Welcome to the third and final installment of the “dirty-girl effect” series. Two weeks ago, I introduced the idea of the dirty-girl effect. In short, I defined it as a process of “dirtying” that women experience in their private and public lives…

“A black woman with a PhD is worse than a woman with HIV.” I didn’t respond. Instead, I looked over at his wife. I wondered about how she felt hearing him say that. She put her head down. I wondered what it meant for her to be married to a man who held that belief. How far could she rise and grow with a partner who felt that way? And then I wondered what it meant for me, a black woman who was, at the time, earning a PhD.

“Never accept ‘no’ from someone not authorized to tell you ‘no.’”