Marriage matters for Black middle-class women: A review of Black American marriages, work, and family life
Corresponding Author
LaToya D. Council
Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Correspondence
LaToya D. Council, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, 851 Downey Way, Hazel Stanley Hall 314, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
LaToya D. Council
Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Correspondence
LaToya D. Council, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, 851 Downey Way, Hazel Stanley Hall 314, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
It is well documented that Black women tend to experience lower marriage participation than non-Black women because of the marriage squeeze, including an unequal sex-ratio within age cohorts, and the increase in economic precarity among Black men. The experience of the marriage squeeze impacts poor, and college educated Black women, but this is only one viewpoint. Drawing on work and family research at the intersection of racial identity, gender, and class, I argue that marriage provides Black middle-class women access to privileges and resources like safety and kin networks within a U.S. nation-state constrained by racism and sexism. By relying on marriage, Black middle-class women can realize personal and familial desires, as well as encounter patriarchal oppression. I end this review with a discussion on future directions for research in this area, and a discussion on imagined futures for Black women that incorporates self-love and self-actualization.
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