An explorative study on narratives and subjective meanings of black economically empowered women (BEEW) about black men's perceptions about BEEW

Abstract

The primary focus of the research is to explore the narratives and subjective meanings of black economically empowered women (BEEW) about black men’s perceptions about BEEW. The researcher explored the experiences of these women and identified some of the challenges that they may face as a result of such experiences. The theoretical frameworks used are based on the theories of empowerment and the Black Feminist theories, with both attempting to explore black women’s experiences. This study is exploratory and qualitative in nature, with the focus on the BEEW’s subjective experiences which were gathered from each of the individuals who participated in this study. The interviews conducted were individual and face-to-face. The purposive sampling method was used to select the participants and all ethical considerations such as confidentiality and informed consent were taken into account. The findings of the research suggest that BEEW tend to have similar experiences in relation to most black men perceiving them as threatening and emasculating. Many participants also experienced both internal and external struggles as a result of their economic empowerment. In addition, the study also suggests that most BEEW are not intending to emasculate men, but are rather searching for relationships that are collaborative and that acknowledge each other’s strengths. Due to the small sample, generalizability of this study is limited.