Race and Desirability: Black Women in the Dating Scene
Date
8-12-2020 11:00 AM
Abstract
Black women are one of the most undervalued, least desired (Robnett and Feliciano, 2011) and highly persecuted groups of people. Some could argue that they are victimized by members of their own Black community with regard to white racist ideologies. Racism is the belief that people are biologically and genetically different, which in turn generates a sense of hierarchy between people. Throughout the differing situational contexts and sexual identities related to Black women, almost all seem to point to internalized racism as a factor in the psychological and social behavior carried out by Black women. This study uses race as it relates to stereotypes surrounding dating attraction to give context to the more common themes within literature. These common themes within the literature are internalized racism as it impacts Black relationships, the myth of the Superwoman and the characterization of Black women in dating relationships. However, thisstudy aimsto focus on a sample ofstudiesthat examine dating patterns and perceptions or treatment of Black women. My questions are: Does internalized racism impact the way Black women are treated by Black men? What are Black women's perceptions of their treatment by men in general, and Black men, in particular?
Biographies
Isabella Shackelford
Major: Sociology and Black Studies
Isabella Shackelford is a first-generation student who is double majoring in Sociology and Black Studies. She is in good standing in her academics, earning both the Dean’s and President’s List consecutively at Portland State University. She is focusing on her research based on the Black community and how African American men and women perceive their interactions with one another, and explore their preferences in interracial relationships in the midst of a system that instigates covert racism and the oppression of people of color. Her research interests include internalized racism as it relates to white supremacy and communication among minorities. Isabella believes that further inquiry into the connection and disconnection between the sexes in the African American community, can reduce the mistreatment of Black women. She will begin pursuing her master’s degree in Sociology during Fall 2021 and in the future, she would like to obtain her PhD to continue asking questions about this intra-racial degradation.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shirley Jackson
Dr. Jackson is professor in the Department of Black Studies at Portland State University. She received her Master’s and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Jackson's research specializations include race/ethnicity, gender, and social movements. She is the 2016 recipient of the Society for the Study of Social Problems' Doris Wilkinson Faculty Leadership Award and has received the State of Connecticut’s African American Affairs Commission’s Woman of the Year award. Dr. Jackson has served on the State of Oregon’s Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee that developed ethnic studies standards for Oregon’s K-12 schools. She is the editor of The Handbook of Race, Class, and Gender (Routledge/Taylor & Francis 2014) and co-editor of Caged Women: Incarceration, Representation, and Media (2018, Routledge/Taylor & Francis). She is currently working on three projects. The first is a socio-historical exploration of U.S. and global themes of race/ethnicity and gender in political cartoons during WWII and the Civil Rights Movement. She is also conducting a comparative analysis of the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign and the 1964 Freedom Summer Project in Mississippi. Her most recent project explores the intersection of gender, race, and space focusing primarily on the experiences of African American women in white-dominated spheres. As a scholar-activist, Dr. Jackson gives presentations and interviews in the community, on radio, TV, and in the print media. She has also served as an expert witness for state and federal defense attorneys and prosecutors.
Disciplines
Gender and Sexuality | Race and Ethnicity | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies
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Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33533
Race and Desirability: Black Women in the Dating Scene
Black women are one of the most undervalued, least desired (Robnett and Feliciano, 2011) and highly persecuted groups of people. Some could argue that they are victimized by members of their own Black community with regard to white racist ideologies. Racism is the belief that people are biologically and genetically different, which in turn generates a sense of hierarchy between people. Throughout the differing situational contexts and sexual identities related to Black women, almost all seem to point to internalized racism as a factor in the psychological and social behavior carried out by Black women. This study uses race as it relates to stereotypes surrounding dating attraction to give context to the more common themes within literature. These common themes within the literature are internalized racism as it impacts Black relationships, the myth of the Superwoman and the characterization of Black women in dating relationships. However, thisstudy aimsto focus on a sample ofstudiesthat examine dating patterns and perceptions or treatment of Black women. My questions are: Does internalized racism impact the way Black women are treated by Black men? What are Black women's perceptions of their treatment by men in general, and Black men, in particular?