From Sin to Sexual Self-Awareness: Black Women's Reflection on Lifetime Masturbation.

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.

Intersections of gendered racial trauma and childbirth trauma: Clinical interventions for Black women.

Studies suggest that racism affects the type and quality of health care that patients who are Black receive, perhaps in part because poorer patient-provider communication and less provider encouragement of patient involvement have been consistently reported for patients of color. In particular, Black women are 3-4 times more likely to experience dangerous and even life-threatening complications, and more likely to report mistreatment and neglect from medical providers and staff, during childbirth. Experiences with gendered racism during childbirth, which in itself is a vulnerable, intense, and potentially traumatic experience when proper support is absent, may lead to posttraumatic stress reactions. Psychotherapy can help affected clients to process gendered racial and childbirth traumas through: (a) the establishment of a safe, trusting, and collaborative therapeutic relationship, in which careful attention is paid to repairing alliance ruptures caused by cultural misunderstandings or gendered racial microaggressions, and (b) framing experiences and "symptoms" as understandable reactions to gendered race-based traumatic stress during childbirth. In addition to direct therapeutic intervention, therapists should collaborate with doulas and/or medical providers on patient care, and, separately, advocate for systemic-level change, supporting clients' lived experiences outside of the therapy room. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Addressing racial equity in health psychology research: An application of the multicultural orientation framework.

Health psychology research emphasizes biological and positivist methods, giving less attention to the multifaceted sociocultural and political forces at play in health processes and outcomes. In this article, we present a new sociostructural approach for working toward racial equity in health psychology research, consistent with public psychology goals. This new approach uses the multicultural orientation framework (MCO) to guide health psychologists to consider the sociocultural and political history of their work, systems of oppression and privilege embedded in health research, and a path toward using research to achieve social change, antiracism, and health equity. We identify MCO as a tool for health psychology researchers to engage in ongoing self-reflection, cultivate cultural humility, and act upon opportunities to examine cultural factors at each step of the research process. After describing the MCO's components of cultural humility, cultural opportunities, and cultural comfort, we introduce questions that researchers can use to guide self-reflexivity and the implementation of MCO into health psychology research focused on racial equity. Specifically, we present the issue of Black women's perinatal health to embody the importance of applying MCO to health disparities research. We then walk through how to apply MCO in health research study development, data collection, and data dissemination. As we outline how to apply MCO to promote antiracist health research, we aim to enact social change consistent with the public psychology goals of building and fostering strong community relationships that inform social policy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

In and out of love with hip-hop: saliency of sexual scripts for young adult African American women in hip-hop and Black-oriented television.

Hip-hop media and Black-oriented reality television are powerful mechanisms for conveying and promoting stereotypes of Black women. Black women's sexuality is frequently presented as highly-salient in each medium. However, little is known about the impact of those images on Black women's sexuality and identity. The current study uses focus-group methodology to engage young adult Black in critical discussion of two predominant sexual scripts found in hip-hop music and Black-oriented reality television - the Freak and the Gold Digger. Analyses revealed shared and distinct aspects of each sexual script represented in both media and the impact of those scripts on participants' experiences. Implications for future research are discussed.