Young African American Women and Their Environment: Contemporary African American Feminine Identities, Political Views and the Sense of Security

• Thesis title in Czech: Mladé afroamerické ženy a jejich prostředí: Současné afroamerické ženské identity, politické názory a pocit bezpečí
• Thesis title in English: Young African American Women and Their Environment: Contemporary African American Feminine Identities, Political Views and the Sense of Security
• Key words: současná afroamerická ženská identita|identita|mladé afroamerické ženy|bezpečné prostředí|politické názory|bezpečnost|intersubjektivita|autenticita|úspěch|sociální třídy|rasismus|intersekcionální vs. bílý feminismus
• English key words: contemporary african-american feminine identity|identity|young african-american women|safe environment|political views|security|intersubjectivity|authenticity vs. success|social classes|racism|intersectional vs. white feminism
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2022/2023
• Thesis type: Bachelor's thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK)
• Supervisor: Mgr. Blanka Maderová, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 12.10.2022
• Date of assignment: 12.10.2022
• Administrator's approval: approved
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 24.11.2022
• Date and time of defence: 13.06.2023 00:00
• Date of electronic submission: 30.03.2023
• Date of proceeded defence: 13.06.2023
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: Mgr. Pavla Veselá, Ph.D.

Guidelines

This thesis focuses on young African American women and their environment. Particularly, we ask how the environment they are surrounded by becomes reflected in parts of their identities. The specific elements of their identities analyzed in this thesis include contemporary African-American feminine identity, political views as an identity feature, and lastly, the importance of safe environment and the sense of security. As the writers are young Black women living in the 21st century in the United States, they offer us - the readers - their unique perspectives via their literary works where they write about everyday life and what they know best. Secondary sources also feature in this paper.
The specificities of said elements are to be examined with the use of three contemporary novels written by three different young African American women writers; Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, and The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris.
This thesis will first describe and explain the identity-defining components to see just how specific the identity of young African American women is today. What is also taken into consideration is the presence of active political movements and parties, current events, and the general state of modern-day American society concerning the Black community, including the minor issues its members are faced with on daily basis, as well as the larger ones they have been dealing with for years.
After the introductory chapter, three chapters are dedicated to the three contemporary novels. The literary works were chosen due to their relevance, the important difference between the environment of the main characters in the books, and the prestige the books possess, as their authors became very successful despite all of them still being new to the literary field. It was also necessary to select novels that came out in recent years, as this thesis explores the current state of the lives of contemporary African American women.
Each of the chapters is divided into subsections. The subsections concern each of the three elements this thesis focuses on. The first element examined in each of the novels is contemporary African-American feminine identity, because young Black women in America have a special experience that is unique to them only. The second part discusses how political views can influence the lives of young Black women, and the third subsection explores the significance of safe environment and the sense of security.
The final chapter offers a summary of the novels highlighting the aspects that were analyzed, with the use of secondary literature that relates to the thesis topic.
The ultimate goal of this thesis is to present an overview of the identity features of contemporary African American women with the use of literary works of contemporary and well-respected African American women writers, to see just how much their environment shapes and influences their own identities, views and their well-being, or quality of their lives.

References

Reid, Kiley. 2019. Such a Fun Age. Penguin Publishing Group.
Harris, Zakiya Dalila. 2021. The other black girl: a novel. New York, New York: Atria Books.
Mottley, Leila. 2022. Nightcrawling. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Gentry, Bobbi. 2017. “Political Identity: Meaning, Measures, and Evidence”. Why Youth Vote: 19-48.

Morrison, Toni. 1993. Playing in the dark: whiteness and the literary imagination. New York: Vintage Books.

Gonzalez, Cesar A., and Katie Spencer. 2015. "Femininity." The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality: 369-426.

Davis, A. W. 2018. African American femininity: An investigation of the hegemonic and unique culturally specific norms defining womanhood (Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron).