Author(s): Andrew Domyan
Mentor(s): Ezgi Sertler
Institution UVU
Throughout pop culture and the modern contemporary discourse, the phrase ‘loneliness epidemic’ is widespread. Whether it is new or just newly recognized, there is a growing awareness of the dangers and harms of loneliness throughout society. But what exactly is loneliness? In chapter 7 of Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins explores the dimensions of the relationships of US Black women. In doing so, she particularly deals with themes of loneliness and isolation, and the ways these experiences harm the women she is writing about. While she does not explicitly give a definition of loneliness, nor does she explicitly clarify its relationship to isolation, a study of her usage may be able to draw out answers to these questions. Are isolation and loneliness directly correlated to one another? Are they different words for the same thing, or qualitatively different things altogether? What is the nature of their relationship to one another? Is loneliness a fundamentally social, or political, or personal concept? Or all of the above? The way Collins uses loneliness and isolation in her treatment, and the conclusions she draws about their effects on both individuals and communities, may shed light upon many of these questions. And while her subject matter is limited to US Black women and is not explicitly meant to be extrapolated to broader humanity, a key tenant of her work is that there are significant areas of overlap between the lived experiences of people in different groups. As such, a better understanding of how Collins understands and uses the concepts of loneliness and isolation together to explore the experiences of US Black women may serve to further elucidate our understanding of loneliness in general.