Stereotypes Of African American Women Essay

Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, “Once you label me, you negate me.” (Stereotypes). Just as Kierkegaard wrote in the nineteenth century, a label devalues a person’s own individuality and denies them to be the way they are. With such labels existing, stereotypes are eventually formed as beliefs of how people are based on their particular membership to a group. As found in many people, stereotypes can affect the way people view themselves as members of the world around them. Stereotypes are generalizations placed on someone based on beliefs a person may have about another person or group. These stereotypes can have a negative effect on those targeted in these stereotypes. A particular vulnerable group the negative effect caused from stereotypes are African American women. African American women face multiple stereotypes that not only affect how the world sees them, but also, how they view themselves as well. Negative stereotypes harmfully affect African American women’s identities as individuals and the experiences in their lives that occur because of these stereotypes. …show more content…
1) How do stereotypes affect how African American women see themselves? 2) How do stereotypes affect how the people around them interact with African American women? 3) How do stereotypes affect how African American women see other African American women? 4) What struggles did African American women experience in the identification of being both a woman and African American? 5) Do the images in the media and stereotypes cause expectations of what an African American woman should be? When conducing this extensive research, the goal was to learn as much about this topic as possible while also answering these critical