UC Riverside

Extant research on African-American women’s sexuality is typically couched within the public health literature. Evidence of African-American women’s high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and unwanted pregnancies is used to socially regulate and punish women of color, such as through forced sterilization. The construction of African-American women’s sexuality continues to serve as a linchpin of racial difference in a supposedly “post-racial” era. Challenging this line of research, Black feminist scholars have called for more critical research that acknowledges how race, gender, and class profoundly shape matters of sexuality. Past research has tended to focus on African-American women’s sexual attitudes and socialization by family, peers, and media. However, relatively little attention has focused on how intersecting social inequalities shape intimate experiences and more specifically, the social conditions that lead to increased sexual subjectivity for women of color. This study builds on the trailblazing work of Black feminists by identifying social-structural factors that shape Black women’s sexual experiences. Chapter 4 explores women’s conceptualizations of sexual pleasure. Given the taboo of women’s pleasure in society, particularly for racially marginalized women, little research has examined how sexual pleasure factors into women’s sexual lives. Women conceptualize sexual pleasure as partner, purpose, or process. This contributes to the literature by underscoring the variations in Black women’s beliefs about sexual pleasure and challenging the predominant assumptions of Black women’s sexuality as dangerous, risky, or immoral. Chapter 5 examines the cultural stereotypes surrounding Black women’s sexuality and how women manage the stigma of Black women’s deviant sexuality. I find that women contend with cultural beliefs of Black women’s asexuality or hypersexuality, which both construct Black women as not ideal sexual partners. Women draw on one of two techniques to manage negative stereotypes: by minimizing the stereotypes as salient in their sexual lives or by challenging them and subscribing to gendered arrangements in relationships. However, women must perform labor to shed this stigma and decrease their sexual agency. Chapter 6 focuses on Black women’s sexual body image. I argue that Black women contend with the “thick imperative,” or expectations to possess a curvier body. However, the “thick imperative” conflicts with the dominant ideal of thinness, which many voiced as a perennial concern in their lives. Therefore, I highlight how Black women must navigate two opposing ideals, which ultimately leads to increased frustration and body anxieties in their lives.