Terrence Chappell on How Intergenerational Trauma is Gendered

Written by Vocalo Radio on May 1, 2019

Terrence Chappell joined Jill Hopkins this Feminist Wednesday to talk about his article and how he has mixed his personal experience with his knowledge of Black Feminist Theory both illustrate Intergenerational Trauma and expand his understand of the topic as a whole.

Growing up, Chappell had arguments with his mother, but they always got over it. His sister (nine years his senior) had a different experience altogether.

“I had a ‘boys will be boys’ when it comes to fighting kind of relationship with my mom. This was not the case with my sister. The arguments between my mother and sister lingered past the actual arguments.”

He recounts that it wasn’t until his sister pointed out that their mother had different expectations for both of them and it influenced how they were treated that Chappell began to understand how this had colored his childhood experiences. In his article he writes “I wouldn’t learn until years later that there was a bias affecting how my mother treated me as opposed to my sister, in part based on our genders.”

Listen to the full interview here:

Read Terrence Chappell’s full article here: