Recently, The Communities Foundation of Texas hosted an event entitled, “Grown Woman Talk,” where Dr. Sharon Malone shared her expertise on perimenopause, menopause, and the impact on women’s health as they age. Seeing so many women starting to normalize these conversations about menopause, from local stages to national social media platforms, feels like the kind of progress women need to raise awareness about successfully navigating life-changing milestones and improve the overall health and wellness of Black women collectively.
As the evening went on, a recurring theme emerged when considering the medical research. Black women are more likely to start menopause earlier than other groups of women, and experience more severe symptoms when they do. This seems to be the same type of phenomenon that we also see when it comes to a host of other medical conditions that disproportionately affect Black women, including, but not limited to: problems with fibroids and maternal health outcomes. Even when controlling for variables like education level, class, and access to healthcare services, Black women continue to remain more likely to experience these health issues that drastically impact their quality of life.
Boston University is credited with having the longest running study of Black Women’s health, to date, when it comes to understanding these horrific health disparities. Based on their study of 59,000 Black Women that started in 1995, researchers report, “Black women are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to die from cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, lupus, and several cancers. They are twice as likely than white women to develop diabetes over age 55 or have uncontrolled blood pressure. Black women also face greater challenges in accessing affordable and quality healthcare, including a lack of health insurance, higher medical debt, and longer travel times to hospitals.” These dismal modern day numbers are not just an indication of a recent phenomenon, but a larger American cultural tradition of valuing capitalism and White Supremacy over the physiological well being of Black bodies.
A contemporary consideration of this issue would be remiss without first looking at the historical context of Black women in America. Since America’s inception, Black women’s bodies were viewed as the breeding ground for the capitalistic gain white supremacy heaped upon it. In her award-winning book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” Isabel Wilkerson helps the reader understand the weight of American slavery, as she explains, “Slavery in this land was not merely an unfortunate thing that happened to Black people. It was an American institution created by and for the benefit of the elites of the dominant caste [White people]… This form of slavery had existed no where in the world and was passed down for 12 generations.” Acknowledging how unique American slavery was and how long it lasted is the first step in understanding the lingering impact of the psychophysiological effects of capitalism on Black women’s bodies.
One can not move on past this historical pause without also highlighting the obvious fact that if Black women sat at the bottom of the societal totem pole in America for decades, as her body produced it’s number one commodity (more Black bodies to generate free labor), then White women sat at the top of that totem pole. Many people may think it was White men that would have had the top spot, since patriarchy gave them the decision-making power in America; however, the entire infrastructure was designed, such that White women were comfortably positioned to be the primary benefactors of everything Black women produced.
In modern days, Black women may no longer be subjected to the free labor of their ancestors, but that hasn’t protected them from experiencing what Michelle Holder calls The Double Gap. She explains, “Though African American women have historically had the highest labor force participation rate among major female demographic groups in the US, they face both the gender wage gap and the racial wage gap—a reinforcing confluence that I term the “double gap.” For this reason, many Black women learned from an early age, what Rowan “Poppa” Pope, the patriarchal tyrant from the television series Scandal, famously snarled to his daughter, Olivia Pope, in the now-famous episode, “You have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have.” This sentiment was not just a fictional line from a television show, as much as a motto instilled in many Black women from the time they bring home their first report cards in schools. This legacy of carrying heavy burdens and constant struggle, is no doubt the weight that many Black women carry subconsciously without even realizing that they can, in fact choose a different path forward for themselves and the generations that will come behind them.
When it comes to studying and understanding the impact of self-care on quality of life and longevity, research on the culture and practices of White women is necessary. Journalist Karima Sorel urges Black women to begin pausing when preparing to make important decisions and asking themselves, “What would a white woman do?” This may seem like an oversimplification at first glance; however, it may be just the reframing Black women need to save their lives. In a society accustomed to Black women saving presidential elections for political parties, starting the most small businesses, shouldering the most single-parent households, there is a growing movement for Black women to save themselves by resisting the programming of the past and centering themselves as worthy of care, consideration, rest, and restoration.
With trending social media movements finding more and more Black women leaning into their #softgirlera (stepping away from business and hustle culture in exchange for a slower pace and boundaries that preserve self care), perhaps the recommended solutions can be found by invoking Karima Sorel’s question, “What would a white woman do?” While the intention here is not to generalize to White women (as no group of people are a monolith), it is to acknowledge that, by the numbers, White women have privileges afforded them by way of the societal privileges bestowed upon them, that Black women may be able to learn from, if they are ever to allow space in their lives for the regenerative rest they need to thrive and ensure the quality of their health and wellbeing.
