Controlling Images and Sexual Agency: An Intersectional Approach to Unpacking Sexual Health Experiences

Black women experience significant disparities in sexual health in comparison to black men and women of other racial/ethnic groups. Traditional theories attempting to explain these outcomes are persistently individualistic, non-relational, and rooted in neoliberal ideologies. In contrast, this study provided an intersectional analysis of these outcomes, reflective of the socio-political history. This analysis examined the relationship between adherence to a cultural script commonly known as the Strong Black Woman (SBW) Archetype, sexual assertiveness (SA) and sexual experiences. The following research questions were addressed:

1. What demographic characteristics (including age, education, and income), and personal

characteristics (religiosity, self-esteem, perceived attractiveness, and skin color) are

predictors of SBW adherence in a sample of heterosexual black women?

2. What is the relationship between (a) SBW adherence, (b) demographic characteristics, (c)

personal characteristics, and sexual assertiveness in a sample of heterosexual black

Women?

3. What is the relationship between (a) SBW adherence, (b) SA (c) demographic

characteristics, (d) personal characteristics, and sexual history/experiences (including # of

STDs reported, # of partners, # of abortions) in a sample of heterosexual black women?

The sample included individuals who self-identified as female, black, heterosexual, and 18 years of age or older. Participants were recruited through purposive, convenience and snowball sampling, primarily through the use of social media, email, and face-to-face contact. G*Power 3 analysis was used to determine sample size using an alpha of .05, with effect size 0.15. The sample size calculated was 194 (1-β = .95). A total of 279 participants completed the survey. The data was collected using Qualtrics, an online survey software tool. Normality was assessed via examination of skewness and kurtosis for all quantitative variables. Screening for missing data was considered to determine whether data were missing completely at random (MCAR). A series of bivariate analyses were conducted to examine direct relationships between each of the independent variables and the dependent variables. To address the first and second research questions, hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted. For the third question, a series of logistic regression analyses were conducted.

The analysis revealed that higher scores on the SBW Archetype scale were negatively correlated with self-esteem. Overall sexual assertiveness and communication assertiveness were positively correlated with self-esteem and women with higher levels of SBW adherence had lower levels of refusal assertiveness. Women with higher levels of SBW adherence were also more likely to have had at least one unplanned pregnancy, and participants with lower self-esteem were significantly more likely to have had an abortion than those with higher self-esteem.

These findings suggest that cultural scripts/controlling images may influence sexual assertiveness and sexual health. Considering these discoveries, practice and policy initiatives geared toward promoting sexual agency and health among black women should examine the role of the cultural scripts and its social, emotional and psychological impact on adherents. Research and education should also incorporate the use of an intersectional framework to capture the ways in which the interaction of race, class, and gender influence the lived experiences of black women.