A multidimensional framework for the meanings of the sexual double standard and its application for the sexual health of young black women in the U.S

A Black Feminist Study of Black Mother-Daughter Sexual Communication

There is a well-established body of literature on parent-child sexual communication (PCSC) among Black families. Still, most of this work focuses on reducing sexual risk behaviors among Black girls and focuses less on the multidimensionality of PCSC among Black parents and their daughters. In this qualitative study, we explored Black mother-daughter PCSC by analyzing interviews with 29 Black mothers in the U.S. with daughters ages 6-11. We used consensual qualitative research methods to analyze mother's responses to questions about the messages and strategies they used when educating their daughters about sex-related topics, such as pleasure and sexual identity. We identified the following themes related to mothers' goals with their messages: (1) increasing awareness through neutral information, (2) building daughter's sense of self, (3) challenging societal norms and White heteropatriarchy, and (4) upholding societal norms and White heteropatriarchy. We also developed five themes for mother's strategies for PCSC: (5) direct and open PCSC, (6) modeling, (7) integrating real-life examples, (8) centering the child, and (9) monitoring and tailoring daughters' experiences with others. Our findings add to existing research on sex-positive practices among Black families, highlight the need to use critical lenses when exploring PCSC, and have important implications for parent education.

Are Gender Identities and Gender Ideologies Associated with the Variety and Type of Owned Sex Toys? Evidence from a Large Italian Sample of Cisgender Individuals

Research on the use of sex toys has been primarily performed from a medical perspective, while there is still limited research from a psychosocial perspective. To bridge this gap, in this study we examined whether some psychosocial variables might be linked to sex toy ownership in a sample of 3960 Italian (cisgender men and women) sex toy buyers. More specifically, we investigated the association between gender identities and ideologies and the variety and types of sex toys owned. Based on the data, we detected two dimensions underlying the ownership of sex toys: (1) orientation to owning kinky sex toys and (2) orientation to owning clit-oriented sex toys. Results showed that benevolent sexism and gender system justification were negatively correlated with owning clit-oriented toys. Moreover, strongly gender-identified participants owned a small variety of different toys and preferred toys that were designed to stimulate the vagina or clitoris over less commonly-used toys. No significant correlation between feminist identification and sex toy type owned was found when gender identification was taken into account. These results suggest that the owning of sex toys might be associated with traditional gender ideology and the strength of gender identification.

'Keep your eyes open': HBCU women's peer sexual advice and the (re)production of vigilance

Discursive practices position Black women as racial, gendered, and sexual others. There remains a need to understand how Black women craft sexualities given this backdrop. This paper draws on sexual and dating advice from 30 semi-structured interviews to examine how cisgender heterosexual undergraduate women enrolled at a Historically Black College/University in the USA constructed and promoted heterosexualities. Neoliberalism, racialised risk narratives and notions of Black womanhood converge to frame how participants articulated their roles and the roles of women like them in maintaining sexual health and social status at the nexus of race and gender oppression, and in respect of aspirational Black feminine middle-class identities. Overarching messages in their peer advice revealed gender-specific expectations about sexual responsibility through self-reliance and sexual respectability through heterosexual monogamy. The present study expands sexualities research through an intersectional approach that examines the implications of racialised, gendered and classed meanings of Black sexuality and womanhood in an understudied population. Findings identify peer sexual advice as a rhetorical tool that simultaneously resists and reproduces power structures.

"I Just Wasn't Thinking": Strategic Ambiguity and Women's Accounts of Unprotected Sex

Heterosexual university students continue to endorse sexual scripts that preference men's desire and sustain gendered power imbalances in sexual relationships and encounters, leading women to risk pregnancy by engaging in unprotected sex. Because young women also endorse norms encouraging them to protect themselves and their partners from unintended pregnancy, women are caught in a bind between two often competing norms. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with university women (n = 45) to examine how they navigate these competing norms. We found that women explained risky contraceptive decisions by saying they "just weren't thinking," thus employing strategic ambiguity, or vague language used to maintain social status, to navigate between competing norms. Our findings suggest that women were actually thinking about risks and making calculated decisions in the moment which often privileged men, putting themselves at risk and sometimes causing distress. To save face, women presented the idea that they "just weren't thinking" in different ways that conformed to traditional notions of romance and sexuality: being in the moment, love and trust for their partner, and deferring to the perceived or actual wishes of men. We conclude that there is a need to promote and achieve affirmative sexuality which includes women feeling empowered to express their own sexual needs - whether that be consent or refusal, contraception, pleasure, or all of these.

