4), 445–464. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1363460705056620Google Scholar
Molina, K. M., & James, D. (2016). Discrimination, internalized racism, and depression: A comparative study of African American and Afro-Caribbean adults in the U.S. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 19(4), 439–461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430216641304Google Scholar
Monahan, J. L., Shtrulis, I., & Givens, S. B. (2005). Priming welfare queens and other stereotypes: The transference of media images into interpersonal contexts. Communication Research Reports, 22(3), 199–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036810500207014Google Scholar
Morris, M. (2016). Pushout: The criminalization of Black girls in schools. The New Press.Google Scholar
Moynihan, D. P. (1965). The Negro family: The case for national action (No. 31-33). U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Nadasen, P. (2007). From widow to “welfare queen”: Welfare and the politics of race. Black Women, Gender & Families, 1(2), 52–77.Google Scholar
Nelson, C. A. (2006). Of eggshells and thin-skulls: A consideration of racism-related mental illness impacting Black women. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 29(2), 112–136.Google Scholar
Obama, M. (2018). Becoming. Crown Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Rudder, C. (2014, September 10). Race and attraction, 2009–2014. OKTrends. https://www.gwern.net/docs/psychology/okcupid/raceandattraction20092014.htmlGoogle Scholar
Scott, K. D. (2013) Communication strategies across cultural borders: Dispelling stereotypes, performing competence, and redefining Black womanhood. Women’s Studies in Communication, 36(3), 312–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2013.831005Google Scholar
Sesko, A. K., & Biernat, M. (2010). Prototypes of race and gender: The invisibility of Black women. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 356–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.10.016Google Scholar
Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M., & Quinn, D. M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 4–28. https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1998.1373Google Scholar
Steele, C. M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: How stereotypes affect us and what we can do. WW Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Thomas, A. J., Witherspoon, K. M., & Speight, S. L. (2008). Gendered racism, psychological distress, and coping styles of African American women. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14(4), 307–314. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.14.4.307Google Scholar
Walley-Jean, J. C. (2009). Debunking the myth of the “angry Black woman”: An exploration of anger in young African American women. Black Women, Gender & Families, 3(2), 68–86.Google Scholar
Ward, T. (2019, December 30). I asked 5 Black men why they don’t date Black women and their answers were shocking but not surprising. Praise 102.5. https://mypraiseatl.com/1692779/i-asked-5-black-men-why-they-dont-date-black-women-and-their-answers-were-shocking-but-not-surprising/Google Scholar
West, C. M. (1995). Mammy, Sapphire, and Jezebel: Historical images of Black women and their implications for psychotherapy. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 32(3), 458–466.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×