Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America - Softcover

Jones, Charisse

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060090553 ISBN 13: 9780060090555

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2004

Synopsis

Based on the African American Women's Voices Project, Shifting reveals that a large number of African American women feel pressure to com-promise their true selves as they navigate America's racial and gender bigotry. Black women "shift" by altering the expectations they have for themselves or their outer appearance. They modify their speech. They shift "White" as they head to work in the morning and "Black" as they come back home each night. They shift inward, internalizing the searing pain of the negative stereotypes that they encounter daily. And sometimes they shift by fighting back.

With deeply moving interviews, poignantly revealed on each page, Shifting is a much-needed, clear, and comprehensive portrait of the reality of African American women's lives today.

About this title

About the Author:

Charisse Jones is a national correspondent for USA Today. A former staff writer for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, she has been a commentator for National Public Radio and is a contributing writer for Essence magazine.

Kumea Shorter-Gooden, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in private practice and a professor at the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University, Los Angeles.

From Publishers Weekly:

USA Today correspondent Jones and psychologist Shorter-Gooden initiated the African American Women's Voices Project and recorded the experiences of 333 survey respondents and 71 interviewees. The results are here compiled to form an urgent narrative, doggedly chasing the hypothesis of the book's title: that the twin bigotries of race and gender force black women to constantly "shift" between identities in order to accommodate the expectations thrust upon them by black men and white America. "From one moment to the next, they change their outward behavior, attitude, or tone, shifting `white,' then shifting `Black' again, shifting `corporate,' shifting `cool.' " The authors argue that the contemporary survival tactic of shifting is rooted in slavery, but history does not figure strongly, with the bulk of the book composed of quoted testimonies from the research subjects, tracking their shifting experiences in the realms of communication, mental health, beauty standards, romance, child-rearing and religion. Compelling and educational tribulations are piled on, but the authors rarely pause to reflect on the contradictions or solutions the stories present. Yet the book makes a real contribution, as men and women of all races will find it an illuminating if sometimes shocking record of life between two "isms."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0060090553
• ISBN 13: 9780060090555
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368