Impact on Stevie's Life

In the book Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair there is one of the many issues of discovering sexuality. In this book Stevie is confronted with the stigma of same sex attraction and the problems it could cause.

In Chapter 8 there is an incident between Carla, Stevie, and Willie Jean. Carla tells Stevie about Willie Jean and describes her as a flat-chested, tomboyish girl who likes to play basketball had moved from Mississippi. The reason Carla tells Stevie about Willie Jean is just to tell her that Willie Jeans’s behavior is not acceptable. So Carla tells Stevie to be careful and not end up like Willie Jean because no boy is going to want a girl with muscles and is not feminine. I think that at this point Stevie doesn’t really care about Carla had to say to her about no one wanting her if she acts like a tomboy. Stevie stands up for herself and tells Carla that someone will always want her.

In chapter 9 there is another incident in which Yusef Brown starts walking Stevie home and in one of the days that he walks her home they have a conversation regarding Stevie playing basketball. He responds by saying that there’s no reason for a girl to play basketball and instead can go out with a basketball player and wear his jacket and not worry about breaking her nails. She is basically pressured into liking cheerleading instead and acting like a lady. She forgets who she is and what she likes just to be accepted. She thought that if one wanted to have a boyfriend you had to go along with certain things even if you didn’t want to.

These topics and incidents that occurred in chapters 8 and 9 deal in some way with the stigma of being a lesbian and/or being attracted to the same sex. It is clear that during Stevie’s time it was considered a taboo. It couldn’t even be mentioned up because it would be a disgrace and shameful in everyone’s eyes.