1. Social Media and its Effects on Shaping Self-
Esteem and Empowerment among Women of
Color
Anngillian Cruz
Sociology 5201W
Fall 2016
2. Introduction
Can we find a connection between use of social media by women of color and their self-esteem?
Previous studies do not connect self-esteem and social media. When one thinks of social media, we
usually think of cyberbullying and discrimination.
It is important to see how social media can affect us in our everyday lives, because social media usage
is ingrained into our everyday routines.
3. Social Media is a form of web based
communications where individuals from all over
the globe can communicate, consume and share
information via social media platforms such as
Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook to name a few.
4. Pew Research Center Statistics (2015)
Young adults ages 18-29 utilize social media at a
whopping 90%
56% of users identify as African American
65% of users identify as Hispanic
5. Women are more likely than men to use
social networking sites.
68% of all women use social media,
compared to 62% of all men.
Pew Research Center Statistics Cont’d (2015)
6. What is the role of social media in shaping self-
esteem and empowerment in college aged
women of color?
Research Question
7. Colorism is a form of discrimination
that focuses solely on skin color (and
sometimes phenotypical features) and
leads to skin tones being associated with
positive and negative descriptors.
10. Gender Identity/Racial Identity is the intersection of race and gender. It is rooted
in the theory of Intersectionality.
Intersectionality is a theory used to describe how one’s social identity can be
affected by various forms of oppression, that is, how one’s race, gender, sexuality,
class status and other characteristics can be viewed to its relationship to power.
Therefore, Gendered Racial Identity is an intersectional approach to
understanding the unique positions that exist for people on the basis of the
combination of their race/ethnicity and gender; it recognizes that gender and
race/ethnicity can be experienced simultaneously within an individual (West &
Fenstermaker, 1996).
11. Self- Esteem is an “an outcome of, and
necessary ingredient in, the self verification
process that occurs within groups, maintaining
both the individual and the group” (Burke &
Cast, 2002).
12. Identity Theory
Identity theory explains behavior in terms of reciprocal relations between self and society; we
view individuals as having multiple role identities (e.g, one can be a student, sister and significant
other). These identities are distinct roles that we occupy within society that provide meaning for
one’s self and are self-definitions we apply to ourselves. These identities are also hierarchal due to
identity salience, that is, the identities that are more relevant to our everyday lives are the roles that
we choose to identify with more.
13. Social identity theory is the idea that a
person's sense of self is based on the knowledge
of memberships in social groups. Membership in
these groups help construct our identities
Social Identity Theory
14. H1: Women of Color will feel a sense of solidarity by the stories they see and read online.
H2: Women of Color will feel empowered by the stories they see and read online
H3: Women of color will identify more with their racial identity
H4: Women of color’s self-esteem will be tied to their gender identity
Hypotheses
15. Methods
Women of Color between the ages of 19-29
All participants were enrolled in either
college, university or other.
Demographics
● 51 question survey that focused on
skin tone, self-esteem and social
media usage.
● Self-esteem questions come from the
Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale
(RSES). It is a 10 point scale that
measures self-worth and evaluates an
individual’s level of self-esteem.
● Survey distributed via social media.
16. Some of the limitations faced while doing research include:
● Time restriction
● Low number of survey responses (non-representative)
● No ability to answer follow up questions in survey
● Answering all questions weren’t required due to the length of the
survey
● All data is self-reported
● I did not inquire about parent’s or participant’s SES status,
parents/family members skin tones, nor did I inquire about
participant’s sexual orientation.
Limitations
18. Demographics Cont’d
● 34.1%: Seniors
● 29.5%: Juniors
● 25%: Sophomores
● 4.5%: Freshmen
● 6.8%: Other
Those who responded Other
were in a graduate or Phd
program.
19. ● 30.4%: Black
● 26.1%: Latinx
● 23.9%: Asian
● 4.3%: White
● 15.2%: Mixed
Demographics Cont’d
20. Analysis
Colorism and Skin-tone
When given the definition of Colorism
and asked if they ever had dealt with
issues pertaining to colorism,
71.1% of participants answered yes,
while 13% said no. 15.2% of
participants were unsure if they ever
dealt with colorism.
