Stereotypes Of African American Women Essay

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Stereotypes are any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Webster generally defines a stereotype as an unfair belief that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same. Stereotypes have been created about people of all walks of life including African Americans. African Americans are facing a major challenge against stereotyping in today’s society, particularly African American females. Despite what many may think, the stereotypes of African American females have been around for several decades. The three central types that plague African American females today are the idea that they are “welfare queens,” the notion of the independent black woman, and the misunderstood angry black woman. Let’s begin our discussion with the “welfare queen.” The Urban Dictionary defines a welfare queen as “a woman, regardless of race, who is living off the welfare system purely because of laziness and not due to any real need.” To further define this stereotype, a welfare queen is a derogatory phrase used in the United States to refer to people, usually women, who are accused of collecting excessive welfare payments through…show more content…
Being independent was that of a badge of honor to the woman who did not want to be taken care of by the government or be dependent on a man. The independent woman changed and rearranged the role of the traditional household. Now there are more women, especially African American women who are the breadwinners of a household instead of man. The dark side to the independent woman was that at a point they were “too independent” and men were useless which of course was untruthful. African American women were tired of being thought of as the background force behind an African American man and they wanted to be thought of as women of strength and
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