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Black Queer Women’s Pleasure: A Review

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Limited research addresses Black queer women’s experience of sexual pleasure through an intersectional and sex-positive lens. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to review research on Black queer women’s sexual pleasure using the Pleasure Mountain model’s facilitators of pleasure: partnered interactions, liberation, mind-body-soul awareness, and orgasms.

Recent Findings

Black queer women’s sexual pleasure has been well theorized, but not often studied empirically. In the few studies, it was found that Black queer women appreciate mutual pleasure and orgasm, fake orgasm at similar rates as heterosexual peers, and employ their sex lives as sites of liberation.

Summary

While studies are limited, there is available research that discusses the lived-sexual experiences of Black queer women while considering their intersectional identities. However, gaps remain in the current sexual pleasure research of Black queer women that will better explicate the context and mechanisms of their sexual pleasure and health. Future studies are needed to investigate the facilitators to sexual pleasure for Black queer women while incorporating Black queer women’s voices as the sex scientists.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology & Health Promotion, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA

    Shemeka Thorpe

  2. Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Kentucky, Dickey Hall 239, 251 Scott St, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA

    Natalie Malone, Rayven L. Peterson, Monyae Kerney & Candice N. Hargons

  3. Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, USA

    Praise Iyiewuare

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  1. Shemeka Thorpe
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  2. Natalie Malone
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  4. Praise Iyiewuare
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Correspondence to Candice N. Hargons.

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Thorpe, S., Malone, N., Peterson, R.L. et al. Black Queer Women’s Pleasure: A Review. Curr Sex Health Rep 15, 100–106 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-023-00357-y

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