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

'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.

The Role of Feminism and Gender in Endorsement of Hookup Culture among Emerging Adults

Hookup culture has transformed the sexual behavior of emerging adults. Feminism, a movement that has advocated for liberating women from sexual repression, may be associated with hookup endorsement attitudes. This study explores the associations among multiple dimensions of feminism, gender, and hookup culture endorsement. Participants included 318 emerging adults (46% women; Mage = 22.2 years; 51% White, 27% Asian, 5% Hispanic/Latinx, 9% Black, 1% Middle Eastern, 1% American Indian, 6% Multiracial) from five Anglophone countries (62% U.S., 23% United Kingdom, 9% Canada, 5% Australia, 1% New Zealand), who completed the Feminist Beliefs and Behavior Scale and Endorsement of Hookup Culture Index via an anonymous, online survey. Participants were categorized according to their feminist identity label (feminist, non-feminist) and feminist belief system (hold feminist beliefs, hold non-feminist beliefs). A series of ANCOVAs was conducted, revealing that women who identified as feminist and/or held feminist beliefs reported significantly higher endorsement of hookup culture compared to non-feminist women with non-feminist beliefs. Neither dimension of feminism predicted hookup culture endorsement in men. When comparing feminist-identifying women and men, the gender disparity in hookup culture endorsement was eliminated. Together, these findings highlight how social movements, such as feminism, may be associated with young women's attitudes towards hookups, and may ultimately shape their sexual experiences.

Associations of Social Network- and Individual-Level Factors with HIV Testing, Condom Use, and Interest in PrEP Among Young Black Women

To achieve the 2030 goal of ending the HIV epidemic, we must consider social network- along with individual-level factors related to HIV prevention among young Black women (YBW). This cross-sectional study examined egocentric social network- and individual-level data of 180 YBW aged 18-24. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to study social network characteristics and individual sexual behaviors related to HIV prevention behaviors (e.g., HIV testing, condom use, and interest in preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP). On average, YBW nominated 11 social network members (SNMs; seven friends, two family members, and one sex partner). About 92% of YBW spoke to at least one SNM about condom use and 58% spoke to at least one SNM about HIV testing. Respondents who spoke to a sex partner about condom use had 70% lower odds of being interested in PrEP, but 2.99 times the odds of reporting condom use during last sex. Odds of being tested for HIV in the prior 3 months were significantly increased by 3.97 times for those who spoke to at least one sex partner about HIV testing. However, odds of being interested in PrEP were significantly decreased by 63% for YBW who were tested for HIV in the prior 3 months. Findings underscore that understanding network- and individual-level factors is crucial in increasing HIV testing, condom use, and interest in PrEP among YBW.

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.