On Gender Norms & Young Black Girls

Gender Norms and Young Black Girls

Dr. Scyatta Wallace of St John’s University is one of our TrueChild Experts and has helped out on several pending projects. Her work has focused on issues which affect young people of color, particularly the impact of feminine and masculine norms.

Scyatta is featured in the December issue of Essence Magazine (on newsstands shortly) in an article – titled "Colorstruck" – which not only addresses the important issue of Colorism, but also details a lot of negative gender stereotypes about young Black women and girls.

For instance, the interview cites Scyatta’s federally funded study (published in the Journal of Women’s Health) -- “Gold Diggers, Video Vixens, and Jezebels: Stereotype Images and Substance Use Among Urban African American Girls” and some of its alarming findings:

Almost half of the girls agreed with statements such as:

• Straightened hair looks better than natural hair
• Black girls are loud and have an attitude
• Having long hair gives you a better appearance
• Black girls are mad and ready to fight

Almost a quarter of the girls agreed with statements like:

• Black girls are gold-diggers
• Black girls use sex to get what they want
• It’s important to have good hair

You can check it the full interview with Dr. Wallace at http://www.essence.com/ once it’s posted.