Behind the Mask of the Strong Black Woman
by Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant
2020-07-16 01:39:36
Behind the Mask of the Strong Black Woman
by Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant
2020-07-16 01:39:36
The defining quality of Black womanhood is strength, states Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant in Behind the Mask of the Strong Black Woman. But, she argues, the idea of strength undermines its real function: to defend and maintain a stratified social order ...
Read more
The defining quality of Black womanhood is strength, states Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant in Behind the Mask of the Strong Black Woman. But, she argues, the idea of strength undermines its real function: to defend and maintain a stratified social order by obscuring Black womenâs experiences of suffering, acts of desperation, and anger. This provocative book lays bare the common perception that strength is an exemplary or defining quality of âauthenticâ Black womanhood. The author, a noted sociologist, interviews 58 Black women about being strong and proud, to illustrate their âperformanceâ of invulnerability. Beauboeuf-Lafontant explains how such behavior leads to serious symptoms for these women, many of whom suffer from eating disorders and depression. Drawing on Black feminist scholarship, cultural studies, and womenâs history, Behind the Mask of the Strong Black Woman traces the historical and social influences of normative Black femininity, looking at how notions of self-image and strength create a distraction from broader forces of discrimination and power.
Less
.jpg){kind=logo}
