African American Women: A Case Study

According to society, women are supposed to be thin, but not too skinny, unless you want to be called anorexic. They are expected to wear makeup, but not too much cause then you look “slutty.” Females are supposed to be sexy, but not too much because then you are “asking for it.” Also, women are expected to be kind, nurturing, emotional, passive, quiet, dependent, submissive, and weak (the man needs to save the woman). African American females are considered to be “hypersexual and physically tough” (Wade and Ferree, 2015, p. 91). Also, African American women are seen as less feminine compared to white women (p. 92). Asian women on the other hand are “hyperfeminized” and seen as “demure, passive, and sexually available” (p. 94). White females are considered to be “normal, regular, plain, and uninteresting” (p. 96). Women who are more masculine might be viewed as lesbians (p. 99). Therefore, African American, Asian, and lesbian women are expected to perform gender differently than Caucasian women. …show more content…
I also consider myself to be normal and regular. I break the skinny “rule,” but it is not my goal in life to be a size zero. I do not wear a lot of makeup and I do not dress “provocatively” because of comfort rather than expectations. I am not overly emotional because I am not comfortable with a lot of people seeing me that way. I am not passive, quiet, dependent, submissive, or weak and I do not want to have those characteristics. I might be “normal” or “regular,” but I do not consider myself plain or uninteresting. I do not think there is anything wrong with being normal, and no one is plain and uninteresting to every single person in the world. I break the “rules” on purpose because I do agree with going along with