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Learning from the Outsider Within

Outsiders contribute to our understanding of society and culture through a perspective only possible when one is given access to somewhere, all parties involved understand, you don’t belong. Sociologically, outsiders maintain an objective impossible for someone personally invested and because the outsider is not usually considered a potential threat they are often granted a different kind of confidence, with a clear view of insider privilege. When specifically looking at the Black woman’s perspective we also consider the myriad of stereotypes associated with Black women, both positive and negative, and remember that all Black women are aware of these images every day of their lives. Arguing that all people are stereotyped would downplay the dehumanizing effect of the Black woman stereotypes and the efforts she must engage in to achieve self-value when surrounded by people who might easily replace you with another ‘other’. The act of self-definition is as much of a rejection of the status quo as it is a necessary assertion of human autonomy that anchors the Black female survival.

The stigma attached to Black femaleness provides a direct line to inescapable oppressive attitudes. Collectively self-redefining the values of Black women’s culture provides a creative multilayer expression of class, race and gender in the face of oppression. The importance of the interpersonal relationships of Black women with each other, their children and community work are examples of social and cultural structures that assist in relieving some of the pressure of oppression. The activism in the form of daily behavior encouragingly rejecting objectification is significant and provides an analytical response to perceptions of political and economic choice that seem out of reach for reasons outside of your control. In the field of Sociology this translates into an ability to see ‘normal’ for the anomaly it is and provides more meaningful and critical observations for social theory regarding generalizations.