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The interaction between self-silencing and strong Black woman ideal endorsement on pleasure-focused assertiveness
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Women are socialized to endorse femininity scripts mandating that they prioritize others’ needs and engage in self-silencing behaviors. Further, Black women may also endorse the strong Black woman (SBW) ideal, by which they are expected to selflessly meet the needs of their family and community and, as such, may embrace self-silencing in their inte...
Citations
... Responses are selected from a 5-point Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree, with higher sum scores indicating more self-silencing. The internal consistency in this sample was α =.90, and the STSS has been validated among women living with HIV and Black women (Avery et al., 2022;DeMarco et al., 2001). ...
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major public health issue in the United States (US) and Black women living with HIV (BWLWH) are disproportionately impacted among women. This study investigates the complexities in influences of family, friend, and special person support systems and their association with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD), depressive symptoms, gendered coping (self-silencing), and a composite HIV risk score related to risk of viral non-suppression through missed medical visits, low medication adherence, and high viral load. Cross-sectional data among BWLWH were analyzed using network analyses via RStudio. Data from 119 BWLWH was reduced to 104, because of missing data on indicators as well as pairwise deletion for the correlation function. Findings revealed variances based on the type of network. For composite risk scores, friend support source had a weak to moderate significant correlation, while symptoms of PTSD and depression only showed a weak positive correlation with the composite risk variable through self-silencing as a form of coping. The post-hoc analysis showed a strong correlation with care as self-sacrifice, based on the composite risk score. Based on the findings from this study, insight was given into symptoms for depression and PTSD, as well as self-silencing and viral non-suppression risk in relation to sources of support for BWLWH. Future interventions to improve the overall health of BWLWH may benefit from incorporating support from friends and lowering care as self-sacrifice.
... For example, while sexual and gender minority individuals may broadly anticipate discrimination in mental health care settings, White, cisgender, middle-class gay men may expect INTEGRATED BEHAVIORAL MODEL 3 easier access to affirmative care than sexual minority and genderexpansive people of color (Grzanka et al., 2020). Research has documented how mental health care stigma may be more pronounced among cisgender Black men (Watkins et al., 2010), but cisgender Black women report experiencing pressure to exhibit emotional and personality characteristics consistent with the "Strong Black Woman" schema (i.e., superior strength and ability to withstand pain; Avery et al., 2022;Waldron, 2019), which may likewise inhibit help seeking in observable patterns that are distinct from Black men. Both groups (e.g., Black men and women) may anticipate discrimination in health care settings, for similar and different reasons simultaneously. ...
This article introduces the integrated behavioral model of mental health help seeking (IBM-HS), a theoretical model for understanding the constructs (e.g., systemic, predisposing, and enabling factors; mental health literacy; illness perceptions; perceived need; stigma; shame; perceived benefits, motivation) that influence people’s decision making around seeking professional mental health care and their ultimate access to formal treatment. The IBM-HS is a help-seeking-specific adaptation of the empirically supported integrated behavioral model and integrative model, which are themselves evolutions of the theory of planned behavior and theory of reasoned action. The IBM-HS posits that help-seeking determinants (e.g., structural forces; cultural influences; past help-seeking experience; evaluated need; mental health perceptions, knowledge, and skills; social support) influence help-seeking beliefs (i.e., outcome beliefs, experiential beliefs, beliefs about others’ expectations, beliefs about others’ behavior, logistical beliefs), which in turn determine their respective help-seeking mechanisms (i.e., attitude, perceived norm, personal agency). These mechanisms collectively influence help-seeking intention, which drives prospective help-seeking behavior, subject to the moderating effects of determinants. Finally, prospective behavior has reciprocal feedback loop effects on certain determinants and beliefs. This article describes the need for the IBM-HS, the model’s constructs and their interrelations, measurement considerations, and how the model can be used by scholarly and applied users to systematically understand people’s intention to seek professional mental health care services and what helps or hinders them from utilizing this care.
... The most recent U.S. nationally representative studies investigating the prevalence of lifetime sexual behaviors, including masturbation, oral sex, and anal sex among Black women and men were published more than a decade ago . More recently, there has been a growing body of sex-positive literature that supports understanding the sexual experiences of Black women (Avery et al., 2022;Hargons et al., 2022;Malone et al., 2022;Thorpe et al., 2021a, Thorpe et al., 2021bWare et al., 2020), however, just like all studies, these studies are subject to limitations. Furthermore, data from convenience sampling often are not representative of the general population and population-based studies, by definition, are meant to reflect experiences from the national population. ...
