Serena Williams and (Racist) Perceptions of Pain in the Medical Field
By Tori Thompson
This may not be breaking-news or surprising to some, but I was shocked last year when I read that Serena Williams almost died after giving birth to her daughter because the nurse did not believe Serena’s claim that she was in pain. My first response to reading this news was “it’s because she’s Black.” Still, I hesitated to draw to this conclusion given that Serena Williams is wealthy, a boss, and the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time) to ever step on the tennis court. I remained uncertain until reading Harriet A. Washington’s Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to Present, which helped me to understand the source of my suspicions.
Washington describes how 19th and 20th century doctors whole-heartedly believed that Negroes did not feel nor fear pain like Whites do. For example, Dr. Charles White, an English physician, stated: “[Blacks] bear surgical operations much better than White people and what would be the cause of insupportable pain for white men, a Negro would almost disregard… [I have] amputated the legs of many Negroes, who have held the upper part of the limb themselves” (Washington 2006, 58). Additionally, Dr. J. Marion Sims, the father of gynecology whose methods are integral to current gynecological practices, also believed, “Negressess will bear cutting with nearly, if not quite, as much impunity as dogs and rabbits” in order to justify his cutting of a Black woman’s vagina without anesthesia.
The accuracy or “truth” of these claims are not worth debating as they are clearly blasphemous, but the resultant scientific and social discourses are critical as studies show that physicians currently prescribe Black patients a lesser dose of pain prescription, if given any pain medication at all, than their white counterparts. For instance, even though the World Health Organization (WHO) has established pain prescription guidelines for cancer patients, Black and Latino cancer patients are still less likely to receive adequate doses of pain medication—leaving them more likely to perish from cancer in pain.
Now as a doctoral student in public health, I often hear that many symptoms of pain go underreported in the Black community, especially in Black women, due to the Strong Black Woman (SBW) stereotype. I must admit that I find myself strongly identifying with this trope as my mother and her mother taught me to “work twice as hard to get half as much.” However, after reading Black Sexual Politics by Patricia Hill Collins, I personally question the value of the SBW trope and its effect on Black women’s experience of pain. Collins argues that the SBW is a stereotype historically constructed by the White slave owner in order to emasculate and denigrate the power of the Black man and contemporarily justifies the painful abuse of Black women by Black men.
In particular and through focusing on the juxtaposition of race, gender, and power, the racist logic is as follows: “the too-strong Black woman and the correspondingly too-weak black man who is her partner demonstrate the failure of Blacks to achieve and enact the ‘normal’ (that is, White) gender roles of masterful man and submissive woman”. As a consequence, the ‘too-weak’ Black man is unable to conform to the conventionally strong and dominant male role, as is constructed through hegemonic masculinity, because he has no control over his woman. In the power struggle between White and Black men, the SBW who back-talks her Black man, solidifies the ‘superior’ power of the White man. Black men, according to Collins, resist this power and stigma by “bringing a bitch to her knees” – an abuse commonly experienced by Black women who embrace the SBW stereotype.
MIND BLOWN.
When we consider the historical intersection of race, gender, and perception of pain, we may find ourselves understanding why Serena’s medical team questioned her claim of pain. The medical field has a racist lineage that disassociates pain from Blackness. While there remain pain prescription guidelines and protocol developed by health care authorities, medical professionals continue to under-prescribe to the Black community. Studies show that reasons for under-prescription lie in the common misbelief that Blacks have “super-human” qualities such as extra muscle, aging slowly, and the ability to withstand extreme heat due to their skin. This ‘superhumanization’ of Black body is associated with reduced perceptions of Black’s experience of pain. The consequences of these pervasive and harmful myths remain highly detrimental as they contribute to persisting racial disparities in pain management, leading to higher rates of suffering in Black patients. If we are to end the suffering of the Black community, it is imperative to change the way we (Black and White, and otherwise) think about strength, pain, and hardship—a daunting task that will require more than a blog post.