INT also provides perspective with the processes whereby a single defines her sociocultural title owing to self-reflection of their own multifaceted cultural, cultural, spiritual, public, sex, sexual, professional and/otherwise personal identities
- COVID-19
- Academics and you may lookup
- University reports
- People
- Scholar lifestyle
- People
To own Trejha Whitfield, a good Ph.D. college student and you will scholar teaching assistant regarding the Agencies regarding Interaction, research has become a path regarding personal gains and you will the possibility to aid empower Black people. Because a black colored feminist beginner, Whitfield and thrives during the teaching anybody else to your nuanced indicates Black colored people develop and adapt its cultural identities through the hair styles. Her most recent endeavor is actually entitled “My personal Kinky Locks are Stunning: An Autoethnography out-of a black colored Woman’s Name Negotiation through Tresses.”
Trejha Whitfield’s latest research study has-been a method out of personal growth and the opportunity to help enable Black colored ladies
The present data takes an enthusiastic autoethnographic means that reflects into Whitfield’s own enjoy determining tips don the woman locks so you can the girl very first national conference.
“While the a black woman, if or not I love to don my locks sheer for the an afro, or design they in the locs, braids, or wear an excellent weave, I’m sending a contact to the world regarding my personal identity,” she said. “One solutions are going to be conscious otherwise unconscious and certainly will additionally be a governmental statement or a work regarding empowerment. There are some cultural generalizations having Black colored ladies who can also be be made from this possibilities.”
Whitfield’s really works, that was showed from the yearly Graduate Research Symposium, would depend simply into the interviews along with other Black colored female from the the experience along with their hair
“We accustomed believe that I might be much more likely to blend into the with upright tresses than simply which have an afro – I always build men and women options to, you might say, decrease my Blackness,” she said. “Now, We no longer attempt to hide or even dilute my Black label. My personal locks are my options, and i also describe what’s ‘acceptable’ otherwise ‘top-notch.’ It doesn’t matter how I wear it, I’m stating my authentic thinking.”
From the procedure, Whitfield claims she experienced a keen “informative rebirth” in which she first battled in order to define her very own lookup hobbies and character as an university student. She credit the help out of her advisors, coaches and colleagues in the encouraging this lady to keep her travel out of self-meditation and you can redefinition.
“It had been an incredibly vulnerable action to take, yet verified one my enjoy given that a black colored woman and as the a black colored scholar try valid plus they https://datingmentor.org/swinging-heaven-review/ count. My feel – and the ones of any most other Black colored girl – is actually extreme to numerous teams when you look at the academia and you can beyond,” said Whitfield. “Could work also offers insights for a much bigger listeners looking to to know the latest notice-words and you can identities regarding on their own while some.”
Whitfield’s other look on Black women’s hair and the body politics enjoys including looked at the results from Eurocentric criteria from charm, stereotypes to have Black colored Western ladies when take a trip overseas, and you will Black colored hair towards the YouTube. This lady job is presented having fun with Black feminist epistemology and you may Stella Ting-Toomey’s label discussion theory (INT). The brand new seriously personal and you may state-of-the-art characteristics away from Whitfield’s look provided the lady to follow qualitative search procedures instance autoethnography, which prioritizes discussing and you will significantly looking at one’s multifaceted resided knowledge. She together with employs interviewing strategies enabling almost every other Black lady to share with their own stories.
“Information your own personal and you will social identities makes it possible to most readily useful discover other people, especially those of variable backgrounds,” told you Whitfield. “It could be a challenging discussion for that have oneself, yet , searching inwards to understand exactly how those issues determine which you are and just how you understand the world usually boost how you can connect with anybody else, and as a result the method that you come together and you may discuss.”
Whitfield dreams one to this lady functions will assist others develop a much better understanding of their personal identities, spark attraction and you may conversation, and you may disrupt problematic personal buildings affecting Black people.
“Often, a very important thing can be done when sharing a delicate or unfamiliar subject is to only query a concern – amuse notice,” she said. “It is Okay becoming awkward in order to understand – and achieving the fresh new bravery to take part in these discussions try help the organization and you will expression off an individual’s unique and rewarding identities.”
Comentarios