Abstract
Historically, Black sexuality has been depicted through a risk-based lens rather than a sex-positive lens. This study analyzed data from a subset of 540 Black heterosexual adolescents and adults who participated in the 2018 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. Masturbation, penile-vaginal intercourse, and oral sex were the most prevalent lifetime sexual behaviors. We found statistical differences by gender among lifetime sexual behaviors for performing oral sex, receptive anal intercourse, and vibrator use during solo masturbation. These data provide insights about Black sexuality indicating that adolescents and adults engage in a variety of sexual behaviors throughout their lifetime.
... The schema is further reinforced by the media , in music, television, Instagram, and Facebook, where Black women are portrayed as strong, nurturing, and selfless matriarchs and breadwinners (Abrams et al., 2014;Parks, 2010). The SBW schema is associated with benefits for Black women, such as increased self-efficacy, self-confidence, and the preservation of one's self-image reflecting its complexity (Avery et al., 2022)Abrams et al., 2019Barrie et al., 2016;Harrington et al., 2010;Watson-Singleton, 2017). ...
... Despite the word "strong" negative health consequences perpetuated by the SBW include increased incidence of HIV/STI often due to non-disclosure of infection, silencing, and shaming, which serves to "weaken" Black girl's and women processes of sexual development. Similar to other studies, participants in our study described the difficulty in being strong and sexual (Avery et al., 2022;Watson & Hunter, 2016). Our findings suggest that emotional pain experienced after enduring sexual trauma or after acquiring STI is seen as "weak." ...
Black girls and women are disproportionately impacted by sexual health disparities, including an increased risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI). Early sexual development among Black females heightens their risk of HIV/STI. Utilizing the Becoming a Sexual Black Woman (SBW) framework, this study sought to understand how early sexual development and stereotype messages may underpin HIV/STI risk, building on and furthering the discussion of the consequences of the SBW schema. To better understand this phenomenon, we conducted a secondary thematic data analysis from two previously completed grounded theory studies with Black girls and women ranging in age from 11 to 62 (N = 40). Findings revealed that Black women have been socialized to be strong and independent and yet are highly vulnerable to HIV/STI. This clash between Black girl's and women's ideals of strength and heightened vulnerability to HIV/STI presents a paradox that may help explain disparities in HIV/STI risk. Four themes emerged among both Black girls and women: complex construction of the SBW schema, burden and consequences of strength, pressure to be strong, and being strong and sexual. Findings also highlight how becoming both a strong and sexual Black woman occurs over the life course and is inherent to Black female sexual development. We discuss the implications of these findings for parents, healthcare providers, educators, and researchers with the aim to improve sexual health outcomes for Black females across the life course.
Black women are disproportionally impacted by intimate partner violence (IPV), yet limited research considers the role of culturally salient, gendered-racial schemas such as the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema on Black women’s intimate relationships. Given the SBW schema’s emphasis on masking pain and vulnerability, self-sacrificial caretaking, and demonstrating unwavering emotional stoicism in the face of adversity, it is important to understand the adaptive and negative effects that high endorsement may have on Black women’s romantic relationship quality. This scoping review aimed to determine the extent to which the extant empirical research focusing on the SBW schema has included a focus on Black women’s intimate and romantic relationships and the culturally specific, sexually scripted roles that Black women are expected to uphold in their partnerships. Electronic databases were searched for empirical studies that focused on associations between the SBW schema and romantic relationships. Of the 290 articles identified in the initial search, only six articles met the full inclusion criteria. Findings revealed three ways that SBW schema manifests in Black women’s romantic relationships: prioritization of partner over self, resisting displays of vulnerability, and a sustained commitment to independence. Each of these domains may pose significant challenges to the quality of romantic relationships for Black women and the prevention of IPV, demonstrating the need for continued development of resources that can mitigate any specific sociocultural and gendered-racial barriers that Black women face when in intimate partnerships.
This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of
emotion regulation in the relationship between self-
silencing and depression in married women. The
current research was a descriptive-correlation type of
structural equation modeling. The statistical
population of the research was all the married women
of Tehran city in 2023, and a sample of 262 people was
selected and the questionnaire was distributed among
them. Research tools included: the Beck Depression
Inventory (BDI-13, Beck, 1972), Silencing the Self
Scale (STSS, Jack & Dill, 1992), and Emotion
Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ, Gross & John, 2003).
