WOMEN IN FRONTIER ARKANSAS

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 575-612
Author(s):  
Cheryl Elman ◽  
Barbara Wittman ◽  
Kathryn M. Feltey ◽  
Corey Stevens ◽  
Molly Hartsough
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Life Course ◽  
White Women ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Predominantly Black ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Farm Ownership

AbstractArkansas was a demographic frontier after the U.S. Civil War. Despite marked agricultural land deforestation and development after the 1870s, it remained agrarian well into the twentieth century. We fuse life course and racial state frameworks to examine Black and White women’s settlement in Arkansas over the post-Civil War period (1880-1910). A racial state empowers residents and enacts policies based on race rather than equal citizenship rights. We highlight three institutional domains shaped by racial state policies: productive economies (subsistence, mixed commercialism, and plantation production); stratification on an agricultural ladder (from sharecropping to forms of tenancy to farm ownership); and rules of raced (and gendered) social control. We examine women’s settlement patterns and related outcomes in an institutional context at different life course stages using mixed methods: women’s oral histories and Census data analysis. We find that by 1880 White women and families, less attracted by forces of marketization, had largely migrated to subsistence and mixed commercial subregions. Black women and families, generally desiring to rise on the agricultural ladder to farm ownership, largely migrated to the rich lands found in plantation production counties. Black women in Arkansas could rise but, by 1910, new racial state (Jim Crow) policies more severely limited travel, material resources, and education for tenant farm families, predominantly Black, in the plantation subregion. Commensurate with this, Black women in the plantation subregion had experienced less status mobility on the agricultural ladder, with reduced living standards, by later life.

scholarly journals Racial Differences in Depression Trajectories among Older Women

2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi J. Spence ◽  
Daniel E. Adkins ◽  
Matthew E. Dupre
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
White Women ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Growth Curve Models ◽  
Black And White

Despite recent increases in life course research on mental illness, important questions remain about the social patterning of, and explanations for, depression trajectories among women in later life. The authors investigate competing theoretical frameworks for the age patterning of depressive symptoms and the physical health, socioeconomic, and family mechanisms differentiating black and white women. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women, the authors use linear mixed (growth curve) models to estimate trajectories of distress for women aged 52 to 81 years ( N = 3,182). The results demonstrate that: (1) there are persistently higher levels of depressive symptoms among black women relative to white women throughout later life; (2) physical health and socioeconomic status account for much of the racial gap in depressive symptoms; and (3) marital status moderates race differences in distress. The findings highlight the importance of physical health, family, and socioeconomic status in racial disparities in mental health.

Racial Differences in the Household Composition of Elders by Age, Gender, and Area of Residence

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond T. Coward ◽  
Gary R. Lee ◽  
Julie K. Netzer ◽  
Stephen J. Cutler ◽  
Nicholas L. Danigelis
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
White Women ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Married Couple ◽  
Household Composition ◽  
Multigenerational Households

Using census data and an innovative technique for describing the composition of households from the perspective of elders, this research provides a more detailed description of race differences in living arrangements of older persons than has previously existed. In addition, cross tabulations of race with other factors known to influence household composition (gender, age, and area of residence) are examined. While white women are more likely than black women to live alone, the reverse is true among men. Whites are more likely than blacks to live in married-couple-only households, and blacks are more likely than whites to live in multigenerational households, although these differences decrease with advancing age. Blacks are also more likely than whites to live with collateral kin or nonkin only, although these categories comprise small proportions of the population. Implications of these differences for caregiving and quality of life among older persons are discussed.

scholarly journals Health Literacy and Health Conditions at the Intersections of Gender and Race in Later Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 871-871
Author(s):  
Takashi Yamashita ◽  
Darren Liu ◽  
Betty Burston ◽  
Jennifer Keene
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
White Women ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Optimal Health ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Abstract The benefits of health literacy are well-documented. Health literacy is a set of skills to locate, understand, and use health-related information to make optimal health decisions. However, relatively less is known about the long-term relationship between health literacy and overall health conditions among older adults. Additionally, health literacy and health at the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity, rather than gender and race separately, are yet to be investigated. This study analyzed sub-samples (n = 1,260 adults age 50+) of the 2010 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) health literacy module data, and the 2012, 2014, and 2016 HRS data to examine the trajectories of health based on eight physical and mental conditions (0-8 points: better-worse) among older adults. Latent growth curve mixture models were used to investigate the changes in health and six groups defined by gender (women and men) and race/ethnicity (White, Black, and Hispanic). Results showed that overall health deteriorated over time (latent-slope = 0.19, p < 0.001) but the trajectories were diverse (latent-slope variance = 0.06, p < 0.001). Greater health literacy (0-5 points: worse-best scaling), which was measured with a validated scale, was associated with better overall health only among White women and men. Notably, White women received the baseline health benefits (b = -0.20, p < 0.05) from health literacy whereas Black women (b = 0.09, p > 0.05) did not [Δb = 0.09 -(-0.20) = 0.29, p < 0.05]. Other detailed comparisons, theoretical explanations, and public health policy implications for diverse older populations were evaluated.

