Multiple Os

Little is known about the messages southern Black females receive about masturbation. Most past research involving Black clitoris-owners have focused on prevention of STDs and pregnancy.

Researcher Shameka Thorpe et al. (2022) examined the messages Black women receive about masturbation and the sources of these messages in the article, which is conceptualized in this model.

Shemeka Thorpe is one of the first researchers to include the sexual experiences of queer and heterosexual Black clitoris-owners. In about 40 studies, Thorpe viewed their sexual and orgasm experiences from an intersectional lens.

As defined by Black Feminist Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of advantage/empowerment and disadvantage/oppression,including gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion,disability, weight, and physical appearance. I also recommend checking out Thorpes’ other work, which is open access, called Intersectional Masturbation.

Because of marginalization of Black women, in another study, Thorpe suggests that ”it may be useful to consider methods for disseminating results beyond the ivory tower such as through blogs, social media, community workshops, and podcasts, so Black women in the community can have access to information that promotes their sexual well-being and rights to sexual pleasure across the lifespan.” (p. 11). The blogger, influencer, podcaster, and video creator are in important part of the ecosystem, as they have the ability to disseminate novel information, such as what is found in Thorpe’s research, to a wide variety of audiences without access to academic resources.

I tried to cover this one decently here. However, I recommend reading the primary source.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM STUDY

• Negative stereotypes of Black women like Mammy, Aunt Jemima, Auntee, Jezebel, Sapphire, Sister Savior, Diva, and Freak intersect with the sex lives of Black women.      
• Black women who do not masturbate said, “’Doesn’t feel good,’ ‘Don’t have the desire to and would rather have sex with another human being,’ ‘I don’t receive pleasure from self-masturbating. I don’t get turned on or aroused,’ ‘Just don’t,’ ‘Never did it,’ ‘Not enough general knowledge,’ ‘Not sure. I think I mentally block out pleasure when I’m alone. I have had years of feeling asexual, so it takes connection with someone to arouse me’” (p. 3)            
• Gendered racial sexual scripts, such as such as Black women being hypersexual and promiscuous (e.g., Jezebel script), often influence the types of messages they receive about their sexuality,particularly masturbation.      
• Black girls tend to be sexualized at younger ages than other racial groups and categorized as bad girls. This is part of the good girl versus bad girl dichotomy.
• Black women tend to receive little to no messaging around sexual pleasure and masturbation.
• Black women are socialization to repress sexual desires and prioritize the male partner’s pleasure.
• Some Black women do not usually receive messages about pleasure outside relationships like masturbation and self-pleasure.
• “Hearing positive messages about sexuality and masturbation, especially in early adulthood, can emphasize the importance of exploration as normative and creative” (p.2)       
• Those who received negative messages about masturbation from parents tended see masturbation as “sinful, taboo, or something for Black women to refrain from doing”(p.2). This can contribute to feelings of guilt associated with masturbation later in life. Positive messages encountered later in life can help change this view of masturbation.
• Some Black women received positive messaging about masturbation growing up, which “encourages them to discover their bodies, be in control of their pleasure, and normalize masturbation as the act of being knowledgeable about their body” (p. 2)
• Some black women believed that masturbation was unnecessary, because “it was a man’s job to satisfy them” (p. 2). They saw it as a “desperate measure to achieve sexual pleasure in the absence of a male partner” (p. 3)
• Those who did masturbate reported using “their hands for clitoral stimulation, vibrators, water from the bathtub and shower head, nipple stimulation, or a combination of these methods” (p.2)       
• The Black church, an important part of some of the Black community, has contribute to the view that Black women have about masturbation,premarital sex, and pleasure in general. Masturbation is viewed as a sin and shameful act.        
• Black women who masturbated growing up were more likely to describe masturbation as “feeling good” (p. 3) and hitting a sensitive spot” (P. 3). Black women who did not masturbate tended to use ambiguous terms like “fine” (p. 3).        
• Positive messages about masturbation included that it is important for sexual self-awareness, enhances partnered interactions, has health benefits (sleep, tension and stress relief, reduces anxiety, promotes a healthy sex life, aids in relaxation, and is a form a self-care), and is empowering,”        
• Positive messages included “’masturbate while you manifest’ (age 25–35; heterosexual), and ‘As a woman—I am responsible and capable for my own pleasure. Own it. And if I want to, I can share myself-pleasure with others’ (p. 4)        
• Sources of positive messages included “moms, books, friends, male partners, Black women family members (e.g., aunts and cousins), sexuality educators, Facebook, Google, R&B music (specifically the artist Tweet), feminist spaces, and other sexually liberated people” (p. 4)
• Negative messages included masturbation being sinful, having no purpose,  being dirty/gross/disgusting, being only for males, and creating relationship issues.
• Mixed messages included not receiving any messaging or hearing both that masturbation was healthy but also sinful.
• Some Black women in the study did not know that women were capable of orgasm.
• Some research suggests that Black women tended to masturbate less frequently than their white counterparts, perhaps in correlation with many of the abovementioned factors.

These factors also intersect with many other complexity models with racism, such as here/here, here/here, here, and here.

ABSTRACT 

To date, there has been very little empirical research on Black women’s masturbation practices and views on masturbation. This study fills the gap by exploring the messages Black women received about masturbation and self-pleasure and the sources of these messages using valence theory. Data were collected in 2021 from 242 Black women who participated in a survey during phase one of the triphasic Big Sex Study.Thematic analysis was used to analyze this short-form qualitative data. Results indicated a range of responses, with mixed messages reported more than negative, positive, and neutral messages. The three primary sources of messages were religion,family, and friends. There were several themes across the valence of messages including the development of positive messages, sexual self-awareness, masturbation as sin, health benefits and consequences, relationship difficulties, devaluation,and masturbation as dirty and gross. These results provide a basis for sexuality professionals to improve sociocultural knowledge about masturbation beliefs, practices, and message sources among Black women.