"I Just Want to Feel Good Without Making You Feel Bad": Sexual Assertiveness Negotiation in Adolescent Romantic Relationships

Sexual assertiveness is often conceptualized as an individual's ability to express one's own sexual needs, desires, and limits. Given that sexual assertiveness is embedded in interactions and can affect not only both partners' sexual well-being but also relationship satisfaction, dyadic approaches are needed to investigate sexual assertiveness negotiation within adolescent romantic relationships. This qualitative study aimed to document adolescents' ability to negotiate their sexual needs, desires, and limits with their partners during interactions where they discussed their sexual concerns. A directed content analysis, based on the life positions of the transactional analysis theory, was conducted on the interactions of 40 adolescent romantic dyads aged 14-19 years (M = 16.65; SD = 1.49). The results revealed four categories of strategies: (1) mutual assertiveness: negotiation of one's own sexual needs, desires, and limits with those of the partner; (2) singular passiveness: repression of one's own sexual needs, desires, and limits to privilege those of the partner; (3) singular aggressiveness: prioritization of one's own sexual needs, desires, and limits over those of the partner; and (4) mutual lack of negotiation skills: neglecting both partners' sexual needs, desires, and limits. Among other things, adolescents' ability to be sexually assertive was hindered by anticipations, including assumptions leading to disregarding one's own sexual needs, desires, and limits or fearing to ignore the partner's. To promote mutually rewarding sexual activities and prevent sexual violence, sexual education initiatives should support adolescents' ability to assertively negotiate their sexuality with their partner and avoid passiveness, aggressiveness, and lack of negotiation.

'My partner will think I'm weak or overthinking my pain': how being superwoman inhibits Black women's sexual pain disclosure to their partners

Black women experience persistent sexual pain that may often last longer than White women. Despite the value of sexual communication to alleviate sexual pain concerns, many women do not disclose sexual pain to their partners. Limited research explores barriers to disclosing sexual pain to partners among Black women. This study seeks to fill this gap. Relying on an integration of Sexual Script theory and Superwoman Schema, the study explored the barriers that premenopausal, cisgender Black women from the Southern USA perceived when disclosing sexual pain to their primary partners. We identified five common themes from women's open-ended responses to an online survey: (a) distressing emotions associated with disclosure; (b) limited knowledge and communication skills; (c) protecting partner's feelings and ego; (d) invading privacy; and (e) taking sole responsibility for managing sexual pain. Findings suggest a combination of intrapsychic, interpersonal and cultural factors influence Black women's perceived ability to have direct and open dyadic communication about sexual pain with their partners. Implications for Black women's sexual health and relationship outcomes are discussed.

Comfort in seeking support from sexual violence prevention education health services among college women

Objective: Explores racial differences of sexual violence-(SV) health service-(HS) outcomes among college women: (1) seeking support from a confidential-resource-(CR) and (2) reporting SV to the Title IX office. Participants: Data was collected from all ages of women (N = 583) and grade levels from one-large university on the Pacific-coast. Methods: Logistic-regression of HS outcomes were performed using the Fall 2016 American College Health Association-NCHA-II-survey. Results: The following variables increased the likelihood of women seeking support from the two health-services: (#1CR) relationship-status, race, and experiencing sexual-violence. WOC were 7x more likely to seek support if physically-assaulted, and WW were 3.9x more likely to seek support if a graduate student. (#2Title IX) year in school, physical-assault, and receiving prevention-education after the first-year in college. Overall, there were significant differences by race in the variables that influenced WW and WOC's comfort or likelihood to seek support. Conclusion: Colleges need to consider the disproportionate impact of SV on WOC.

Black Women’s Sexual Assertiveness and Satisfaction: The Role of the Superwoman Schema

Although extant research highlights the detrimental effects of the Superwoman Schema (SWS) on Black women’s physical and psychological well-being, researchers have yet to examine the implications of SWS endorsement on Black women’s sexual attitudes and behaviors. As a culturally salient racialized gender schema that reifies Black women’s supposed superhuman emotional and physical strength, to what extent does endorsement of the SWS contribute to Black women’s reported sexual assertiveness and satisfaction? In the present work, 406 Black women completed an online survey measuring their endorsement of the SWS, as well as their sexual assertiveness and sexual satisfaction. SWS dimensions moderated the association between sexual assertiveness and sexual satisfaction. Findings from the present study highlight the importance of considering culturally salient racialized gender schemas when examining Black women’s sexual attitudes and behaviors.

