Use of an Intersectional Framework to Understand Black Women’s Racial and Gender Identities

Eighty-nine black women’s racial and gender identities were examined within an intersectional framework that emphasized their unique integration of these identities. Quantitative analyses indicated that the intersected black-woman identity was more important than the individual identities of woman and black person. Further, interference in the black identity (but not interference in the woman identity) was related to lower self-esteem and depression. Qualitative analyses of rewards and difficulties experienced as black women identified four themes: stereotyping and discrimination, personal esteem, isolation from others, and opportunities and resources. Black women who mentioned any reward reported higher self-esteem than those who did not. The value of an intersectional framework for thinking about black women’s identities is discussed.

[1]  J. Cameron,et al.  The Intersection of Race and Gender: Examining the Politics of Identity in Women's Studies , 1996 .

[2]  Abigail J. Stewart,et al.  The Climate for Women in Academic Science: The Good, the Bad, and the Changeable , 2006 .

[3]  M. Maynard,et al.  Violence against Women: The Bloody Footprints , 1992 .

[4]  Yitzhak Fried,et al.  The interactive effect of role conflict and role ambiguity on job performance. , 1998 .

[5]  Allen C. Bluedorn,et al.  Men and Women of the Corporation , 1978 .

[6]  M. Fine,et al.  Off White: Readings on Race, Power, and Society , 1996 .

[7]  D. Hughes,et al.  The nature of parents' race-related communications to children: A developmental perspective. , 1999 .

[8]  A. Thomas,et al.  Toward the Development of the Stereotypic Roles for Black Women Scale , 2004 .

[9]  Robert McMurrian,et al.  Development and validation of work–family conflict and family–work conflict scales. , 1996 .

[10]  R. Barnett,et al.  Women's involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress. , 1985, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[11]  A. Stewart,et al.  Approaches to Studying Racism and Sexism in Black Women's Lives , 1983 .

[12]  Carolyn M. West.  Mammy, Sapphire, and Jezebel: Historical images of Black women and their implications for psychotherapy. , 1995 .

[13]  G. Mead,et al.  The Genesis of the Self and Social Control , 1925, The International Journal of Ethics.

[14]  K. Crenshaw,et al.  Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement , 1996 .

[15]  H. Stevenson,et al.  Development of the Teenager Experience of Racial Socialization Scale: Correlates of Race-Related Socialization Frequency from the Perspective of Black Youth , 2002 .

[16]  Jacquelyn W. White,et al.  Sexuality, society, and feminism , 2000 .

[17]  S. Sieber.  TOWARD A THEORY OF ROLE ACCUMULATION , 1974 .

[18]  J. N. Shelton,et al.  Situational Stability and Variability in African American Racial Identity , 2000 .

[19]  V. Keith,et al.  THE BLACKER THE BERRY , 2001 .

[20]  Linda M. Perkins.  The Impact of the “Cult of True Womanhood” on the Education of Black Women , 1983 .

[21]  Nicole T. Buchanan,et al.  Racialized Sexual Harassment in the Lives of African American Women , 2002 .

[22]  P. Reid,et al.  Gender and ethnicity: Perspectives on dual status , 1990 .

[23]  E. Kelloway,et al.  Predictors and outcomes of elder-care-based interrole conflict. , 1994, Psychology and aging.

[24]  C. Stangor,et al.  Prejudice : the target's perspective , 1999 .

[25]  J. Chrisler,et al.  Lectures on the Psychology of Women , 1999 .

[26]  Mari J. Matsuda.  Words That Wound: Critical Race Theory, Assaultive Speech, And The First Amendment , 1993 .

[27]  K. Allison.  Stress and Oppressed Social Category Membership , 1998 .

[28]  Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda,et al.  Child psychology : a handbook of contemporary issues , 2005 .

[29]  K. Tate.  Doubly Bound: The Impact of Gender and Race on the Politics of Black Women , 1998 .

[30]  R. A. Cooke,et al.  Stress and strain from family roles and work-role expectations. , 1984, The Journal of applied psychology.

[31]  Mark E. Hill,et al.  Skin color and the perception of attractiveness among African Americans: Does gender make a difference? , 2002 .

[32]  P. Reid,et al.  Sexual roles of girls and women: An ethnocultural lifespan perspective. , 2000 .

[33]  E. Kossek,et al.  Work–family conflict, policies, and the job–life satisfaction relationship: A review and directions for organizational behavior–human resources research. , 1998 .

[34]  Aída Hurtado.  Relating to Privilege: Seduction and Rejection in the Subordination of White Women and Women of Color , 1989, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

[35]  C. Cooley.  Human nature and the social order , 1902 .

[36]  K. Deaux,et al.  Negotiating social identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat. , 1994 .

[37]  D. Reitzes,et al.  Multiple Roles and Identities: Factors Influencing Self-Esteem among Middle-Aged Working Men and Women* , 1994 .

[38]  P. Pietromonaco,et al.  Psychological Consequences of Multiple Social Roles , 1986 .

[39]  P. L. Taylor,et al.  Perceived Discrimination in the Context of Multiple Group Memberships , 2002, Psychological science.

[40]  Deborah K. King.  Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology , 1988, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

[41]  Belle Rose Ragins,et al.  Gender gap in the executive suite: CEOs and female executives report on breaking the glass ceiling , 1998 .

[42]  Isis H. Settles,et al.  When Multiple Identities Interfere: The Role of Identity Centrality , 2004, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[43]  P. Thoits,et al.  On merging identity theory and stress research , 1991 .

[44]  L. Radloff.  The CES-D Scale , 1977 .

[45]  K. Walker,et al.  Effects of Participant Ethnicity, Target Physiognomy, and Target Gender on College Students’ Judgments of Cheating , 2002 .

[46]  Tabbye M. Chavous,et al.  Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity: A Preliminary Investigation of Reliability and Construct Validity , 1997 .

[47]  Judith M. Gerson.  Women returning to school: The consequences of multiple roles , 1985 .

[48]  P. K. Adelmann,et al.  Multiple roles and psychological well-being in a national sample of older adults. , 1994, Journal of gerontology.

[49]  R. Wylie.  Measures of Self-Concept , 1989 .

[50]  M. Rosenberg.  Conceiving the self , 1979 .

[51]  Laina Y. Bay-Cheng,et al.  Linking Femininity, Weight Concern, and Mental Health Among Latina, Black, and White Women , 2002 .

[52]  D. Wilkinson,et al.  Race, class, & gender : common bonds, different voices , 1996 .

[53]  Alfiee M. Breland.  A model for differential perceptions of competence based on skin tone among African Americans , 1998 .

[54]  P. Thoits.  Identity structures and psychological well-being: Gender and marital status comparisons. , 1992 .

[55]  Michael R. Frone,et al.  Relation of work–family conflict to health outcomes: A four-year longitudinal study of employed parents , 1997 .

[56]  Isis H. Settles,et al.  One role or two?: The function of psychological separation in role conflict. , 2002 .

[57]  J. Greenhaus,et al.  A model of work, family, and interrole conflict: A construct validation study , 1983 .

[58]  K. Trzesniewski,et al.  Measuring Global Self-Esteem: Construct Validation of a Single-Item Measure and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale , 2001 .

[59]  S. Hill.  Teaching and Doing Gender in African American Families , 2002 .

[60]  K. Deaux.  Reconstructing Social Identity , 1993 .