Race & Ethnicity, Fall 2014: health

Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Saturday, November 22, 2014

The Natural Hair Movement

“We live in a society where racism is often subtle, consisting of such micro-aggressions that collectively attempt to kill black women's spirits.”- Ama Yawson, Huffington Post

To give some general background information, the natural hair movement is a movement designed to show and express that the natural hair of black people (though shown more through women) is perfectly fine the way it is, and does not need to conform to the ideal of straightness to be beautiful or seen as not dirty. It is also about women enjoying their natural hair, without having to worry about chemicals or procedures to ‘fix’ it. While some people worry that it has become an elitist way to look down on back women who choose to wear weaves or chemically straighten their hair [link] many women find it liberating and enjoy the community they have found in embracing their natural beauty.

"At its base level, the natural-hair movement is practical. It’s a vehicle for women to access bloggers, websites, and their peers to learn how to best care for and style their locks. But, that’s just the basics. The real “movement” of the movement has always been about black women finding self-acceptance." (Link)

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While there is a lot of positivity in the movement, I would like for focus briefly on the negative feelings that some people have. Some women feel like the natural hair movement is just a way for people to feel elitist. In the article linked above, the woman says that the people who used to look down on her natural hair are now the same people who look down on other black women for not having their hair in its natural state. She also points out that to a lot of people, "hair is just hair" and doesn't have any higher political implications. While all of these points are valid, and even true to individuals, the problem is also that for a lot of people, hair is not just hair, and something that has been used to make them feel bad about themselves or to portray them as "lesser." It has also been used as a tool to give unequal statuses to black women, and a way to portray them as 'other.'

"Beauty is subject to the hegemonic standards of the ruling class." -Tracy Owens Patton

In her article, Patton talks about the ways in which Euro-centric beauty standards (such as light skin, straight hair, and a smaller figure) can be damaging to women who do not fit these standards, since they are portrayed as the only way for women to be beautiful, and thus, valuable. She states that "Women of color looking for answers through an introspective gaze or through their communities in order to counter White hegemonically defined standards of beauty is not a new occurrence.Historically and into modern times African American beauty has been disparaged. As much of the literature on African American women and beauty has pointed out, African American women have either been the subject of erasure in the various mediated forms or their beauty has been wrought with racist stereotypes." The natural hair movement is a way to fight back against these stereotypes and to show that black women's hair is perfectly fine the way it is. It is a way for women to set their own personal beauty standards and to try and take back power. It seems to be especially important for women to have this power because even today, their is still prejudice regarding something that should be as simple as hair and letting anybody choose to wear it how they want.

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Recently, there was also a news story about another little girl who was threatened with expulsion because according to her school's dress code, her natural hairstyle of locks was deemed a "fad hairstyle." Video can be found in this article. While there are many reasons a girl can be sent home from school, (due to sexist standards in dress code) hairstyles specifically wore by young black girls fall on this list, even though these 'hairstyles' are just their natural hair.

Debunking the myth of what is beauty would require Euro American women to say "the hell with what men think" and African American women would have to say "the heck with what all of White culture thinks"- Wilson and Russell 1996, 85

Sources:

Kenneth. "I Hate the Natural Hair Movement - Curl Centric™." Curl Centric™. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

Patton, Tracey Owens. "Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair." NWSA Journal 18.2 (2006): 24-51. JSTOR. Web. 22 Nov. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4317206?ref=no-x-route:693717b1204f58362f4112988cf00336>.

Reporter, Daily Mail. "Bullied 12-year-old Girl Is Threatened with Expulsion from School for Refusing to Cut Her Natural Afro Hair." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

Klein, Rebecca. "Tiana Parker, 7, Switches Schools After Being Forbidden From Wearing Dreads." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 05 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

"Is #TeamNatural For Black Girls Only?" Refinery29. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Black Infant Mortality Rates Down, but Racial Gap Persists

During August of 2014, Oliver Ortega published an article on the Boston Globe about Black infant death rates. According to the publication, the persistent gap in infant mortality rates between black and white infants narrowed significantly in Boston. However, despite the great changes, the gap still remains. In 2000, data showed that black infants were five times more likely to die compared to white infants with 13.6 black infant deaths opposing 2.8 white infant deaths out of 1,000 live births. In 2012, the gap narrowed with 6.5 black infant deaths compared to 3 white infant deaths out of 1,000 live births.