Sexual Subjectivity in Solo and Partnered Masturbation Experiences Among Emerging Adult Women

This qualitative study aimed to examine the experiences and attitudes toward masturbation among emerging adult women. The study was the first to compare women's solo and partnered masturbation experiences, focusing on how feelings of pleasure, sexual desire, and a sense of empowerment-important markers of women's sexual subjectivity-varied across the two contexts. The sample consisted of 40 women between the ages of 18 and 22 years. The majority of participants identified as Latina (33%) or Black (30%) and were enrolled in community college. Semi-structured interviews about women's masturbation experiences were analyzed using thematic analysis. Women described a multitude of feelings, including pleasure but also awkwardness and guilt. Although women did not describe their masturbation practices as morally wrong, they often alluded to disliking masturbation and preferring it less to partnered sex. Whereas some attitudes and feelings (e.g., awkwardness) arose in the context of both solo and partnered masturbation encounters, others were prevalent only in one (e.g., guilt in the solo encounters). Feelings of pleasure, sexual desire, and empowerment manifested differently in the two contexts. There was more focus on self-knowledge, control, and physical pleasure in the solo encounters and more enjoyment of a partner's desire and intimacy in the partnered encounters. We examine the findings through a feminist lens and consider how race/ethnicity, sexual scripts, and contemporary societal contexts shape women's sexual lives.

Understanding the Impact of Intimate Partner Violence Type and Timing on Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Knowledge, Acceptability, Sexual Behavior, and Gender Roles Among Women of Color

Knowledge and acceptability are key factors for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among women with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV) and research suggests that different types of IPV affect PrEP uptake differently. Few studies have examined whether the type (i.e., physical, sexual, and psychological) and timing (i.e., lifetime, past year) of IPV experiences are related to PrEP knowledge and acceptability, or whether gender roles and sexual risk behaviors affect PrEP use. We aimed to examine the associations between lifetime and past-year physical, sexual, and psychological IPV experiences on PrEP-related outcomes (i.e., knowledge, acceptability, sexual behavior if on PrEP) and the association between gender roles and PrEP-related outcomes. A total of 186 women of color at risk for HIV participated in this study, of whom 54% had ever experienced partner violence. Results showed that lifetime psychological (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.1-9.4) and lifetime physical IPV (OR 5.5, 95% CI 1.2-18.9) were significantly associated with increased PrEP knowledge. lifetime psychological (OR 6.3, 95% CI 1.0-13.6) and lifetime physical IPV (OR 4.3, 95% CI 4.3-11.5) were significantly associated with increased sexual behavior if on PrEP. Past year physical IPV was significantly associated with interest in using PrEP (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7-4.3) and with sexual behavior if on PrEP (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.1-13.1). Being subordinate to others was also significantly associated with interest in using PrEP (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-2.4) Self-silencing was significantly associated with increased sexual behavior if on PrEP (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.5). Gender norms and IPV type and timing can influence whether a person is interested in PrEP use. Both lifetime and past-year IPV experiences need to be examined in the context of gender norms when prescribing PrEP to encourage uptake and continuation among vulnerable women at risk for HIV.

Psychometric properties of the Sexual Double Standard Scale (DSS) in Chilean university students: Differences according to sex, gender attitudes, and religiosity

Given the complete lack of instruments in Chile to measure the phenomenon of the sexual double standard (SDS), this study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the sexual double standard scale (DSS). The sample contained 1036 university students from central and southern Chile. 61.1% (n = 633) were women, the average age was 20.4 years, and 31.7% (n = 259) identified as atheist or agnostic. The DSS demonstrated a unidimensional structure, excellent reliability, and evidence of convergent and discriminant validity: the higher the score in SDS, the greater the stereotypical attitudes about gender and the lower the transcendent attitudes. The religious participants obtained higher mean scores on the DSS and men obtained significantly higher SDS scores than women. In addition, the group of participants with extreme stereotypical attitudes obtained significantly higher scores on the DSS than the extreme transcendent attitudes group, in both men and women samples. Based on the evidence that links the SDS with sexual functioning and satisfaction, risky sexual practices, sexual aggression and victimization, and intimate partner violence, the DSS stands out as a contribution to the development of sex-affective education programs and the identification of individuals and groups at risk.

Family Sex Communication Among Arab American Young Adults: A Mixed-Methods Study

There is a significant gap in understanding the sexual health of Arab Americans. The purpose of this study is to explore family sex communication among Arab American young adults and its association with gender and sexual attitudes. We used a parallel mixed methods design and administered an electronic survey (N = 100); a subsample of 24 participants participated in five focus groups. We observed convergence in the findings. Participants reported rare occurrences of family sex communication, with women reporting less comfort than men. Family sex communication was often "unspoken," and reinforced prevailing social norms. Gender differences were reported based on sex communication topics. The most common source of sex information was peers/friends. Focus group participants perceived their parents to be more conservative and less knowledgeable about sex than they were. Future research on strategies to bridge generational differences is needed to promote family-based sex communication, given the multiple teachable moments at home.