21. ● 50%: Medium
● 32.6%: Light
● 10.9%: Dark
● 4.3%: White passing
● 2.2%: Other
Self-Reports of Skin-tone
* The addition of White passing was added for more thorough reports.
22. 88.9% of participants
report liking their skin
tone, while 11.1% dislike
their skin color.
Only 3 participants said they
would change like to be lighter
.
23. “I love the color of my skin and wouldn’t want to change it. It’s part of what makes
me who I am.”
“ [I’m] not going to lie it took a while to fall in love with my black skin. I used to hate
being black. My true skin color is somewhere between light skin and brown skin. I
love who I am now.
“I wouldn't change it. Unfortunately, I have a lot of privilege on behalf of my lighter
skin tone which is more idealized in society. I am exoticized because of this
though by men.”
Only 3 participants said they would like to be lighter.
24. Insecurities and Stereotypes
When asked about insecurities, 80% disliked their body, 42.2% their hair and 24.4%,
their skin tone.
“The two things I disliked most about myself for a long time were my naturally
curly hair and my hips/thickness. However, these are some of the most black
characteristics I possess besides my skin. I developed a healthier outlook on my body. I
saw my behavior as a self-inflicted attempt at whitewashing and wanted to fight back
against it once I realized that this was the case.”
Most participants focused on a particular body part of section, such as breasts. Hips and hair texture
(curly).
25. 82.5%: School
47.5%: Work
42.5%: Home
A few examples of some of the things said/done: acting “light skin” for a brown person,
fertility being synonymous with hispanic identity, assumption of personality and
religious belief due to physical appearances, etc.
26. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)
● 10 item scale that measures self-worth by
measuring positive and negative feelings
about the self. It is answered according to a 4
point likert scale ranging from strongly agree
to strongly disagree.
● Items 1,2,4,6,7. Scored; SA- 3, A-2, D-1, SD-
0
● Items 3,5, 8,9, 10 are reversed scored; SA-0,
A-1, D-2, SD-3.
● Higher scores indicate higher self-esteem.
The highest score one can get is 30.
27. The results of the RSES indicate that a majority of
participants have normal self-esteem.
● 17.3% of participants have low self-esteem
● 82.6% are within the normal range of self-esteem
● The highest score obtained was 21 out of 30.
29. ● 50%: Yes
● 28.3%: No
● 21.7%: Maybe
Self-Esteem and Gender Identity
30. Social Media
● 97.8% of participants are active on various social media platforms
● 95.7% are active on Facebook
● 80.4% are active on Instagram
● 45.7% are active on Twitter
● 41% are active on Tumblr
32. Hashtag usage
When asked if they used hashtags when posting online, 65.2% said yes, while 34.8%
said no. When asked if they browsed stories connected to the hashtag, 71.1%
responded yes, while 28.9% said no.
Out of 11 popular hashtags I handpicked, The top 3 that participants were familiar
with were: #Blacklivesmatter at 95.6%, #blackgirlsaremagic/#blackgirlmagic at 80%
and #naturalhair at 68.9%.
33.
34.
35.
36. ‘Living in a rural, mostly white geographical area, I often find solidarity that does not exist in
my daily life in these hashtags.’
‘Seeing the stories on the hashtags helps me feel pride and feel connected to other women and
it inspires me and makes me feel more proud of myself as well.’
‘#blackgirlmagic and #naturalhair made me feel more confident in loving my skin tone and hair
and It helped me to not feel alone in the unique challenges that come with brown skin and curly hair’
‘Reading posts make me feel better about myself even if they aren't directed toward me. Seeing
other women be confident makes me feel more confident.’
37. Conclusion
● Women of color still deal with issues pertaining to colorism, but unlike what’s stated in
the literature, women between the ages of 19-29 have more confidence or have reached a
point where they are proud of their skin tone.
● WOC deal with a lot of internalized self-esteem issues, but a majority of them say it is
because of their gender identity and not their racial identity
● Social media is a tool that has become prevalent in many women’s lives. Having access
to the internet and having the ability to utilize various social media platforms have been
beneficial to women of color, because of the growing visibility of issues dealing with
race and gender. 79.5% of women in the study said what they read online has helped
them feel better about their lives or themselves.
