Thread by @chenterie2

Retire from being a STRONGBLACKWOMAN. Here is the hard truth. The STRONGBLACKWOMAN is a race-gender schema. Periodt. #njcurj #strongblackwoman

We glorify & praise SBW. It is propelled forward by pop culture, celebrities, politics, & forms of authority & credibility. The world tells the SBW how she should live, act, reproduce, accept and settle for. Black women accept this race-gender schema.

But the real meaning behind the STRONGBLACKWOMAN is problematic. #strongblackwoman

STRONGBLACKWOMAN hurts Black women. IT drains the black woman. IT takes from the black woman. IT can kill the black woman. How? IT contributes to their stress, IT affects their coping skills and IT attacks their mental health.

The SBW schema is dressed up to make the black woman believe that she has control. In reality, it SILENCES her.

Let’s break it down. The SBW schema can be traced back to slavery and the Jim Crow era. My, my – what a surprise! Black women internalized “strength” to prepare themselves and enslaved young girls for the inhumane treatment they were going to receive.

The White men glorified the SBW’s ability to tolerate the violence, as being a STRONGBLACKWOMAN.

Moving onto a specific example, which you can do further research on, is that of the distinct relation between a Southern Belle and the Jezebel (StrongBLACKWOMAN).

According to Wikipedia, a Southern Belle is a “proper young woman of the American South’s upper socioeconomic class”, aka a white woman in the Antebellum age.

White slave owners carried out their sexual adventures outside of what was not “proper” on their black slave women. SBW were seen as strong and having the temperament and tolerance to take what the White men did to them. 1/2

That is why they were the subjects of sexual abuse, and not the Southern Belles. 2/2

The SBW IS THE hypersexualized Jezebel. The SBW’s strength translates to tolerance, and acceptance.

Post enslavement, systemic oppression orchestrated by the White men, continued to limit resources for SBW. The skyrocketing incarceration rates in turn led to skyrocketing single household families.

SBWs are now the head of household, financial provider, and nurturer. During slavery, the SBW was the Mammy who was the nurturer that took care of the white folks children too. The SBW’s strength translates to tolerance and acceptance.

Now the burdens that come with being a single parent and carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders is internalized so that you can show the image of a SBW. Unhealthy coping mechanisms are developed and depression in Black women grows.

According to “Psychology of Women Quarterly”, “Loneliness, defined as feeling isolated and disconnected from is positively associated with depressive and anxious symptoms among African American women… 1/2

In addition, loneliness was found to be a unique predictor of suicidal behavior for African Americans”. 2/2

Black women are NOT seeking help because they are STRONGBLACKWOMEN. Black women are being silenced by this race gender schema.

What does this have to do with reproductive justice? EVERYTHING! StrongBlackWomen will accept and tolerate the treatment that they receive from the medical field due to their history with authoritative figures.

We see the STRONGBLACKWOMAN race gender schema through C-sections, bias in the medical field, infant mortality rates, contraception, and the history of sterilization.

The SBW dynamic helps to maintain the structural racism that exists and we NEED to dismantle this idea. We need to educate about the real meaning behind the STRONGBLACKWOMAN. It is NOT a badge of honor.

Get rid of the StrongBlackWoman narrative that mainstream media and pop culture perpetuate. It is a farce! We need to tap into our resources and educate the world.

So is STRONGBLACKWOMAN a term of empowerment or oppression?
#njcurj #strongblackwoman @JenniferMusial