Abstract
The Journal of Black Psychology is issuing a call for papers on the association between Black women’s body image, identity formation, and psychological well-being. Historically, stereotypes of Black women, such as the caregiver mammy figure, the sexually promiscuous jezebel, and the aggressive sapphire, have had an influence on how others perceive Black women and how Black women present themselves across different contexts (Stephens & Phillips, 2003; West, 1995), such as their family, workplace/school and social media. Research has shown that these controlling images have had a profound impact on Black women’s identity formation (e.g., Cotter et al., 2015), sexual risk taking behaviors (Peterson et al., 2007), and their overall psychological well-being (Watson & Hunter, 2015). Furthermore, there is a need to explore the growing responses to this marginalization, with Black women reclaiming and reframing the negative stereotypes associated with their bodies. This resistance is at the core of current sociopolitical movements, such as #Metoo, #SayHerName, and #Blackwomenatwork (e.g., Gomez & Gobin, 2020; Lindsey, 2018; McMurtry-Chubb, 2015; Weissinger et al., 2017). Thus, the purpose of this special issue is to advance scholarship on Black women’s body image, identity formation, and psychological well-being. Black women’s efforts to resist and dismantle these controlling stereotypes and gendered racial injustices are also critical contributions needed to strengthen this area of research.
Issues that are of interest include the following, but are not limited to only these:
Factors that influence positive and negative self-perceptions and attitudes of Black women’s body image (e.g. social media, gender racial identity, families, peers, communities)
Theoretical/conceptual papers that further understanding of the problem
Quantitative and qualitative papers examining the relationship between Black women’s bodies, well-being and construction of their identities
Papers identifying effective clinical interventions or educational programs that empower Black women’s perceptions of their bodies.
The focus should be on Black women’s body image. Below are some examples of what fits the call for papers:
Psychological well-being and the politics of skin color and hair
Objectification of Black women’s bodies and the #Metoo movement
Psychological implications of the beauty industry on Black women’s body image (e.g. bleaching, weaves, nails, buttock injections)
The influence of gendered racial microaggressions on Black women’s career choices and outcomes (e.g. STEM persistence, leadership opportunities)
Black sexual minority women and trans women’s bodies in public and private spaces
Silencing and punishing of Black girls and women’s bodies in school and across judicial systems (e.g. #SayHerName, colorism and sentencing)
Black women’s body satisfaction and self-worth in school and work settings
(Re)examinations of Black Women’s Fat Stigma and Phat pride (e.g. Lizzo, Jessamyn Stanley)
Stereotypical evaluations of Black women’s bodies in media spaces (e.g. “coca cola” shape, Apple Bottoms, slut shamming, Instagram, online dating, and pornography)
Respectability politics and Black women’s sexuality and gendered racialized ideals
Identity shifting strategies among Black women across diverse public settings (e.g. corporate world, social spaces)
How the constructions of Black women’s bodies and body image influence their well-being (e.g. responses to COVID-19, maternal health, BMI expectations, eating disorders, genetic marker, and gynecological contexts)
We are interested in a mixture of papers ranging from full-length manuscripts, brief reports, quantitative and qualitative, mixed methods studies, literature reviews, and conceptual papers. Focusing on experiences of women across the African Diaspora, papers in this special issue may be theoretical or empirical in nature. These papers must be conceptual or evidence-based, guided by scholarship, but not editorial.
Submission Information
Submit the manuscript through journal’s portal and create an account: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jbp
Title page should include
Deadline for submission is Friday April 30, 2021.
Evaluation: The manuscripts will be reviewed by a review panel and authors will be notified of the decision within 60-90 days of submission.
Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee eventual publication, as all manuscripts will be peer-reviewed as per usual protocol with submissions to the Journal of Black Psychology.
Note that all authors who have submitted a manuscript may be asked to serve as a reviewer on one to two other manuscripts considered for inclusion in this Special Issue. The expected publication date for the special issue will be in 2022.