Compelled by the Spirit

Writing about his personal journey toward feminist and womanist manhood, the author of this chapter revisits his relationships with family members. He records his experience of “patriarchal masculinity and heterosexist battering abuse.” The author attributes his pro-feminist/womanist identity to his mother and what she taught him about her life as a black woman. He states that she would be the first woman to introduce him to the meaning of feminism. As he continues his narrative toward self-transformation—he shares how his college education and his work as a professor and activist in Labor Studies would transport him to a deeper understanding his mother’s life and that of other black/women of color. The author refers to them his “other mothers and soul sisters.” Ultimately, he aims to “challenge males of all ages and (of all races and ethnicities) to open themselves up to the self-transforming power of feminism and womanism.”

How Do Feminist-Identified Women Cope With Discrimination? A Feminist Standpoint and Grounded Theory Study

Women experience a higher incidence of mental health concerns compared to men, and scholars have located these challenges within a discriminatory sociocultural context. Although scholars have suggested that feminist attitudes may shield women from discrimination, research on the protective role of feminist attitudes is discrepant and suggests that there are distinct differences between those who do and do not self-identify as feminist; namely, self-identifiers may be more protected in the face of discrimination. Utilizing grounded theory and intersectional feminist standpoint methodologies, in this study we sought to understand the ways that self-identified womanist and feminist women cope with discrimination. We found that women’s feminist and cultural identities intersected, each informing the other and influencing coping mechanisms and well-being. Moreover, results demonstrated that feminist women call upon a variety of different coping mechanisms in response to discrimination, including advocacy, social support, self-care, cognitive processes, disengagement, connecting to one’s femininity, and religion and spirituality. Although possessing a feminist and/or womanist identity appeared to be protective in some cases, at other times it did not. Some participants expressed feeling marginalized from the feminist community and felt that their greater awareness of oppression was an additional source of distress. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for mental health clinicians and research scholars.

Womanist Ways and Pentecostalism: The Work of Recovery and Critique

This essay questions the notion that a womanist identity and Pentecostal faith are mutually exclusive. Using major tenets of womanist theology, I argue for an honest recovery of all the personal and political influences on classical Pentecostalism as a way to move forward to a more egalitarian faith. Seeking to redress the lack of scholarship about women of color in early Pentecostalism, the essay raises questions that, I hope, will spur more research and interest in a womanist Pentecostal theology.

Advancing Womanist Identity Development

Scholars have called for increased attention to within-group variability in models and measures of identity development. As a step toward responding to these calls, the current review focuses on the womanist identity development model as a model of gender-related identity development that has been argued to be applicable to women across racial/ethnic, class, and other groups. The review provides an introduction to the womanist identity development model and its operationalization, critically analyzes literature on the model and its measurement, and explores directions for further development of womanist identity development theory and research.