Talking with My Sistahs: Examining Discussions About HIV Risk and Prevention Outcomes Within Black Women Sistah Circles

Black women's health is in a state of crisis. Though Black women make up roughly 12% of the US population, they account for 66% of new HIV cases. One understudied barrier to Black women's sexual health is their communication about the topic of HIV with others and proclivity to dismiss HIV-related information based on self-exemption. Using a group-centered approach called the "sistah circle," this study examines group gatherings of Black women to assess their communication about HIV and determine potential gaps in their understanding of information and HIV-related behavior. Data were derived from five focus groups, with four Black women in each group engaging in a facilitated discussion. Findings from the project extend knowledge about how socializing agents such as school, parents, church, and interventionists have the potential to delay or deter Black women from engaging in communication that supports risk-reducing behaviors and prevention efforts.

Sexual attitudes and behaviours among Arab American young adults in the USA

While the sexual behaviours of different racial and ethnic groups have been studied extensively in the USA, Arab Americans are relatively understudied. The purpose of our study is to describe sexual attitudes and behaviours of Arab American young adults, to explore gender differences and the factors associated with five primary sexual behaviours (solo and partnered masturbation, oral, vaginal and anal sex). We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative study using a self-administered survey, which included measures of Arab ethnic identity, religiosity and sexual attitudes and behaviours. The survey was completed by 100 Arab American young adults (18-25 years old). Almost half of the sample reported being engaged in at least one of the five primary sexual behaviours in the past six months. In bivariate analysis, there were significant gender differences in sexual attitudes and all the primary sexual behaviours except for anal sex. Sexual attitudes and religiosity were significant predictors of partnered masturbation, oral and vaginal sex. Our findings challenge Arab societal assumptions that unmarried Arab American young adults do not engage in sexual behaviours, including risky behaviours, warranting further research to prevent unintended sexual health outcomes.

Reframing Sexual Health for Black Girls and Women in HIV/STI Prevention Work: Highlighting the Role of Identity and Interpersonal Relationships

While Black girls and women are disproportionately impacted by sexual health disparities, there continues to be an overwhelming focus on individual risk behaviors within prevention initiatives, which offers a fragmented narrative of the multidimensional nature of risk and plausibly limits effectiveness of prevention programs and attenuates reductions in disparities. Because sexual health is experienced within an individual's beliefs/values, interpersonal relationships, and behaviors and reflects larger social and cultural systems, it is important to critically examine common theories used to inform HIV/STI prevention interventions for Black women and girls. To fill this gap in the literature, we critique two commonly used theories in HIV/STI prevention interventions, namely the social cognitive theory and the theory of gender and power, by highlighting theoretical and practical strengths and weaknesses. We propose research implications that incorporate key strengths of the two theories while adding new concepts grounded in the intersectionality theory. The overall goal is to introduce a more comprehensive conceptual model that is reflective of and applicable to the multidimensional sexual experiences of Black girls and women within the evolving definition of sexual health and behavior.

Feminine gender norms and syndemic harmful drinking, sexual violence, and sexually transmitted infections among Black women at risk for HIV

BACKGROUND

This study examined the associations between feminine gender ideologies (i.e., socially constructed attitudes and beliefs of women's appropriate behavior and roles) and the syndemic comorbidities of harmful alcohol use, sexual violence, and sexually transmitted infections (STI), which disproportionately affect Black women.

METHODS

Black women, aged 18-44 (n = 305) were recruited from STI clinics in Baltimore, MD into a retrospective cohort study. A survey assessed feminine gender ideologies using a measure of hyperfemininity and sexual hyperfemininity (subscale of sexual domains), harmful drinking (AUDIT), lifetime STI (Y/N and count), and syndemic burden (no burden [0-1 morbidity] and syndemic burden [2-3 comorbidities]). Multivariable regression models identified correlates of harmful drinking, STI, and syndemic burden. The analytic sample included (n = 231) women with complete data.

RESULTS

Nearly half of our sample reported high hyperfemininity and high sexual hyperfemininity, 23% reported harmful drinking, 39% experienced sexual violence as an adult, and 74% reported a lifetime STI. High sexual hyperfemininity (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 1.94, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.00-3.76) and sexual violence (AOR = 2.82, 95%CI: 1.43-5.58) were associated with greater odds of harmful drinking. Experiencing sexual violence in adulthood was associated with an increased count of lifetime STIs (Adjusted Incidence Rate Ratio [AIRR] = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.06-1.68). Syndemic burden affected 41% of our sample. High sexual hyperfemininity was associated with experiencing syndemic burden in unadjusted models (OR = 1.98, 95%CI: 1.16-3.37), but was not significant after controlling for confounders.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions to reduce harmful drinking and STIs among Black women in the U.S. should address sexual gender ideologies and sexual violence.

