“I Had To Be Strong”

Abstract

Although strength is often embraced as a vital aspect of African American womanhood, African American women's endorsement of the strong Black woman race-gender schema has received empirical attention because of its association with harmful health outcomes. Thus, there is limited knowledge regarding how African American women simultaneously experience its liabilities (e.g., harmful health outcomes) and benefits (e.g., increased selfefficacy). Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze data from 13 African American women who discussed the competing messages experienced when internalizing the strong Black woman race-gender schema. Three tensions were identified: (a) be psychologically durable yet do not engage in behaviors that preserve psychological durability, (b) be equal yet be oppressed, and (c) be feminine yet reject traditional feminine norms. These tensions highlighted that the schema simultaneously produced advantageous outcomes with respect to self-efficacy yet unfavorable implications for self-care. Each tension is discussed with respect to its perceived advantages and disadvantages. spite of varying terminologies, the SBW has been consistently described as a "schema" that prescribes an exclusive set of cognitive and behavioral expectations for African American women, notably standing up for oneself, exhibiting selfreliance, and taking care of others (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007;Settles et al., 2008;Woods-Giscombé, 2010). In sum, the SBW race-gender schema provides African American women with a "blueprint" on how to appropriately perform their intersected race-gender identity. Yet, the SBW race-gender schema's implications for African American women's well-being have not been straightforward.Empirical findings have demonstrated that endorsement of the SBW racegender schema was associated with emotion dysregulation, increased distress, and obesity (Woods-Giscombé's (2010) recent work has brought attention to the benefits of the SBW race-gender schema, such as the preservation of one's self-image and of African American communities and families. Based on the aforementioned data it has become clear that the SBW race-gender schema simultaneously creates liabilities and benefits. Yet, it is unclear how the simultaneous experience of these liabilities and benefits create tensions for African American. This study sought to address this gap in the extant literature; we investigated whether tensions arise due to the simultaneous experience of the liabilities and benefits of the SBW race-gender schema. Addressing this gap is important for two reasons: (a) it can extend the SBW race-gender schema literature beyond binary conclusions and (b) it can inform further theorizing about the SBW race-gender schema and its association with mental health outcomes. The current study, using qualitative methods informed by a critical-realist paradigm, addressed the limitation of the existing conceptualization of the SBW race-gender schema by investigating how the liabilities and benefits inherent in the SBW race-gender schem...

A partial test of the Strong Black Woman Collective Theory

“…Strength is formally referred to as the Strong Black Woman controlling image (SBW; Collins, 2000) and is understood as a socially constructed ideal that oppresses Black women by celebrating their attempts to meet impossible expectations of perseverance, stoicism, and invulnerability. Characteristic behaviors typically associated with the strong Black woman are to maintain power and control, be self-sufficient, handle problems on her own, avoid appearing "weak," send direct and forthright messages, be opinionated, value honesty and authenticity, and present oneself as self-assured (Amankwaa, 2003;Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2005Watson & Hunter, 2015;Woods-Giscombe, 2010). Strength behaviors are set under the pretense of benefitting Black women (Collins, 1990(Collins, , 2000 but realistically operate to harm their physical, emotional, and mental well-being (e.g., Black & Woods-Giscombé, 2012;Donovan & West, 2015;Harrington, Crowther, & Shiperd, 2010;Warren-Findlow, 2006;Woods-Giscombe, 2010).…”

“…But their gender performance as strong Black women makes them "stark and deviant opposites of … appropriately feminine White women" (p. 31). The internalization of strength and its manifestation in the everyday (e.g., being self-reliant) are antithetical to femininity (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2003 and invalidated by mainstream society as "true" expressions of womanhood (Watson & Hunter, 2015). Knowing the complexities of Black women are first using strength to "speak" against harmful structures and second behaving in this manner as a unified and cohesive group.…”

“…One of the key elements of this framework is that strength is a complex phenomenon. There is a material tension between its concurrent liabilities and benefits (e.g., Woods-Giscombé, 2010) that Black women have to manage daily (e.g., Watson & Hunter, 2015). In fact, during open-ended qualitative interviews, Black women of various ages (18-65 years) and educational backgrounds emphasized that the internalization of strength "produces adaptive responses to environmental stressors while simultaneously producing liabilities that many African American women experience as tensions" (p. 25).…”

“…In particular, research shows that Black women report improvements in their general wellbeing and esteem after communicating with their "sister friends" or blood-linked relatives (e.g., DeFrancisco & Chatham-Carpenter, 2000;Neal-Barnett et al, 2011). Additionally, the embodiment of strength buffers symptoms of depression and psychological distress and makes Black women feel more psychologically durable (e.g., Bronder, Speight, Witherspoon, & Thomas, 2014;Watson & Hunter, 2015). To this end, variables in the model might precede improvements in Black women's general well-being.…”

“…Strength may have defects, but it also has positive dimensions. More recently, scholars have been keen to the idea that strength is a multifunctional phenomenon that can be repurposed by Black women into a resource (Watson & Hunter, 2015). For example, research has shown that Black women psychologically resist racebased microaggression by "armoring" themselves with strength as a self-protective strategy of defense.…”