Document Type
Article
Abstract
Context: Historically, Black women strategically employed silence to endure enslavement to the U.S., and other forms of racial violence. The current study aimed to understand contemporary perspectives on self-silencing. Objective: To explore young adult Black women's experiences of self-silencing and its potential impact on their physical and mental well-being. Methods: Data are from 16 semi-structured interviews with Black women ages 18 to 39 in southwest Pennsylvania conducted between October 2021 - May 2022. We analyzed the interviews using inductive thematic analysis. Results: We identified four themes: “Self-silencing is Inherited,” “Silencing Here and Now,” “Wear and Tear,” and “The Flip Side.” The first theme represents the overwhelming consensus that limiting self-expression has a generational component rooted in racism. Most participants identified self-silencing in school and employment settings. Participants described the wear and tear of self-silencing as negatively impacting health behaviors (e.g., diet) and mental health both when deciding whether to self-silence and later ruminations on the decision. “The Flip Side” represents counter perspectives that not self-silencing liberates and improves health. Conclusions: The findings highlight that many Black women may use or resist self-silencing as a vigilance-based coping strategy to preserve their mental and physical well-being. We present measurement considerations for research on health impacts of racism and other forms of oppression.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in SSM Qualitative Research in Health, Volume 3, 2023.
Rights
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
APA Citation
Scott, J. (2023). The wear and tear of racism: Self-silencing from the perspective of young Black women. Ssm Qualitative Research in Health, 3.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100268