“It Feels So Good”: Pleasure in Last Sexual Encounter Narratives of Black University Students

Abstract

A sex-positive lens is needed to investigate Black sexuality, which is often depicted through deficit and risk models. Extant sex research leaves an opportunity to understand Black experiences of sexual pleasure untapped. Using narrative inquiry coupled with constructivist grounded theory methods, we examined 18 Black university students’ last sexual encounter narratives. An explication of their disclosure about and meaning making around pleasure is presented. Themes included the following: monitoring mutual pleasure, relegating pleasure to men’s performance, and positioning pleasured possibilities as hope or expectation. Research implications for Black psychology are addressed.

A Qualitative Exploration of Jezebel Stereotype Endorsement and Sexual Behaviors Among Black College Women

“…First, the sample focused on Black college women attending PWIs, and several participants noted sexual harassment and mistreatment from White men. Consistent with other work (e.g., Hargons et al, 2018), our findings indicate that many of the women desired and pursued sexual encounters but tended to do so with Black sexual partners within the predominantly White university setting. While all Black women in the United States are embedded within a White patriarchal society, future research might consider whether Black college women attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have different sexual experiences based on their immersion in majority Black settings.…”

Steeped in Shame: An Exploration of Family Sexual Socialization Among Black College Women

“…The current study adds to the growing scholarship on reframing sexual socialization practices to support the healthy and holistic development of Black girls (Hargons et al, 2018; Townsend, 2008). Despite the ethnic and cultural diversity of the sample, the women provided compelling narratives with common threads that revealed how Black women’s stories remain connected to a broader collective history rooted in the Black diaspora.…”

“…Transmission of sex positive messages also decenters heteronormativity in relation to sexuality, monogamy, and procreation-focused sex (Mosher, 2017). A sex positive approach has seldom been applied to analyses of sexual socialization processes for Black girls (e.g., Hargons et al, 2018). Accordingly, the current study expands the scope of the current literature by exploring the diversity of sexual socialization in family settings, with attention given to the significant positive implications for Black girls’ sexual development.…”

“…Although a substantial literature addresses the sexual development of Black girls and women (Crooks et al, 2019; Dagbovie-Mullins, 2013; French, 2013; Hargons et al, 2018, Morgan, 2015; Stephens & Phillips, 2003; Watson et al, 2012), there has been less investigation of how young Black women interpret and internalize the sexual socialization messages they receive, especially from family members. Parents and family members are noted to be primary agents of sexual socialization, defined as the developmental process by which knowledge, attitudes, and values about sexuality are acquired (Shtarkshall et al, 2007).…”

Catchin' Feelings: Experiences of Intimacy during Black College Students' Sexual Encounters

“…The research team consisted of a diverse group of students and their faculty advisor. Interviewers from the larger parent study (Hargons et al, 2018) included seven team members -two Black females (including the faculty advisor), four White females, and one White male. Four of the interviewers identified as straight, two as queer, and one as polyamorous.…”