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Intersectionality theory allows us to examine how systems of power and oppression (e.g., racism, sexism) co-construct each other to create complex and unique forms of systemic harm and injustice. More particularly, intersectional invisibility provides a framework to understanding how Black women, who live at the intersection of racism and sexism, m...
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... between Blackness and masculinity ( Goff et al., 2008), what may matter more than whether Black women or Black men are more similar to Black people as a group is the fact that Black women are considered more similar to Black men in the first place. Given the placement of Black women and the other Black demographic groups in the NMDS ordination in Fig. 1 and the positioning of Black women as compared to White women or race-unspecified women along the masculinity-femininity dimension, two things become evident. First, Black women are considered much more masculine than their White counterparts. Second, the operative word in defining how similar to other groups Black women are is more ...Citations
... Gender also intersects with other social categories, such as race and ethnicity, in ways that moderate the application of gender stereotypic traits linked to warmth and competence by audiences or potential voters (Fiske et al. 2002;Rosette et al. 2016;Gershon and Lavariega Monforti 2019;Cargile 2023;Dowe 2020;Pao and Rajan 2023;Bejarano et al. 2021). For instance, compared to women of color, white women are more commonly described in gender stereotypic terms, emphasizing warmth (Coles and Pasek 2020;Donovan 2011;Purdie-Vaughns and Eibach 2008). By contrast, Black and Asian women are often perceived as less warm than white women, leading to descriptions that prioritize agentic qualities linked to competence, such as dominance (for Black women) and expertise (for Asian women) (Galinsky et al. 2013;Lin et al. 2005). ...
Past work on media coverage of candidates for political office has explored gender differences in quantity, substance, and tone with mixed results depending on the office, race, and context. We draw on the stereotype content model (SCM) to examine gendered patterns of media coverage of candidates on the trait dimensions of warmth and competence in the 2020 U.S. Democratic presidential primary. Combining Natural Language Processing and manual analysis of news, we find that female candidates receive more negative than positive warmth coverage, while male candidates receive more tonally balanced warmth coverage, which suggests that female leaders are penalized on the dimension of warmth. Additionally, white women received more warmth coverage than women of color and women of color receive more competence coverage than white women. The findings suggest news media may portray white women and women of color candidates as lacking gender congruent traits like warmth but may portray white women as possessing role congruent traits like competence.
... Existing social psychological theory on biased perceptions is rarely specific to Black women, although there is important interdisciplinary and Black feminist scholarship on the lived experiences of Black women and their health at the intersection of racism and sexism (e.g., gendered racism, gendered racial microaggressions, and contextualized stress; Essed, 1991;Lewis, 2023;Lewis & Neville, 2015;Lewis et al., 2010;Shorter-Gooden, 2004;Woods-Giscombé & Lobel, 2008). There is also research that examines other types of perceptions of Black women, such as attractiveness, intelligence, masculinity, sexual promiscuity, anger, and aggressiveness (e.g., Anderson et al., 2018;Coles & Pasek, 2020;Cooley et al., 2018;Kleider et al., 2012;Leath et al., 2020;Maddox & Gray, 2002;Thomas et al., 2004). These other types of perceptions are conceptually distinct from perceptions of the degree to which someone is believed to be in optimal physical condition and free of disease (i.e., perceptions of healthiness). ...
... G. Williams & Lewis, 2019, which may govern how their prototypicality and subsequent healthiness is perceived. According to intersectional invisibility (Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008), Black women are dually excluded from prototypical categorization at the societal level as a means of oppression, such that thinking of a prototypical woman evokes an image of a White woman and thinking of a prototypical Black person evokes an image of a Black man (Coles & Pasek, 2020). If Black women are rendered invisible, perceptions of their healthiness may not follow those of a "prototypical" Black person (i.e., a Black man). ...
... Therefore, Black and White raters' perceptions of Black women's healthiness may differ as well. In support of this notion, Coles and Pasek (2020) also found that there were differences in endorsement of various stereotypical attributes of targets by rater race, such that there was less differentiation between Black women and Black people for Black raters. This may suggest that Black women's healthiness would be rated according to a superhumanization bias instead of a skin tone bias for White raters if Black women and Black people are seen as more alike. ...
Perceptions of the healthiness of Black women shape the way that they are treated and may differ by characteristics of the person and the perceiver. We examined perceptions of Black women’s physical healthiness by skin tone and rater race. In a within-subjects design, adults (N = 280; 45.7% Black, 54.3% White) rated the physical healthiness of the person in photos of Black women. We found a significant interaction between target skin tone and rater race, F(1.88, 519.05) = 3.27, p = .038. In line with a skin tone bias, both White and Black raters evaluated lighter skin toned targets as most physically healthy. However, White raters evaluated dark skin toned targets as significantly more healthy than medium skin toned targets, whereas Black raters viewed these two groups similarly. Inaccurate perceptions of Black women by skin tone may have implications for the stigmatization and mistreatment of Black women in both medical and nonmedical settings.
