looked

In the spring of 1953, women from across the United States traveled to Britain – for many, it was their first time abroad. The impetus for the trip was Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, held in Westminster Abbey on a rainy June 2 of that year. Among those making the journey were Peggy Webber, who traveled all the way from Iowa, and Geneva Valentine from Washington, D.C. For both women, whom I learned of while researching the monarchy and gender, the coronation provided an unprecedented opportunity to be part of a momentous occasion in which a woman was at the center of the story. For almost 70 years, there has been a long-standing affection for Elizabeth from across the Atlantic, especially among women. It may be of a less showy variety than the attention lavished on other, potentially mo...

Back in the 1940s, Kenneth and Mamie Clark – a husband-and-wife team of psychology researchers – used dolls to investigate how young Black children viewed their racial identities. They found that given a choice between Black dolls and white dolls, most Black children preferred to play with white dolls. They ascribed positive characteristics to the white dolls but negative characteristics to the Black ones. Then, upon being asked to describe the doll that looked most like them, some of the children became “emotionally upset at having to identify with the doll that they had rejected.” The Clarks concluded that Black children – as a result of living in a racist society – had come to see themselves in a negative light. Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark in 1945. Washington Area Spark/flick...

Tag: looked

In 1953, ‘Queen-Crazy’ American Women Looked To Elizabeth II As A Source Of Inspiration – That Sentiment Never Faded

The Famous ‘Doll Test’ That Looked At How Black Kids See Race, Recreated, This Is What I Learned