Ellis Cose's "The Black Gender Gap": opportunity and inequality

¶ … Black Gender Gap

Understanding Society, Sex, and Gender

In his article, "The Black Gender Gap," Ellis Cose (2003) writes about the recent success of black women, not in light of but certainly despite of black men. Although he quotes Alice Gordon's statement that black women are "in the proving stage," he writes that their opportunities and ambition are magnificent (1). Cose emphasizes that in the modern economy, as a result of women's liberation and other factors, black women today have the opportunities to be "anything from an astronaut to a talk-show host, run anything from a corporation to an Ivy League university" (1). Indeed, having just witnessed the retirement of the first black, female secretary of state certainly emphasizes this point. But Cose also writes that successful black women may have to sacrifice their happiness for their success. For many, he writes, finding a romantic relationship with a black man whom they would eventually marry was an ambition for many black girls, not to mention their parents. But as the number of black females in college increase and the number of black males in jails and dead-end jobs continue to grow, some women may not be able to honor that dream.

Cose's article points out that, despite many inclusive attitudes in the academic and professional realms, inequality still exists. Women, he suggests, are motivated to succeed and get good jobs because they know that they are their and their children's sole providers (2). What, then, is motivating women? Black women may have had to emerge as leaders in the professional and academic realms as a result of necessity, but black men may not feel like society expects them to be similarly responsible.