The House That Gendered Racism Built: Gendered Racism, Trauma, Implications for Reimagining Perinatal Health, and Alternative Paths to Health Equity

Authors

• Shellae H. Versey, Fordham University
• Brionna Colson-Fearon, Fordham University
• Taryn N. Thrasher, University of Maryland
• Kanika Harris, National Association to Advance Black Birth
• Jioni A. Lewis, University of Maryland
• Nicole Overstreet, Clark UniversityFollow
• Lisa Rosenthal, Pace University

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Background: Achieving health equity requires acknowledging and naming how inequities in the health care system occur, are maintained, and are resisted. Models of self-care indicate that experiencing marginalization and oppression can prompt a variety of coping and resistance strategies that have implications for health and survival. Consistent with a long-standing canon of Black feminist research and a public health critical race praxis approach that recognizes that gendered racism (GR) unfolds across multiple levels, settings, and alongside other complementary systems (e.g., capitalism) impacting life and health outcomes, the current article examines how GR within the health care system leads to trauma and resistance for Black women during the perinatal period. Methods: Using data from a U.S. national sample of Black women recruited in 2020, open-ended responses from 73 women who reported having children were coded thematically using an inductive approach. Results and Discussion: Black women reported experiencing subtle and overt medical GR, misogynoir, and trauma in relation to their perinatal care, supporting previous research documenting the legacies and contemporary effects of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy that manifest as obstetric racism. We also find evidence that Black women use resistance strategies in the face of trauma to care for themselves, exercise advocacy, and work to protect and understand their health—both within and outside of the traditional health care system—providing evidence that liberatory futures are possible and are most probable when Black women’s voices are centered and leveraged in building those futures. © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Mary Ann Liebert (NY), LLC.

Publication Title

Health Equity

Publication Date

2026

Volume

10

ISSN

2473-1242

DOI

10.1177/24731242261458125

Keywords

birthing, Black women, gendered racism, perinatal health care, pregnancy, resistance, trauma

Repository Citation

Versey, Shellae H.; Colson-Fearon, Brionna; Thrasher, Taryn N.; Harris, Kanika; Lewis, Jioni A.; Overstreet, Nicole; and Rosenthal, Lisa, "The House That Gendered Racism Built: Gendered Racism, Trauma, Implications for Reimagining Perinatal Health, and Alternative Paths to Health Equity" (2026). Psychology. 1009.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_psychology/1009