Perceptions of monogamy, nonconsensual nonmonogamy and consensual nonmonogamy at the intersections of race and gender

Given the historical entrenchment of racialised stereotypes of Black women and Black men as sexually promiscuous, we wondered whether consensual nonmonogamy (CNM) among Black partners would be seen as favourably as among white partners. We also wondered if Black participants would perceive different relationship types differently from white participants. We pursued these questions in a vignette study featuring heterosexual couples coded as Black or as white and engaged in three different relationship types: monogamy, nonconsensual nonmonogamy (NCNM) and CNM. To facilitate comparisons across race*gender intersections, we used a sample comprising equivalent numbers of Black women, white women, Black men and white men aged 18-40. Contrary to expectations, analyses did not offer evidence of a racialised sexual double standard insofar as participant perceptions of relationship quality did not differ when considering a Black couple or a white couple. Indicating the persistence of mononormativity, participants across race*gender subsamples perceived monogamous relationships to be of higher quality, regardless of the vignette couple's race. We also found Black women, Black men and white women perceived CNM more favourably than NCNM, while there was no differentiation between CNM and NCNM among white men.

Thinking as the others do: persistence and conformity of sexual double standard among young Italians

The double standard represents a standard of good behaviour that, unfairly, some people are expected to follow or achieve, but others are not. Once neglected by social scientists, the double standard in sexual attitudes has become more and more studied. In this paper, we inquire about the existence of the double standard in opinions regarding peers’ sexual behaviours and study its determinants. What makes young people judge the sexual behaviour of women in a more conservative way than that of men? The paper uses data collected from Italian university students, who are asked to express their (dis)approval of a series of sexual behaviours, considering peers of either gender participating in those behaviours. The results show that the double standard exists and has been persistent amid Italian undergraduate students over the last 20 years, and that the cultural context matters more than the family in shaping students’ beliefs.

Pathways to Pleasure and Protection: Exploring Embodiment, Desire, and Entitlement to Pleasure as Predictors of Black and White Young Women’s Sexual Agency

Sexual agency is a fundamental dimension of sexual subjectivity and well-being. Research and theory suggest that it functions in the service of both protection from harm and enabling sexual pleasure. However, sexual agency can be difficult for women to navigate in a social landscape in which femininity ideologies remain powerful social forces, operating in racialized ways. We examined how embodiment, sexual desire, and entitlement to sexual pleasure were associated with sexual agency in the service of protection (i.e., condom use and refusing unwanted sex) and pleasure (i.e., asking for what one wants from a sexual partner) for Black and White heterosexual college women using path analysis and path invariance testing. We found that across race, women’s embodiment was associated with greater comfort with their sexual desire, which in turn was associated with greater entitlement to sexual pleasure and sexual agency in service of both pleasure and protection. While Black and White women evidenced similar levels of both forms of agency, Black participants’ agency in the service of protection was unrelated to their entitlement to sexual pleasure. We discuss these findings in light of racialized discourses of women’s sexuality and the importance of understanding sexual desire as anchored in the body and enabling young women’s sexual agency.

Young Women's Sexuality in Black and White: Racial Differences in Appraisals of Sexually Active Young Women

Evidence suggests that U.S. attitudes are increasingly accepting of young women's rights to sexual self-expression and activity. However, such support may not be unequivocal or uniformly offered and received. It is especially unclear how the endorsement of young women's sexuality varies by race, both in who holds these supportive views and in who benefits from them. We examined whether appraisals of a hypothetical sexually active young woman would vary by her race (Black or White) and/or a participant's (Black or White). Analyzing a sample of 416 U.S. adults (aged 18-40) comprised of equivalent numbers of Black women, Black men, White women, and White men, we found that across vignette subject and participant race, a sexually active young woman was rated as more competent than likable and that Black participants' appraisals of a sexually active woman (Black or White) were less favorable than White participants'. Against our hypothesis, we found no quantitative evidence of bias against a Black sexually active young woman; however, post-hoc qualitative analysis of participants' comments cast doubt on this apparent racial symmetry. We consider these findings in the context of ongoing racial/misogynist sexual stigmatization of Black women and the consequent attitudes held by - and about - them.

Invariance of the Sexual Double Standard Scale: A Cross-Cultural Study

The Sexual Double Standard (SDS) is an instrument used to judge sexual behavior, in which men are usually granted greater sexual freedom, while the same sexual behavior is condemned in women. Culture can be a relevant variable for the SDS. Therefore, we have examined the measurement invariance of the Sexual Double Standard Scale (SDSS) across the Spanish and Colombian populations, comparing this phenomenon by country and gender. The scale comprises two factors: sexual freedom and sexual shyness. The sample consisted of 1832 heterosexual adults (46.3% men, 53.7% women), 54.3% of whom were Spanish and 45.7% Colombian. Strong invariance was found. The reliability values were good for country and gender. Men and women from both countries supported greater freedom for themselves compared to the other gender. Furthermore, Spanish women, unlike their Colombian counterparts, supported greater sexual shyness for men. Thus, what some authors have labeled as a "reverse sexual double standard" seems to emerge.

