Angry Black Women Syndrome? No, It’s Just a Stereotype
We hear it in schools, parks, and from other agents of socialization that African American females have a deficiency controlling their behavior and angriness. People are judging black females based on an insignificant segment of women’s attitudes; however, they fail to take into account how and why men also contribute in this social issue. Black females in the U.S. are unfairly labeled as angry and violent against males because they try to break the expectation of being submissive to men. Black women are labeled with false perceptions about being the only group of females with behavioral issues. It is true that some black females are unable to control their compulsivity and angriness toward black men, but it also true that black men blame and judge black women negatively, because men refuse to accept the new identity and roles of black women in this 21st century.
Angry black women syndrome is nothing more but a title created to degrade black women who refuse to be submissive to men. The term, angry black women syndrome, also enhances negative stereotypes of black women because this terminology is generalizing all black women to have anger issues. This term is not only creating a negative profile for black females in our society, but it also draws barriers between black women and women of other races in our society. It is important to realize that not only black women have problems controlling their angriness; in fact, there are women from other races who also have anger issues.
Why do we stereotype black women? We all know that not only black women have anger reactions because people from all races and gender experience anger reactions. Anger reactions are eventually triggered by people’s surroundings, and this is a reason why we should not stereotype black women because their surrounding could be a factor that demands them to act with anger at times.
Angry black women syndrome is nothing more but a title created to degrade black women who refuse to be submissive to men. The term, angry black women syndrome, also enhances negative stereotypes of black women because this terminology is generalizing all black women to have anger issues. This term is not only creating a negative profile for black females in our society, but it also draws barriers between black women and women of other races in our society. It is important to realize that not only black women have problems controlling their angriness; in fact, there are women from other races who also have anger issues.
Why do we stereotype black women? We all know that not only black women have anger reactions because people from all races and gender experience anger reactions. Anger reactions are eventually triggered by people’s surroundings, and this is a reason why we should not stereotype black women because their surrounding could be a factor that demands them to act with anger at times.
Why it matters to me?
Stereotyping black women about anger issues reminded me how it feels to be stereotyped because of one’s physical appearance or because one belongs to a group. It happened to me when I was in 9th grade. I was transferred to a different school where 90 percent of the students were Dominican. They stereotyped me because I look like a Mexican. At some point, they believed that because I looked like a Mexican then it means that I also talk, laugh, and sing as a Mexican. It was totally uncomfortable because they even used Mexican slang expression assuming that I know the significance of those words only because I look like Mexican. In reality, I didn’t even know the meaning of those Mexican slang expressions and most of the jokes that I was subjected to. Indeed, some people even asked me if I also use and sell drugs because I looked like Mexican, and in that instance I realized that positive and negative stereotypes are always bad because stereotypes label all members of a group with both positive and negative things.
This topic is extremely important to me not only because I was once stereotyped by my classmates, but also because I see many people posting “angry black woman” stereotypse on various social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In addition, some of my African American friends also believe that black women are incapable of controlling their temperaments in most situations in which they get involved. Although this may be true that some black women have issues controlling their anger, it is not true that all black women are prone to the same problem. I believe that stereotyping a group eventually leads to racism, because others gain negative perceptions about the stereotyped group which eventually demand others to formulate negative attitudes toward them. |
Statistics
African American females suffer from domestic violence, rape, and social discrimination more than other groups of females. In addition, women get angry, but do not act out as much as men do. Men discharge their fears and their upsets through action. Women tend to discharge their fears through anger.
Domestic violence among the Black community also affects women's attitudes and behaviors. A domestic violence statistic by the Women of Color Network (2001) shows that African American women experience significantly more domestic violence than white women. The stat shows that black females experienced intimidate partner violence at a rate 35% higher than that of the white females and about 2.5 the rate of women of other races.
African American women also represent the highest stat in sexual assault. According to the article Black Women, Sexual Assault and the Art of Resistance by Axtell (April 2012) and the Department of Justice, it is estimated that for every white woman that reports her rape, at least 5 white women do not report theirs. And for every African American woman who reports her rape, at least 15 African American women do not report theirs._ It is important to realize that in almost every social problem, black women are the most vulnerable. These are some of the common reasons why black women might be angry. Black women are constantly fighting social oppression and the conventional status that bonds women to our society. Surprisingly, black women are labeled with negative stereotypes whenever they stand up against social injustice and oppression. |
My 3 Justice ProgramsI have seen so much about the “angry black woman” stereotype and that is one of the reason I chose three justice programs that contradict all the falsified stereotypes of black women. My first justice program is called Angry Women Maybe They’re Angry at You and is connected to a Tumblr site. This site allows its users to discuss why women have the right to be angry and why it is bias to label women as crazy people when they only stand up against injustice committed against women. The most important part of this site is all about its contents. Its contents are mainly pictures, ranging from cartoon to regular pictures, and it is not only about black women but women in general. Its contents exemplifies that not only black women have anger issues in our society and that is just a misconception about black women.
My second justice program is labeled as The Angry Black Women and is a group comprised mainly by black women. The mission of this website is to encourage black women to fight against racism, sexism, and all types of prejudice against black women because our society constantly paints falsified images of black women. This website is also connected to twitter and other websites that support the same cause. This website discusses why the angry black woman is a negative stereotype that black men submit against women. The space of this website allows it members to address issues that black women are facing because society still embraces oppression against black women. My last justice program is a website that discusses why a film called Diary of a tired black man stereotypes African American women for being crazy, argumentative, immature, insecure, and man-hating. This website is titled as Diary of a Genial Black Man and links several segments of the actual film to the YouTube site allowing the user to post their points of view; men usually post negative stereotypes of women. This website criticizes the film, Diary of a Tired Black Man, because it labels black women to be the problem in every relationship just because black women refuse to be submissive to their husbands. This film depicts all the negativity of black women but fails to map the reality of injustice committed against black females. In fact, this website criticizes this film by supporting racism against black women, for this film constantly argues that white females are much better than black females because they are more submissive and less troublesome than black women. _ |