Abstract
Black girls in the United States begin to discuss and face issues concerning sexuality in elementary school. However, the contemporary youth sexuality literature focuses on the problems of pubescent youth. Within the small body of research that considers preadolescent children’s sexual experiences, Black girls are largely invisible. The omission of young Black girls from the youth sexuality literature suggests that Black girls have the same experiences as White girls or, equally as disconcerting, that preadolescent Black girls are not sexual subjects, do not endure peer sexual harassment, do not express their sexual identities, and do not challenge sexual standards. Using data sources that are integral to Black feminist theorizing, including personal narratives, published memoirs, news stories, and qualitative research, the author interrogates the validity of these underlying assumptions. This essay exposes the ways in which youth sexuality researchers silence and distort prepubescent Black girls’ sexualities.
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Notes
I also recognize that White women suffered under the ideology of sexual division of labor in the hetero-patriarchal family, including those working-class White and immigrant women who had to both work outside of the home and fulfill their matronly duties in the home.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Ruth Nicole Brown, Cris Mayo, Yoon Pak, Wanda Pillow, and Katherine Schofield for reading the many drafts of this article and sharing their invaluable insights.
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James, A.E.E. Too Early to Talk About Sex? Issues in Creating Culturally Relevant Sexuality Education for Preadolescent Black Girls in the United States. Sex Res Soc Policy 7, 128–141 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-010-0012-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-010-0012-3