Following Their Lead? Connecting Mainstream Media Use to Black Women's Gender Beliefs and Sexual Agency

Although media exposure has emerged as a significant predictor of consumers' sexual decision making, less is known about the mechanisms involved and about the dynamics of these relations for adults, in general, and for African American adults, in particular. To address these gaps, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test whether heterosexual Black women's endorsement of traditional gender and sexual roles mediates connections between their consumption of four mainstream media (music videos, reality TV programming, movies, and women's magazines) and three dimensions of their sexual well-being (sexual assertiveness, sexual inhibition, and sexual deception). We surveyed 594 heterosexual Black women aged 17 to 55 who were undergraduate and graduate students at two universities (one historically Black university and one predominantly White institution). Results confirmed expectations, such that greater media consumption was associated with greater support of traditional gender and sexual roles; in turn, endorsing these roles predicted lower levels of sexual assertiveness, greater sexual inhibition, and more frequent use of sexual dishonesty to retain a partner. We discuss implications of these findings for psychology and sexuality research and also for Black women's sexual relationships.

A Wholistic View of Black Women on Scripted TV: A Content Analysis

Existing analyses of Black women on TV have tended to focus on their general prevalence or employment/family status. As such, less is known about the extent to which they reflect broader attributes associated with women and with Black women. Accordingly, we examined portrayals of Black women on 12 scripted programs, focusing on 33 behaviors associated with mothering, friendship, work, and stress, in addition to role status and appearance. Our results indicated that Black women on scripted television programs were often single, mothers, dark-skinned, thin, and in high-status occupations. The most prevalent behaviors depicted were giving orders or commands, engaging in occupation-related actions or statements, and showing emotion (e.g., crying, storming off). Implications of these characterizations are discussed, both in terms of the breadth and accuracy of their representation and in the potential ways they may be perceived by viewers.

The discursive construction of low-risk to sexually transmitted diseases between women who are sexually active with women

This paper uses a discursive analytical method to explore dominant discourses concerning the sexual health of women who have sex with women. In-depth interviews were conducted with a cross-cultural sample of women from England and Brazil. Sex between women was discursively constructed as 'safe', and women who have sex with women were seen as being at low to negligible risk of contracting/transmitting sexually transmitted infections. Analysis identified two discourses underlying these constructions: a binaries discourse which focused on dichotomies of gender, sexuality and risk; and a sexual double-standard discourse, which focused on the positioning of sex between women as safe and the use of barrier methods of protection as indicative of not engaging in or fully enjoying the sexual act.

Sexual Double Standard: A Psychometric Study From a Macropsychological Perspective Among the Spanish Heterosexual Population

In the context of heterosexual relationships, the sexual double standard (SDS) leads to a more negative assessment of women than men when they exhibit the same sexual behavior. This work assumes that in Western democratic societies, the individual attitude toward SDS takes different forms due to the processes of conviction regarding the social norm that exists on this matter. Therefore, the individual attitude toward SDS will depend on the person's perception of what others think about that topic. We distinguish between self-referred response, it refers to subjects' personal endorsement of the SDS, and responses hetero-referred, subjects' perception of sexual societal double standard. This paper presents a version of the Double Standard Scale (SDSS) that assesses the subjective perception of society's support for the SDS. We examine its psychometric properties in a sample of Spanish population heterosexual of 1,206 individuals (50% males), distributed across three groups (18-34, 35-49, and 50 years old or older). We performed Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The final version consists of 18 item distributed into three factors (Acceptance for Male Sexual Shyness, Acceptance for Female Sexual Freedom and Acceptance for Traditional Double Standard). Said three-factor structure does not match with the two-factor structure of the self-referred form. Internal consistency, temporal stability and validity evidence are reported. This version of the SDSS is reliable and valid. No gender differences are found in the SDSS-H. However, the results show that the context of group membership, based on education and age, is differently associated with the response to SDSS-H. That is, higher scores are found for individuals with the highest education and for the youngest participants. We discuss the usefulness of this measure to improve the prediction of individual attitude toward SDS, as well as, to evaluate the SDS phenomenon at a level of macropsychological analysis.

