Brown girl guilt is the unique and nuanced experience of brown girls and women that is shaped by the expectations to adhere to stark gender roles, familial expectations, and cultural norms.
When we differ from these expectations, girls, and women of diverse age groups and locations around the world experience brown girl guilt.
More than just a definition, brown girl guilt is an experience of disembodiment and disempowerment. When we live our lives under the guise of guilt, we journey through life making decisions that serve us second, and everyone else in our lives first.
Brown girl guilt causes self-doubt, misalignment, and a lot of anxiety as we try and balance the expectations of everyone around us and what we truly want from our lives.
It becomes a disembodying and disempowering experience when we place the responsibility of our happiness, joy, expression, and success in the hands of others. So often, when we’re ridden with brown girl guilt, we’re doing the things we’re supposed to do, not what we want to do.
The way to combat brown girl guilt is to get clear on what parts of ourselves are truly ourselves and which parts of ourselves are conditioning. It’s by asking yourself what you truly want and don’t want and how you truly want to lead your life.
To combat brown girl guilt is to come back into your body and embody your experiences and decisions. It’s to stand true in your power and make choices from confidence and empowerment— ones that are truly reflective of what you want.
To combat brown girl guilt is to end the cycles that hold brown girls and women back and to start tiny revolutions all around us, ones that bring us closer and closer to who we truly are.
