If you don't really want to be liked but you want to be respected, aren't you in conflicted

 

This isn’t uncommon. Everyone holds on to something from their past that makes them feel undeserving in some ways. For some people, it manifests in the form of staying in a toxic relationship.

Showing yourself respect does not make you narcissistic or conceited. In fact, it does quite the opposite. When we respect ourselves, we are more worthy of receiving love and, in turn, giving love to others. Here are some strategies for practicing true self-respect—not the kind that stems from "likes" on social media:

I can't believe they said that about me!

You feel that you don’t deserve better.

Perhaps you aren’t concerned that you can’t find something better. 

It could be that you feel like you are unworthy of someone better.  

That feelings of not deserving better comes from things that have

 happened in a person’s past that influences their outlook, or “in-look.

Something in a person’s past makes them feel like they should be in a bad relationship. Another way to look at it is that something in their past

 also makes them afraid to be alone, so they stay with a lousy partner, 

or they purposely become a lousy partner.

When I assume that everyone thinks I'm smart, why am I easily insulted when someone asks me "when did you graduate College?"

Abstract

One could assume it is a given that "Essence" magazine dispels stereotypical images of Black women and that it works to liberate them from the strictures imposed on them by a world in which they live as an undervalued and marginalized minority. After all, this is the only longstanding women's magazine that targets Black women and addresses specifically their cultural and emotional needs as African Americans and women. This content analysis examines whether "Essence" works as a liberating feminist text that dispels, as opposed to validates, stereotypical images of Black women. We hypothesize that (a) there will be more evidence to dispel the stereotypes than to perpetuate them and (b) that of the four major African American women stereotypes mammy, matriarch, sexual siren, and welfare mother or queen--the matriarch and sexual siren stereotypes will be dispelled more frequently. Results support the former hypothesis entirely and the latter hypothesis partially.

Journal Information

For the last quarter century, the Journal of Black Studies has been the leading source for dynamic, innovative, and creative research on the Black experience. Poised to remain at the forefront of the scholarship in the field, the Journal of Black Studies explores the most vital issues facing African American and Black populations.