Black Women's Actions to Challenge

Title
Your Name:
Subject and Section:
Professor's Name:
Date Submitted:
Annotated Bibliography
Brown, S. (2018). Don't touch my hair": Problematizing representations of black women in Canada. Journal of Pan African Studies, 12(8), 64-86.
The article is about Black women's actions to challenge the anti-Black racism that even affects their hair. To elaborate, issues like wearing Dreadlocks or an Afro hairstyle become something to consider for Black women when working with a majority of White people. This issue about hair is related to history because an individual's hair is one of the determinants of racial differences aside from language and skin color. In history, black skin and thick, wooly hair symbolize inferiority in the community, while white counterparts are socially constructed as the dominant and superior race. Nowadays, the hairstyle choices of Black women are viewed politically and socially even though it is more based on convenience and personal preference. The traditional Black women hairstyles are now challenging the perceptions of society, making the presence of Black women known and identified. Also, creating a safe and inclusive environment, especially for those that are constantly dealing with racism and discrimination.
Dickens, D. D., & Chavez, E. L. (2018). Navigating the workplace: The costs and benefits of shifting identities at work among early-career US Black women. Sex Roles, 78(11), 760-774.
The research talks about how race and gender affect Black women in their workplace as part of American society. Based on the article, Black women remain an underrepresented group that still needs to develop coping mechanisms to survive the consequences of discrimination. An identified coping mechanism is identity shifting. There are changes that they need to embody in order to "fit in," such as their dialect and physical appearance to abide by the social norms. Black women deal with these workplace issues by choosing or shifting from actions such as manage the rejection interpersonally, assimilate with the dominant culture, often causing these individuals to not be genuine, dismantle stereotypes, be confrontational, and be model Black citizens. The study emphasizes that there is a need for an inclusive and multicultural approach in the workplace to lift the esteem of employees, affirming their identities, and improving employee relationships.
Goldhill, O. (2018). Scientific research shows gender is not just a social construct. Quartz. https://qz.com/1190996/scientific-research-shows-gender-is-not-just-a-social-construct/
The article is about the combination of both society and biology in creating gender differences even at a very young age. This debunks the common narrative that social expectations shape the gender preference and differences that are expressed in childhood play. Based on the study, there is an innate biological basis for the differences that can be seen depending on an individual's gender, and it is only later strongly reinforced by the culture and environment that an individual is exposed to. The author recognizes the influence of both nature and nurture in a combined way and that it is not an exclusive option. However, the author discusses that the n...