"Self in community. African American women's view of self-esteem"

I think it is interesting that this article makes the point that there is an underlining issue that black women are trying to live up to a standard that the world has created about what a women should be. I think everybody to some extent, not just women, plays into what they think people want to see and this falls along the lines of being socially accepted. The two compenents of self-esteem for black women are: Need for Social Support, and Need for Self Reliance.

This article defines social support as support coming from parents and other family members, as well as from churches and neighborhoods/communities. I agree with Carpenter when she states that the social support systeems served as the primary role of instilling values, such as pride, respect, positive outlook, self-reliance, and community identity for the African-American women. I can relate to this because my dad is my support system and if it were not for him, I wouldn't have the values that I have today. Being raised by a wonderal black man is the worth far more to me that I can put into words. Because my dad taught me to have pride and respect myself, he has help mold me into the person I am today. Having a support system will help people through a lot and he has had great inflences on me and my outlook on life. If it were not for him I don't think my self-esteem would be at the level than it is now. My dad has high self-esteem, to me, what better model is there to follow?

My daddy and I- Forever a Daddy's Girl!

Self Reliance is another component to self-esteem. I agree with this because being self-reliant means being independent. I think it is important for a women to hold her own grounds and to be independent becuase she is able to maximize her full potential to do anything that she put her mind to. Knowing that its okay to get help but not okay to expect somebody to do something for you is something that I grew up believing. I was taught to be independent so that I would not have to depend on anybody, if all necessary. I thought it was interesting that the article related self-reliance to financial independence when dealing with men. As women I think this is important because at this point, women wouldn't need a man for anything other than companionship.