... Intersectionality: Intersectionality explains the way various constructed categorizations combine, and are interwoven, within a group or (individual) in ways that often cause disadvantages and oppression connected to such categories to be compounded (Coles et al., 2020;Khan, 2016). ...
... This suggests that Black women's plight against racism or gender bias can often be ignored because their issues are invisible. This is because their position of privilege is often connected to race and gender (Coles & Pasek, 2020), compared to those of White women and to those of Black men. Yet, the intersection of race and gender may create the barriers Black women must navigate in their careers (Coles & Pasek, 2020) but are easy to ignore. ...
... This is because their position of privilege is often connected to race and gender (Coles & Pasek, 2020), compared to those of White women and to those of Black men. Yet, the intersection of race and gender may create the barriers Black women must navigate in their careers (Coles & Pasek, 2020) but are easy to ignore. ...
Promotion equity in higher education leadership means ensuring that all people have access to, and support along, the pathways for achievement and advancement. Yet, when it comes to advancing to executive leadership positions within colleges and universities in the United States, there seem to be impediments impacting Black women’s ascendency into key leadership roles. This qualitative study used a constructivist grounded theory methodology to explore the perceptions of seven Black women who currently serve, or have served, in executive leadership positions in higher education. Utilizing a theoretical framework developed from social cognitive theories, Black feminist theories, leadership theories, and organizational theories, the research questions were designed to understand the perception of Black women’s ascendancy to executive leadership positions in higher education and the internal and external phenomena along their journeys. Using video interviews and a video focus group, data was collected and coded using a thematic analysis process. The analysis led to five themes that offer insights into perceptions and the internal phenomena (the thoughts, feelings, cognition processes) and the external phenomena (experiences, situations, and events) that impact how Black women perceive their career ascendancy journey. The results revealed the role of intersectionality on Black women’s ability to access and ascend to executive leadership, the influence of imposter syndrome as well as self-motivation, and the critical role of sponsors and networks. These results provide insights for other Black women and people of color looking to matriculate to executive leadership roles in higher education as well as provide guidance to higher education systems looking to develop, or strengthen, equitable processes and practices for promotional pipelines.
... However, according to the MOSAIC model (Hall et al., 2019), the strength of this aggressive stereotype and its associated proscription will be diluted for Black or Hispanic women as compared to Black or Hispanic men because Black or Hispanic women are not seen as prototypical of the Black or Hispanic groups (Ghavami & Peplau, 2013;Schug et al., 2015). Similarly, Black or Hispanic women are also not seen as prototypical of women, as White women remain the standard (Coles & Pasek, 2020). This "cancelling" effect results in a form of invisibility that allows Black women greater behavioral latitude for aggression not afforded to Black men or White women (Smith et al., 2019). ...
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has drawn attention to the lack of progress toward racial equity in many domains. Chief among them is the unequal treatment that Black men often face when interacting with law enforcement or within the criminal justice system, which appears heavily associated with the pernicious stereotype that Black men are distinctly aggressive and dangerous. Evidence suggests that Hispanic men are also subject to similar negative stereotypes. We contend that the consequences of this intersectional stereotype are wide-ranging and explore how it manifests and continues to shape the experiences of Black and Hispanic men in contemporary work organizations. Across two field studies surveying employees supervised by a diverse set of leaders, we find evidence that leaders’ intersectional identities moderate the relationship between interpersonal injustice and leader evaluations (i.e., performance ratings, reward recommendations) and relational outcomes (i.e., supervisor-directed organizational citizenship behaviors), such that Black or Hispanic men are penalized more severely for violations of interpersonal justice relative to White men as well as Black or Hispanic women. Additionally, this unequal response across leaders is because subordinates find such aggressive actions less acceptable for Black or Hispanic men, as it violates societal proscriptions surrounding for whom aggressive behaviors are deemed acceptable, rather than due to greater fear associated with the content of this negative stereotype.
... Moreover, empirical research reveals that Black men and women are perceived as less categorically distinct compared to White men and women. In a study in which over 1,000 U.S. adults assessed how well various stereotypes (e.g., dependable, aggressive, sexually promiscuous) applied to Black men and women as well as White men and women, less differentiation was observed between the stereotypical traits ascribed to Black men and women compared to those ascribed to White men and women (Coles & Pasek, 2020; see also Goff, Eberhardt, et al., 2008;Lei et al., 2020). ...
