"And Am I Not a Woman?" Confluences Between Psychoanalysis and the Black Woman

Abstract

This work is part of our master's research, which has proposed to investigate, from narratives of black women, the perceptions and meanings of their experiences as women, as well as to identify the markers of the difference in their experiences around femininity and what makes a black woman experience femininity in her own way. We rely on the methodological perspective of psychoanalytic research on social and political phenomena, understanding that our issue stems from a political-social impasse, which has been examined from the transferential relationship and the inseparability between theory, clinic and research. We have used the interview resource as an instrument for the production of analysis material. Thus, we have interviewed three black women, which were invited to share their stories and experiences as women. From the theoretical debate and from the material that have raised in the interviews, it was possible to identify the complexities of the process of becoming woman and black, from the markers scattered through the social bond, as it has subjective specificities. Furthermore, thinking about the meaning of the symbols used by black women and relying on another black woman to present these elements are directions that can impact these women's experience of femininity.