Agency Is Everywhere, but Agency Is Not Enough: A Conceptual Analysis of Young Women's Sexual Agency

Through a conceptual analysis of sexual agency, I consider the limitations and distortions of what we typically recognize as agency and whom we recognize as agents. I argue that the dominant perspective of sexual agency as an outward performance of an internal attribute both: underestimates its presence, blinding us to the many manifestations of agency, including among girls imagined to have none; and overestimates its potency, insinuating that individual will is enough to fend off sexual vulnerability forged by social injustice. Instead, I recommend a theoretical lens that permits us to see girls' sexual agency as a matter of fact, evident even among those who are compelled by social and material conditions to exercise it through sexual compliance, compromise, and concession. Accepting sexual agency as ubiquitous among young women can help reorient attention and action away from changing girls and instead toward changing the pervasive, systemic threats to their well-being, sexual and otherwise.

Black US college women's strategies of sexual self-protection

While previous scholarship on the sexual practices of college students in the USA has explored how the co-constitution of whiteness, economic privilege and gender inequality are central to 'hooking up', less attention has been paid to how the sexual culture of predominantly white universities shape Black college women's sexual practices. In this article, we use an intersectional theoretical framework informed by Black feminism to analyse interviews with Black, cisgender, heterosexual women, aged 18-22, attending a university in the south-eastern USA. We explore how they interpret the university's sexual culture and in turn how that informs their sexual decision-making. We find that the intersection of racism and sexism limits Black college women's sexual partner options and leads them to pursue sexual relationships outside the university setting. While most do not engage in committed romantic relationships with off-campus partners, they do engage in a range of strategies to protect their social, emotional and sexual well-being. The study findings expand the scholarship on hook-up culture by centring the narratives of a group often excluded from the literature.

Reduction in a high-risk sex script among young urban women in the Love, Sex, & Choices web video HIV prevention intervention study

For women, the high-risk sex script of condomless sex to maintain relationships with men is concerning, particularly in regard to heterosexual HIV acquisition. This secondary analysis of data from a clinical trial evaluated the effect of a 12-episode, web-based video series intervention, entitled Love, Sex, and Choices, versus a text message control on lowering the high-risk sex script. The sample comprised 238 predominately urban Black women, ages 18-29, having HIV sex risk behavior. Data were collected at baseline and 6 months post-intervention. The Sex Script Video Response score was used to measure a high-risk sex script. HIV sex risk behavior was measured by Vaginal Equivalent Episodes with high-risk partners. At baseline, lower education, younger age at first sexual intercourse, and alcohol/non-injection drug use before sex were positively associated with a high-risk sex script. At baseline, as the high-risk sex script increased by one log unit, sex risk behavior increased by 0.47 log units (p < 0.001), equivalent to a 60% increase in the geometric mean of sex risk behavior. ANCOVA analysis indicated that from baseline to 6-months post intervention, lowering the high-risk sex script by one unit was associated with an additional reduction of 0.26 units in sex risk behavior. Compared to the text messages, the LSC video series was associated with a 27% greater reduction in the geometric mean of the sex script (p = 0.03). Further investigation into the effect of lowering sex scripts to reduce sex risk behavior is recommended.

Safer sexual practices among African American women: intersectional socialisation and sexual assertiveness

Scholars have posited that childhood socialisation experiences may play a key role in influencing behaviours and attitudes that contribute to the acquisition of HIV. This study examined the links between past ethnic-racial and gender socialisation, sexual assertiveness and the safe sexual practices of African American college women utilising a cluster analytic approach. After identifying separate racial-gender and ethnic-gender socialisation profiles, results indicated that ethnic-gender socialisation cluster profiles were directly associated with sexual assertiveness and safer sex behaviour. Greater levels of ethnic socialisation and low traditional gender role socialisation were found to be associated with greater sexual assertiveness and safer sex behaviour. Further analysis showed that sexual assertiveness mediated the links between the identified ethnic-gender socialisation profiles and safer sex behaviour. Implications for policy and programme development are discussed.

An abridged Spanish version of Sexual Double Standard Scale: Factorial structure, reliability and validity evidence

Sexual double standard (SDS) has long been associated to several dimensions of sexual health. Therefore the assessment of SDS is relevant and requires self-reported measures with adequate psychometric properties. This study aims to adapt the Sexual Double Standard Scale (SDSS) into heterosexual Spanish population and examine its psychometric properties. Method: Using quota incidental sampling, we recruited a sample of 1,206 individuals (50% women), distributed across three groups based on their age (18-34, 35-49 and 50 years old and older). Results: We performed both, Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. An abridged version was yielded, consisting of 16 items distributed into two factors (Acceptance for sexual freedom and Acceptance for sexual shyness). A second-order factor structure was also adequate, which facilitates the use of a global index for SDS. Reliability, based on internal consistency and temporal stability was good for the factors. Evidence of validity is also shown and reported. Conclusions: This adapted version of the SDSS is reliable and valid. The importance for its use to estimate the prevalence of both traditional and modern forms of this phenomenon is discussed.