... There have been significant advancements in psychology in the training, development, and utilization of intersectional frameworks and critical-race-theory perspectives to empirically examine the experiences of Black women and girls (e.g., Coles & Pasek, 2020;Epstein et al., 2017;Goff, Thomas, Jackson, 2008;Jerald et al., 2017;Onwuachi-Willig, 2018;Salter & Adams, 2013;Slakoff & Fradella, 2019). However, the integration of intersectionality and critical-race perspectives (i.e., to help people understand the systemic nature of oppression within psychological scholarship) has been slow (Stewart & Sweetman, 2018). ...
Racialized police violence is a profound form of systemic oppression affecting Black Americans, yet the narratives surrounding police brutality have disproportionately centered on Black men and boys, overshadowing the victimization of Black women and girls. In 2014, the #SayHerName campaign emerged to bring attention to the often-overlooked instances of police brutality against Black women and girls, including incidents of both nonsexual and sexual violence. Despite these efforts, mainstream discourse and psychological scholarship on police violence continue to marginalize the experiences of Black women and girls. This raises a critical question: Why DON’T we “Say Her Name”? This article employs intersectional frameworks to demonstrate how the historic and systemic factors that render Black women and girls particularly vulnerable to police violence also deny their legitimacy as victims, perpetuate their invisibility, and increase their susceptibility to state-sanctioned violence. We extend models of intersectional invisibility by arguing that ideologies related to age, in addition to racial and gender identities, contribute to their marginalization. Finally, we reflect on how psychological researchers can play a pivotal role in dismantling the invisibility of Black women and girls through scientific efforts and advocacy.
... De fait, les femmes noires sont sélectionnées pour d'autres types de métiers que les hommes noirs (Insee, 2023). Dès lors, il est intéressant d'étudier le colorisme par rapport aux personnes racisées qui se voient attribuer un statut social bas, c'est-à-dire les femmes noires, qui sont victimes de multiples discriminations spécifiques (Coles et Pasek, 2020 ;Crenshaw, 1989). Cette approche demeure pertinente si nous nous focalisons sur le métier d'infirmière, où les femmes sont plus nombreuses que les hommes (Statbel, 2021). ...
... De fait, mettre davantage en évidence les discriminations touchant en particulier les femmes noires (i.e. noires et métisses) permettrait de faire ressortir, d'une part, leur invisibilité (Coles et Pasek, 2020) et, d'autre part, le racisme structurel dont elles sont victimes comme les hommes noirs (Banaji et al., 2021) pour tenter de l'enrayer. Le racisme structurel repose aussi sur l'idéologie de l'indifférence vis-à-vis de l'origine ethnoraciale (colorblindness) (Beaman et Petts, 2020 ;Grégoire, 2017 ;Holoien et Shelton, 2012). ...
Cette recherche est l’une des premières à étudier le colorisme en Belgique et examine l’impact du colorisme et de l’attractivité physique, et l’interaction entre ces deux variables, sur la rétention de la candidature à un poste d’infirmière. Le colorisme est un biais en faveur de la couleur de peau la plus claire sur le plan intra- et/ou interethnique (Sealy-Harrington et Watson Hamilton, 2018). Le colorisme lié aux personnes noires est une discrimination très peu étudiée en Belgique comme en France. Les stéréotypes attribués aux femmes noires sont négatifs en général ; celles-ci occupent des postes subalternes dans nombre de métiers, dont les métiers de soins (Gatugu, 2017). Plus leur couleur de peau est foncée, plus elles sont discriminées et jugées moins attirantes (Hall, 2017). Dans le design expérimental utilisé, chaque répondant (n = 66) évalue six candidatures fictives d’infirmières (CV et photo) selon quatre dimensions : compétence, chaleur humaine, effort et rétention de la candidature. Le plan d’expérience incluait deux variables intra-sujets concernant les candidates à évaluer : l’apparence physique (attirante ou non) et la couleur de peau (blanche, noire métisse et noire). Les analyses de la variance à mesures répétées mettent en évidence un effet d’interaction entre le colorisme et l’attractivité physique par rapport à l’évaluation de l’effort, de la compétence et de la rétention de la candidature. Les candidates physiquement attrayantes à la peau noire ont un résultat d’effort plus élevé que les candidates à la peau blanche et noire métisse. Les candidates physiquement attrayantes à la peau blanche sont mieux évaluées sur le plan de la compétence que celles physiquement attrayantes à la peau noire métisse ou noire. Par contre, il n’y a aucun effet du colorisme qui ne soit considéré isolement. Les résultats montrent un effet d’interaction entre l’attractivité physique et le colorisme. Il faut souligner que les femmes noires métisses sont moins bien évaluées. D’autres études devraient être réalisées pour comprendre les mécanismes des discriminations spécifiques touchant les personnes noires.