Do Black and White Women Hold Different Jobs in the Same Occupation? a Critical Analysis of the Clerical and Service Sectors

1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 68-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustin Kwasi Fosu
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
White Women ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Black Female ◽  
Slight Reduction ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Service Sectors ◽  
Predominantly Female

Employing 1960 and 1981 census data at the three-digit level, the study finds that black and white women were employed at different jobs in the predominantly female clerical and service occupations in both 1960 and 1981. However, there appears to be a slight reduction in black female job dissimilarity with white females between 1960 and 1981 in both occupations. Moreover, while employment of black women, relative to white women, in 1960 was observed to be generally skewed toward the low-paying, low-status jobs in clerical and service occupations, there was little evidence of this trend by 1981. The present results, then, complement previous findings at the more aggregative two-digit level of black female occupational advancement since the mid-1960s.

scholarly journals Politics, Passion, Prejudice: Alice Childress's Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICKY CASHMAN
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
White Women ◽  
White Male ◽  
Predominantly Black ◽  
Black And White ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Tragic Drama ◽  
Interracial Relationship

Last night I dreamed of the dead slaves – all the murdered black and bloody men silently gathered at the foot-a my bed. Oh, that awful silence. I wish the dead could scream and fight back. What they do to us …Julia Augustine, Wedding BandHistorical and universal issues of love and hate, patriarchy and bigotry prevail in Alice Childress's tragic drama Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White. Originally written in the early 1960s, the play was not printed or performed professionally until 1966, despite some interest in producing the play on Broadway. Hence, due to its alleged controversial subject matter, the play remained largely unknown to mainstream audiences. Childress, it seems, unfashionably portrays a long-standing, committed interracial relationship set in 1918 South Carolina. This representation conflictingly juxtaposes with the well-documented fervent civil rights period of the mid-1960s. Additionally, with predominantly black and white male civil rights activists peacefully enforcing laws upholding desegregation in the South, Childress demonstrates segregation's insidious nature primarily through the insightfulness and experience of black women. This perceptiveness introduces what Childress herself penned as “anti-woman laws,” patriarchal norms that made living incredibly difficult for black and white women alike.

scholarly journals Cardiovascular Health at the Intersection of Race and Gender: Identifying Life-Course Processes to Reduce Health Disparities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chioun Lee ◽  
Soojin Park ◽  
Jennifer M Boylan
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Black Men ◽  
White Women ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
White Men ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Unmeasured Confounders

Abstract Objective Cardiovascular health (CVH) is associated with reductions in age-related disease and later-life mortality. Black adults, particularly Black women, are less likely to achieve ideal CVH. Guided by intersectionality and life-course approaches, we examine to what degree (a) disparities in CVH exist at the intersection of race and gender and (b) CVH disparities would be reduced if marginalized groups had the same levels of resources and adversities as privileged groups. Methods We used biomarker subsamples from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) core and Refresher studies (N = 1,948). Causal decomposition analysis was implemented to test hypothetical interventions to equalize the distribution of early-life adversities (ELAs), perceived discrimination, or midlife SES between marginalized and privileged groups. We conducted sensitivity analyses to determine to what degree unmeasured confounders would invalidate our findings. Results White women have the highest CVH score, followed by White men, Black men, and Black women. Intervening on ELAs would reduce the disparities: White men vs. Black women (30% of reduction) and White women vs. Black women (15%). Intervening on perceived discrimination would not substantially change initial disparities. Intervening on midlife SES would yield large disparity reductions: White men vs. Black men (64%), White men vs. Black women (60%), and White women vs. Black women (27%). These reductions are robust to unmeasured confounders. Discussion Providing economic security in adulthood for Blacks may help reduce racial disparities in CVH. Preventing exposure to ELAs among Black women may reduce their vulnerability to cardiovascular disease, compared to White adults.

scholarly journals Inter-Individual Variability in Trajectories of Functional Limitations by Race/Gender

