In inner-city settings that are governed by the code of the street, women’s attempts to socialize their children for survival often require that they adopt beliefs and behaviors directly opposed to mainstream expectations of appropriate femininity and the gendered expectations reflected in the image of the Black lady. What outsiders often have difficulty understanding, however, is that oftentimes, these actions and behaviors emerge from attempts to navigate extremely challenging and potentially life-threatening circumstances. Inner-city mothers, grandmothers, and othermothers must make “hard choices” about how best to socialize Black girls for survival. For many poor, African American women, and especially for those living in violent neighborhoods, the pressure to “regularly feel required to make hard choices among, at times, very poor options” is often the most stable condition of their lives. In this setting, it would be a great disservice for mothers or grandmothers not to teach the girls under their care how to protect themselves from potential threats of violence in the neighborhood. Still, it is a lesson that comes with complicated consequences: girls who embrace these lessons about strength and survival too deeply, for example, girls who fight all the time, risk confirming the most base stereotypes others hold about poor, Black women and girls.

~   Nikki Jones, The Social World of Inner City Girls. (via carey-knope)
01.03.12 /15:38/♥ 130
  1. tgstonebutch reblogged this from navigatethestream
  2. deepdaddy reblogged this from queennubian
  3. smallrevolutionary reblogged this from loveisthewateroflife
  4. loveisthewateroflife reblogged this from queennubian
  5. peacelovemusichappyness reblogged this from queennubian
  6. queennubian reblogged this from navigatethestream
  7. browngurlwfro reblogged this from queennubian
  8. navigatethestream reblogged this from maxine-shaw
  9. icecreamsocialistslut reblogged this from nimodoz
  10. thepersonalispolitic reblogged this from karnythia
  11. limchoylee reblogged this from so-treu
  12. ageostrophy reblogged this from longdivisionnnn
  13. longdivisionnnn reblogged this from so-treu
  14. untoldhistory reblogged this from so-treu
  15. theanimalnamesofplants reblogged this from so-treu
  16. sexgenderbody reblogged this from theanimalnamesofplants
  17. so-treu reblogged this from blackamazon
  18. piestarter reblogged this from bad-dominicana
  19. ericalamity reblogged this from blackamazon
  20. mordecai72 reblogged this from blaquerose
  21. blaquerose reblogged this from mordecai72 and added:
    OMG THESE COMMENTS! Even if you grow up int he suburbs, you have to fight against these stereotypes, and constantly...
  22. ghost-of-algren reblogged this from fearandwar
  23. abowlofbranflakes reblogged this from kyssthis16 and added:
    I was never a fighter. I was an incredibly sensitive child, much to the dismay of my mother. But I understand this,...
  24. notaskingforpermission reblogged this from bad-dominicana
Canvas  by  andbamnan