... Research by Purdie-Vaughns and Eibach (Valerie and Eibach 2008) further explores how Black women are rendered invisible due to their non-prototypicality in both racial and gender groups, leading to unique forms of discrimination that are not adequately addressed by movements focused solely on race or gender. Coles and Pasek (2020), in their publication 'Intersectional Invisibility Revisited: How Group Prototypes Lead to the Erasure and Exclusion of Black Women', delve into the nuanced forms of marginalization faced by Black women due to their intersectional identities. They argue that societal prototypes for race and gender often exclude Black women, who do not fit the prevailing stereotypes of either category. ...
... Persons who are positioned lower in the hierarchy could access the hatch if they could "pull themselves into the groups that are permitted to squeeze through" (Crenshaw, 1989, p. 152). This metaphor describes Black women's invisibility within the vertical structure of marginalizations (Carastathis, 2013;Coles & Pasek, 2020), and intersectionality is the ongoing project to recognize Black women's experiences and expose the continuous erasure of their lived realities. ...
Although the psychological study of men and masculinities (PSMM) field has continued to develop (Addis et al., 2010; Valentine & Wong, 2023), notions of white masculinities have remained mostly uninterrogated (Liu, 2017; Wong & Wang, 2022). In this article, we emphasize the unexamined “whiteness” and assumed Americanness of masculinities research and scholarship (Liu, 2017) and use a racial–spatial framework to explore how systemic racism renders differential racialized experiences for white men when compared with the racialized experiences of men of Color (Liu et al., 2023). We critique the use of intersectionality to understand the asymmetric dominance of white men and masculinities. Additionally, we describe how the construction and maintenance of whiteness in the United States and the protections offered to white men, due to their whiteness, provide them with spaces of comfort and privileges that are unique to them and their masculinities. We contend that future psychological research in men and masculinities could be conceptualized within a racial–spatial framework of systemic racism wherein white racial power and privileges are explicitly interrogated. We offer seven recommendations that underscore the critical examination and naming of whiteness in researchers’ and practitioners’ theoretical assumptions, methods, practices, and positionalities.
... This study is vital given the complexity and intersectional nature of Black women's experiences, which are not fully captured in mainstream research [13]. Further, Black women have often been overlooked and rendered invisible, including in civil rights history [14,15]. Therefore, we begin with a brief review of the history of Black women's civic engagement. ...
Throughout history, Black women have taken their unique lived experiences to make changes through civic behaviors. At the same time, they hold a complex position in society, located at the intersection of multiple marginalizing identities that put them at risk of experiencing distinct forms of discrimination. To date, little research has examined the patterns of Black women’s civic behaviors and associations with discrimination experiences and well-being. This may be particularly salient during emerging adulthood, a key period of sociopolitical development and increasing mental health problems. The current study seeks to address this gap, drawing from theories of intersectionality and sociopolitical development. Participants included 103 emerging adult Black women (Mage = 24.27, SD = 2.76) with a range of civic experiences. Overall, anti-racist action was the most prevalent domain of civic behavior. Participants were about twice as likely to engage in traditional political behaviors (e.g., signing petitions, giving money) than political protest. Latent class analysis was used to identify three unique subgroups of civic behaviors: Stably Committed, Traditionally Engaged, or Low Engagement. Findings also showed that emerging adult Black women classified as Stably Committed experienced more discrimination and higher depressive symptoms. The current findings inform the creation of safe spaces for emerging adult Black women to be civically engaged as they navigate racism and sexism and take action to seek racial justice.
... Black women are often overlooked and silenced in conversations and research about racism, sexism and gendered violence, failing to offer a more comprehensive view of black women's unique experiences. "Intersectional invisibility" erases, excludes and silences the voices and experiences of black women (Coles & Pasek, 2020). Witnessing how this research's exclusion and silencing denies us the possibility of hearing or seeing from black women's own voices and perspectives, the project also centres deliberately silenced voices. ...
The colonial nature in which academia has taken shape has meant that its practices of acquiring and producing knowledge are often violent towards those affected by sexual and gender-based violence. Shifting the praxis of how knowledge is understood and engaged in, means critiquing these traditionally colonial methods, as well as identifying new ways of engaging with academia and the framework of conducting research. Contributors of the Unsettling Knowledge Production on Gendered and Sexual Violence Project have undertaken this idea in their individual and collaborative work as a way to challenge, disrupt and change the sometimes violent nature of research on sexual and gender-based violence. These contributors believe that there is a responsibility for producing knowledge that is respectful and which contributes towards the goals of care, ethical engagement and social justice, from the inception of the research work through to its dissemination. In this article, we look at their reflections on what unsettling knowledge means for them as they simultaneously navigate and resist colonial structures within which their work still takes place. They describe their journeys within this unsettling and decolonial framing and how they try to enact it in their work on sexual and gender-based violence.