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 1082-1092
Author(s):  
Jielu Lin
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Black Men ◽  
White Women ◽  
Interindividual Variability ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
White Men ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Objective Several theories emphasize that systematic interindividual divergence is a key feature of cohort aging and evidence for accumulative social inequality over the life course. While many have documented widening health gaps with age between subgroups, such divergence is only one aspect of the broader social inequality based on race and gender. This article examines patterns of interindividual variability in trajectories of functional limitations within each race/gender. Methods Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)’s HRS cohort (born 1931–1941), I estimate growth curves of functional limitations with Level 2 heteroscedasticity, allowing interindividual variability to differ across 4 groups: white men, black men, white women, and black women. I examine race/gender differences in the age-based pattern of interindividual variability using an interquartile range of estimated individual trajectories. Results Black men, white women, and black women have greater interindividual variability in functional limitations than do white men. Interindividual variability increases systematically with age at similar rates for all groups but black women. Discussion Functional limitations become more heterogeneous with age for the entire cohort and for white men, white women, and black men. Future research should identify life-course processes that generate the race and gender patterning of interindividual variability in late-life health.

scholarly journals Racial/Ethnic Differences in Women’s Life Event Exposure Across Midlife

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
R E Koffer ◽  
R C Thurston ◽  
J T Bromberger ◽  
K A Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Ethnic Differences ◽  
White Women ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Japanese Women ◽  
Annual Number ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Abstract Objective Stressful life events are associated with poorer physical, cognitive, and mental health. Examining life events trends across midlife illustrates normative experiences of stress in a critical life period for intervention and disease prevention. Further, there is a critical need for research with racially/ethnically diverse samples to identify differences in life event exposure, as they may relate to later health disparities. Method Annual life event reports were analyzed from 3,066 White, Black, Hispanic, Chinese, and Japanese women in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Across ages 43–65, longitudinal trajectories were fit to annual number of life events and 9 subcategories of life events (i.e., work problems, economic problems, partner unemployment, illness/accident of loved one, caregiving, bereavement, relationship problems, family legal/police problems, and violent events that happened to the self or family). Racial/ethnic differences were examined, controlling for education. Results Number of annual life events declined with age and plateaued in later midlife. This pattern was largely consistent across types of life events, though family health and bereavement-related life events increased in later midlife. Compared to White women, Black women experienced more life events, while Chinese, Hispanic, and Japanese women experienced fewer life events. Racial/ethnic differences were amplified in specific subtypes of life events. Discussion Racial/ethnic differences in exposure to life events across midlife may contribute to racial/ethnic health disparities in later life.

The Economic Progress of Black Women, 1940–1980: Occupational Distribution and Relative Wages

ILR Review ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 540-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Cunningham ◽  
Nadja Zalokar
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
White Women ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Relative Wages ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Women's Wages

This paper uses Census data on women's wages and occupations from the years 1940–80 to examine long-term trends in black women's relative economic status. The paper links black women's increased relative wages after 1940 to their entry, especially after 1960, into occupations and industries in which they were previously unrepresented, most notably factory jobs and clerical work. The authors find little evidence that convergence in the characteristics of black and white women (increasingly similar education, for example) is responsible for black women's increased relative wages and occupational status and conclude that black women's improved economic status after 1940 was largely due to decreases in racial discrimination by occupation and industry. They also find that in the South racial discrimination had greater adverse effects on black women, and began to decrease later, than in the rest of the country.

scholarly journals Life-course socio-economic factors, skin colour and abdominal obesity in adulthood in a Brazilian birth cohort

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 2225-2235 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A González ◽  
Aydin Nazmi ◽  
John S Yudkin ◽  
Cesar G Victora
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Abdominal Obesity ◽  
White Women ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Skin Colour ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Nutritional Disorder ◽  
Economic Position

AbstractObjectiveObesity is an increasingly prevalent nutritional disorder throughout the world. In particular, abdominal obesity is associated with cardiovascular and metabolic risk. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of skin colour and life-course socio-economic indicators on waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and waist:hip ratio (WHR) in young adults.DesignPopulation-based birth cohort study. Individuals born in 1982 in Pelotas (southern Brazil) were visited on a number of occasions from birth to age 23–24 years. A sample of the cohort was sought in 2006 and 972 individuals were located. The analysis was restricted to individuals with complete data available (442 males, 414 females).ResultsIn men, family income at birth and in 2004–5 were positively associated with WC and HC, but not with WHR. Regardless of current income, men born to wealthier families had larger WC and HC as adults. Skin colour was not associated with any of the outcomes. In women, early poverty was associated with smaller HC, and current poverty with larger WC. Poverty at any age thus led to higher WHR. Black women had larger WC and HC than white women, but there were no differences in WHR. All the associations were partially mediated by education and behavioural variables.ConclusionsThe effects of early socio-economic position on WC and HC persist even after adjustment for adult socio-economic position, highlighting the importance of interventions during the first years of life.

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