Sexually Experienced Adolescents' Thoughts About Sexual Pleasure

Little research on adolescents has examined developmentally normative facets of sexuality that are not obviously linked to physical health. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to qualitatively analyze adolescents' thoughts about and experiences with sexual pleasure. The study sample consisted of 56 sexually experienced, ethnically diverse, predominantly female adolescents who were participating in a Web-based intervention to promote healthy sexual decision making. Comments on one message board, "Sexual Pleasure: Does It Matter to You?," provided an opportunity to examine adolescents' thoughts about and experiences with sexual pleasure, as well as their communication with partners about that topic. Adolescents' comments demonstrated that they experience difficulties with pleasure in their sexual relationships. Adolescents generally believed that men are more likely than women to feel pleasure due to differences that include biology, understanding of one's body, and control over partnered sexual behavior. Adolescents defined inequality of received pleasure differently and discussed contexts in which inequality may be acceptable. Adolescents expressed motivation to communicate with partners about sexual pleasure. However, their statements suggested they often lack the skills to do so. Future prevention and intervention programs should equip adolescents with skills to communicate with partners about sexual pleasure.

Adapting to Injustice

In this study, we link together moments of discrimination described by young bisexual women. We do so in order to theorize about associations between negative stereotypes heard early in one’s life and later minimization of personal discrimination. Using interviews with 13 young women, we sought to understand the types of negative messages participants heard about “bi/sexuality” as well as the ways that they perceived or did not perceive themselves as having experienced discrimination related to their sexuality. We found that family members and friends often described participants’ bisexuality as “disgusting,” “difficult to understand,” or “hot,” and participants described their own experiences with discrimination as “no big deal.” We use this analysis to build on previous research concerning microaggressions, sexual stigma, and denial of discrimination to discuss how familial, social, and political environments create a set of conditions in which later injustices are imagined as normative and inevitable. Finally, we discuss the methodological dilemmas facing feminist psychologists who aim to analyze discrimination and the challenges in documenting individuals’ experiences of stigma, which may be imagined as no big deal to individuals, but are in fact unjust. It is imperative to develop strategies to recognize, document, and critically assess how injustice becomes all too normal for some and the role that feminist psychology can play in changing this. A podcast conversation with the author of this article is available on PWQ 's website at http://pwq.sagepub.com/site/misc/Index/Podcasts.xhtml

The Potential of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for Women in Violent Relationships

HIV and intimate partner violence (IPV) are significant intersecting threats to women's health. Women in violent relationships have few feasible HIV risk reduction options as traditional prevention methods are largely dependent on a partner's cooperation. The purpose of this review is to explore potential benefits and drawbacks of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among women in the United States experiencing IPV. Advantages of PrEP use in this population include the potential for covert or autonomous use, coital independence, dual protection against sexual and injection risk, and facilitated connections to social services. A number of barriers, however, may interfere with the effective use of PrEP, including partner resistance, cost, frequent medical visits, gendered norms regarding sexuality, and stigma. To realize its potential for women in violent relationships, it will be necessary to incorporate PrEP into behavioral and structural interventions that encourage uptake, facilitate adherence, ensure women's safety, and challenge existing gender norms.

When Sex and Power Collide: An Argument for Critical Sexuality Studies

Attentive to the collision of sex and power, we add momentum to the ongoing development of the subfield of critical sexuality studies. We argue that this body of work is defined by its critical orientation toward the study of sexuality, along with a clear allegiance to critical modalities of thought, particularly feminist thought. Critical sexuality studies takes its cues from several other critical moments in related fields, including critical psychology, critical race theory, critical public health, and critical youth studies. Across these varied critical stances is a shared investment in examining how power and privilege operate, understanding the role of historical and epistemological violence in research, and generating new models and paradigms to guide empirical and theoretical research. With this guiding framework, we propose three central characteristics of critical sexuality studies: (a) conceptual analysis, with particular attention to how we define key terms and conceptually organize our research (e.g., attraction, sexually active, consent, agency, embodiment, sexual subjectivity); (b) attention to the material qualities of abject bodies, particularly bodies that are ignored, overlooked, or pushed out of bounds (e.g., viscous bodies, fat bodies, bodies in pain); and (c) heteronormativity and heterosexual privilege, particularly how assumptions about heterosexuality and heteronormativity circulate in sexuality research. Through these three critical practices, we argue that critical sexuality studies showcases how sex and power collide and recognizes (and tries to subvert) the various power imbalances that are deployed and replicated in sex research.