No longer invisible: understanding the psychosocial impact of skin color stratification in the lives of African American women
Abstract
This article examines how skin color stratification, termed "colorism," affects the psychological well-being of African American women. Previous research has shown that the experience of colorism is pervasive within the black community and that black women have been culturally or personally affected by intraracial discrimination. This article describes a qualitative study that used focus groups to investigate the experiences of black women that were categorized according to their self-ascribed skin tone group. The findings indicated that women of different hues have distinctive experiences based on their skin tone, and that these experiences influence how they felt about themselves and interact with others. The article concludes with a discussion of practice, research, and policy implications.
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This supports US qualitative research with Black women and adolescent Black girls that emphasises the negative impact of gendered colourism on participants.
“This supports US qualitative research with Black women and adolescent Black girls that emphasises the negative impact of gendered colourism on participants (Hall, 2017; Abrams et al., 2020).”
From Skin shade and relationships: how colourism pits Black and mixed Black-White women against each other (2024) · cites this paper as Hall, 2017
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- Authors
- Hall, J. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hall, J. Camille
- ORCID
- Hall, J. Camille
- Venue
- Health & Social Work
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2017-02-27
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 71-78
- ISSN
- 0360-7283 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-6854
- OpenAlex
- W2607263775
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 8.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health & Social Work (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
- Keywords
- colorism, African American women, psychosocial impact, psychological well-being, self-perception, skin tone, self-esteem, social interaction
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Black or African American, Female, Humans, Skin Pigmentation, Focus Groups, Qualitative Research, Racism
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