Outsourcing with Intention
Perhaps one of the biggest impacts to Black communities was the integration of the 1960s. Whereas many communities of color historically have a more communal living structure where supports are organically embedded, the rigid individualism of Western cultures has led more Black people to aspire to such individualism. As a result, we see less support readily being provided in family structures and communities. For this reason, the rest of Black women will require outsourcing and leveraging of community. When it comes to hiring for cleaning services, nannies, tutors, meal preparation and a whole host of other things, it has long been socially acceptable for White women to ask for and receive help in these ways. Even in situations where they are stay at home wives, they may still find outsourcing by way of paid services or intentional familial support as meaningful ways to take things off of their plates and create margin and ease in their lives.
While these types of services are also an economic luxury in the minds of some, little planning and problem solving goes a long way here. If finances are limited, some strategizing questions for you to answer may include: Is there a neighbor that has a responsible teenager you can pay a small fee to come clean the kitchen and load the dishwasher in your home at the end of the day, while you enjoy uninterrupted time with your family or alone? Is there a trusted friend in the neighborhood that can rotate drop off and pickup duties with your family each week? Perhaps your child’s grandparents aren’t regularly available, but they can commit to one day a week where they will show up and give you some time to breathe and rest or have a date night? This approach to outsourcing requires Black women to acknowledge that they are not superwomen that need to attempt to do everything to prove they can. They have already proven they can. Now is the time for a supportive community and radical rest.
Taking Time for Care
In addition to outsourcing, White women have given a masterclass on the self care and wellness practices that have alluded many Black women for generations. In her book, “Nice White Ladies,” Jessie Daniels explains, “Purveyors of the wellness industry create white-only spaces, and construct a specific normative identity, namely the white-hetero-lady who is in need of care. In creating and orienting itself around this identity, the wellness industry excludes communities of color and obscures the reasons for their struggles. Wellness is portrayed as a product for consumption, instead of something that is contingent upon larger structural issues like systemic racism and poverty.” From the world-class spa treatments to sunrise yoga classes, Black women must begin to both hold space and create safe spaces for radical self care.
While waiting on a green smoothie order at an award-winning wellness resort, when asked “What do you do to stay looking so good?” a seasoned White lady, proceeded to explain that she took good care of herself. While unplugging from her husband and kids on a solo trip, she explained that she made a habit of leaving her husband and kids, regularly, to just take care of herself. It was not an option that may or may not happen. It was a planned and budgeted part of her lifestyle. A default setting. While investing thousands of dollars in getaways may be a tad ambitious, the mindset shift is the most important thing here. A plan for a quarterly or bi-annual staycation where you spend a weekend at a local hotel in your price range may be the start. A regular massage appointment, calendar blocking time for exercise and wellness time that is non negotiable, creating a skincare routine that nourishes your skin and prepares you to get deeper, black out shades that allow for more restorative sleep. The possibilities are endless, but the intention is the key.
Mind Body Connection
In Western traditions, and some religious practices, many people think of their mental wellbeing as separate from the experience they are having in their physical bodies, but this is a major misconception. According to Dr. Chris Mosunic, “Mental wellbeing is understood to be just as important as physical health. Not only that, but the two are interlinked and can have a direct impact on the other, which can affect our overall health and wellbeing. This is called the mind-body connection — and it’s more significant than you think.” When considering the historical positioning and ancestral trauma of Black women in America, the need to tend to the garden of our mental health becomes even more apparent, yet White people continue to be the most likely to take advantage of mental healthcare services.
In recent years, conversations on mental health, therapy, emotional wellbeing, mindfulness and stress reduction have become more socially acceptable and mainstream. When Black women consider the impact of stress, sleep deprivation, and exhaustion on their physical health and quality of life, they have to make a choice to radically resist oppressive systems that want to place more demand on their bodies in the name of capitalism. In her New York Times best selling book “Rest as Resistance,” Tricia Hersey admonishes Black people to reclaim their rest as an act of liberation their ancestors did not have a right to. She further explains “Capitalism wants you to be a machine.You are not a machine. You are a divine human being.”
Prioritizing the mind-body connection may look like holding space for prayer and meditation, depending on your spiritual practice, or morning yoga by yourself in your living room, a morning run around your neighborhood through nature with the sun kissing your face, or a monthly check in with your therapist to talk through what you’re currently living through. Internalizing this work is the first step for many Black women, as society may have them feel such practices are selfish or luxuries they can’t afford to focus on for fear of losing an hour away from corporate productivity, but it’s the first step in fortifying the body and mind in a world that continues to look to Black women a superwomen.