The data were analyzed using the structural equation
analysis method. The results of the structural equation
analysis indicated the appropriate fit of the model. The
findings showed that self-silencing and emotion
regulation (suppression and reappraisal) were able to
directly predict depression (p< 0.001). Also, self-
silencing could indirectly predict depression through
emotion regulation (suppression and reappraisal) (p<
0.001). These results show that self-silencing,
considering the important role of emotion regulation,
can explain depression in married women.
Feminist researchers have demonstrated that engagement in silencing of the self (i.e., self-restrictive and sacrificial behaviors reflecting how women “should” be in relationships) remains a prevalent strategy for relationship maintenance. However, little is known about (young) women silencing themselves in relationships where abuse is present. Young women’s experiences of silencing and other partner-focused behaviors (e.g., sexual compliance) within their relationships were thus explored. Young, partnered women ( M age = 21; N = 146) completed an online survey and open-ended questions about their current intimate relationships. Comparing between groups (abuse, n = 108; non-abuse, n = 38), the former scored higher on measures of total self-silencing, sexual compliance, and non-constructive communication and lower on measures of constructive communication (all p < .001). A mixed inductive and deductive content analysis found that while the importance of communicating with their partner was a preferred strategy for conflict management, multiple participants still emphasized self-suppression as an important part of their experience of relational conflict. Also, most participants indicated feeling as though they could be their authentic selves in their relationships, which suggests that their silencing may be situational and strategic in nature. These findings nuance previous understandings of self-silencing as inherently harmful and instead frame it as something sporadic and done strategically. They also bring forth questions about the extent to which young women’s emphasis on communication and insistence that they can be authentic are a product of changing societal expectations of women in today’s society compared to the 1980s/1990s when much of the foundational work on self-silencing was being done.
In this paper, I summarize the extant literature that focuses on the role of (sexualized) gendered racism in Black women’s sexual development and well-being. Using Beyoncé’s song “Cozy” as a theoretical framework, I consider the potential transformative power of Black women’s positive gendered racial self-concept—or Cozy Actualization—to mitigate the deleterious outcomes linked with heightened exposure to gendered racial discrimination and victimization. I also highlight the potential fault lines in Black women’s pathways to sexual self-acceptance, including the associations between elevated exposure to gendered racial sexual stereotypes, stereotype internalization, and diminished sexual self-concept. I argue that supporting Black women’s cozy actualization requires that we pursue strategies to enrich sexual development in ways that directly combat the internalization of a negative self-construal derived from systemic misrepresentation and misogynoir in mainstream and digital media.
The strong Black woman (SBW) stereotype can be seen as a positive view of Black women and even a standard to uphold. SBW internalization is a coping mechanism for dealing with racism and sexism. However, multiple recent studies have indicated that Black women in the modern era experience the paradox of SBW internalization having negative generational health effects. We interviewed Black women with a personal or relation diagnosis of breast or ovarian cancer to understand their views and experiences, including how the perception of the SBW stereotype influenced their care.
Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted via telephone or video conference and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were qualitatively analyzed for iterative themes related to cancer care and psychosocial support.
Sixty-one Black women completed an interview. Responses in multiple transcripts expressed experiences and sentiments consistent with the SBW stereotype, including the importance of maintaining the appearance of strength during their cancer journey. This resulted in some patients declining assistance during their cancer journeys. Participants shared a hope that there would be more willingness to show vulnerability so that future generations of cancer patients receive adequate support. Key aspects of the SBW stereotype were also cited as potential contributors to ongoing racial disparities in breast and ovarian cancer outcomes.
Participants described a paradox of the SBW stereotype that is ultimately detrimental to health and wellbeing. Healthcare professionals and cancer researchers should be aware of this phenomenon to address cancer care more appropriately in Black women.
This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of marital conflict in the relationship between self- silencing and the tendency to divorce in married women. The present research was descriptive- correlation based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population of this research was all married women of Mashhad City in 2021, and 240 of them were selected as a sample. Research tools included the divorce Tendency Scale (DTS, Result, et al, 1986), the Marital Conflict Questionnaire (MCQ, Sanaei, 2000), and the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS, Jack & Dill, 1992). Structural equation modeling analysis was used to analyze the data. The results of the structural equation modeling analysis indicated that the model fit in well. The findings showed that self-silencing could indirectly predict the tendency to divorce through marital conflict (p<0.001). It can be concluded that self-silencing and marital conflict play a key role in women's tendency to divorce, and it is necessary to pay attention to these factors in interaction with each other in programs to improve the quality of married life.