These changes were explained through a new approach, started in 2012, where city health department nurses would help mothers during pregnancy and after. This approach was meant to help future mothers (especially black mothers) maintain healthy lifestyles during their first pregnancy and between pregnancies. The nurses would check up on the children until they reached age five. Also, it was meant to help future mothers deal with social stressors including housing, food and finances.

Stefanie Lawrence is one mother who benefitted from the new approach. Lawrence was impregnated at age 19 and, at the beginning of her pregnancy, faced various issues. She was forced to move into her relative’s home because she could not afford to buy her own house and she did not possess any health insurance. The stairs to the attic were she lived became harder to climb and the air was worsening her chronic asthma. Through her cousin, she was able to find the new approach that she lately signed up for. As a result of this program, a public health nurse visited Lawrence twice a month when she was pregnant to check her vital signs and help her organize a proper diet plan. At the same time, the nurse provided her food stamps, health insurance, and an apartment with one room for her and another for her baby. In 2012, Lawrence gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Destiny who is now 2 years old.

This is an important article because it demonstrates how race plays a key role in the access to health care. Black communities are more likely than white communities to face significant problems such as poverty that, as a result, may lead individuals to have health disparities. Blacks are more likely to face financial issues, more likely to have poorer jobs, more likely to not own a house, and more likely to not be able to afford a health insurance. As a result, they are more likely to not receive the same health resources and treatments that whites receive. Not having the same accessibility to health care may, in turn, result in higher death mortality among black infants. As reported by Ortega, Lawrence is a clear example that health disparities still exist and are still affecting millions of people around the United States. Before entering the program led by Boston, she faced a lack of resources that would have helped lead a healthy pregnancy. Through the program, she gained an opportunity to obtain the resources that she needed and, in the end, she gave birth to a healthy girl that is still healthy today.

This is also an important article because it demonstrates that, despite the gap, some major cities, such as Boston, are hardly trying to narrow the gap that has always existed. While infant mortality was very high between blacks, now the rates have decreased enough to not be as significantly high as before. However, despite these changes, the reduction of health disparities is a slow process that will take a long time to be completed.

Reference List

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/28/black-infant-mortality-rates-down-but-racial-gap-persists/szKk7uSIwIMWn2t1yEAttJ/story.html

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Access To Health Care: A Focus on Minorities

An Overview

Access to health care relates to the accessibility of satisfactory health care resources in order to sustain or advance individual’s heath. If assistance exists and there is an acceptable amount of services, then the chance to obtain health care stay. Studies on healthcare established that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to obtain high quality care in contrast to non-minorities, even when insurance status or income are regulated. Eradicating disparities in access to health care is challenging because their causes are closely related to the history of race relations in the United States.

Several Key Facts

AIDS cases among Hispanics and African Americans is three times and ten times higher than among White
36% of Latinos, 22% of African Americans, 17% of Asian Americans are uninsured compared to only 13% among Whites
African Americans and Latinos less rely on doctors compared to Whites
The accessibility gap between races did not change but remained steady or worsened over the past years

Important Health Care Disparities

Lack of Health Insurance

o Minorities are more likely to lack health insurance leading them to postpone health care or use unnecessary medication

Lack of Financial Resources

o Many minorities have a health insurance plan that does not let them access to many the available services or limit the number of providers available

Irregular Source of Care

o Minorities are more likely to be able to visit the same doctor and more likely to use emergency rooms compared to the dominant group

Lack of Health Care Providers

o The majority of ethnic and racial minorities live in areas where the number of physicians and providers is low

Why Health Care Accessibilities Matters?

Ethnic and Racial Minorities deserve high-quality health care
By 2050, the minority group will outnumber the dominant group
Despite the large efforts to increase access to health care, gabs in health car are increasing instead of getting smaller

What Should Be Done to Increase Access to Health Care?

Increase Health Care Professional’s cultural sensitivity through Cultural Competency Training
Increase public awareness of the health care gap
Increase health insurance
Improve the number and quality of providers and professionals in low served communities
Increase the awareness of causes and intervention to increase health care accessibility