Archetypes of Black Womanhood: Implications for Mental Health, Coping, and Help-Seeking

The bodies of Black women have long been sites of trauma that carry the weight of the past and present-day stereotypes that dehumanize, and that are illustrative of the traumatizing effects of the multiple forms of gendered and racial injustices that harm Black women spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically. Using an intersectional analysis, this paper examines some of the most pervasive and long-standing controlling societal representations and images of Black women that have served to harm them in every aspect of their lives. It probes the many representations of Black women that have contributed to the development of a Black feminist consciousness that embodies Black women’s unique location at the crossroads of race, gender, class, and other social identities. In examining the transformative human agency of Black women, the paper concludes with an examination of how a Black feminist consciousness not only influences Black women’s experiences with mental illness but also provides a reservoir from which Black women learn to cope, manage, and seek help for these issues.