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Hang Up The Cape: The Superwoman Syndrome

Author
Dr. Aletha Clark
Published
Thu 21 Aug 2025
Episode Link
None

Are you carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? In this episode, we’re diving deep into Superwoman Syndrome—a term coined in the 1980s by Dr. Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz to describe the pressure women feel to “do it all” and “be it all.”

Together, we’ll explore:

  • What Superwoman Syndrome really is (and how it shows up in everyday life)
  • The root causes, including cultural pressures, family expectations, and the fear of not being “enough”
  • The symptoms and unrealistic expectations that fuel burnout, guilt, and perfectionism
  • The long-term mental and physical impacts of wearing the cape
  • Why this burden especially affects Black women, through the lens of Dr. Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombé’s 2010 research on the “Superwoman Schema”
  • Practical strategies for hanging up the cape and reclaiming your identity beyond the roles you perform

This is a heart-to-heart conversation about exhaustion, identity, and liberation. If you’ve ever felt like you had to be everything to everyone, this episode will remind you that you are already enough—without the cape.

✨ Listen now and take the first step toward freedom, rest, and authenticity.

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