Selecting Singlehood and Creating Community: How Black Women are Reclaiming Agency and Defying Stereotypes

Abstract:As early as 43 years ago, researchers began raising concerns about the deterioration of the Black family unit (Staples, 1979; Spanier & Glick, 1980; Teachman et al., 1987; Bronzaft, 1991; Washington & Newman, 1991; Porter & Bronzaft, 1995; Davis et al., 1997). Many pointed to instability among Black relationships as the root of the problem. There is data to support this theory: marriage rates among Black U.S. adults ages 25 and older dropped from 60% in 1970 to 35% in 2014 (Pew Research Center, 2016). Furthermore, increasing numbers of Black women have indicated their expectation to remain unmarried, from 7% in 1991 to 15% in 1995 (Bronzaft, 1991; Porter & Bronzaft, 1995). A potential contributing factor to this phenomenon can be found in a 1997 study of Black dating professionals' perceptions of their romantic relationships. The participants indicated equal levels of overall satisfaction among men and women, but women reported perceiving less equity and experiencing less ideal relationships than men (Davis et al., 1997). Present day, some of these beliefs and the overall downward trend in Black marriage have persisted. Black women are increasingly viewing marriage as a commitment that should not be pursued with just anyone, regardless of the potential social benefits of the partnership (Awosan & Hardy, 2017; Barros-Gomez & Baptist, 2014; Holland, 2009). Thus, Black singlehood is emerging as a conscious choice and a complex state for Black women across age domains (Moorman, 2020; Mouzon et al., 2020). So why are Black women using their agency to forgo marriage, and what communities are they building to replace the nuclear family?