Researchers suggest that the Jezebel stereotype exerts a significant influence on Black women’s sexual decision making. The current qualitative study drew upon narrative data from individual, semistructured interviews with 50 Black women (ages 18-24 years) to explore how the Jezebel stereotype influenced their sexual beliefs and behaviors. Using consensual qualitative research methods, the following four themes emerged from the data: (a) how the Jezebel plays a role in their sexual exploration, (b) how the Jezebel contributes to sexual violence against Black women, (c) how the Jezebel is a hypersexual media representation of Black women’s sexuality, and (d) how the Jezebel is a negative sexual stereotype within family contexts. Our findings contextualize the enduring role of the Jezebel stereotype as a sexual script for Black women, as we found that many participants chose to adapt their clothing choices or sexual behaviors in light of their awareness and endorsement of the stereotype. The authors discuss the implications of study findings for Black women and girls’ sexual socialization and deconstructing deficit-based ideologies of Black women’s sexuality.

Most research on Black girls’ sexuality emphasizes reducing risk behaviors, with less attention to dimensions of healthy and normative sexual development, such as body positivity. To address this gap, we sought to explore the diversity of sexual messaging young Black women received during their formative years. Using consensual qualitative research methods, we explored how 50 Black college women (ages 18–24 years) described their sexual socialization within family contexts in relation to their current sexual beliefs and behaviors. The following themes emerged from the data: messages of discretion, negative messages about physical appearance, messages of deference, messages of abstinence, absence of sexual messages, messages of body positivity, messages of egalitarianism, messages of sex positivity, and messages of sexual distrust and dismissiveness. Black families’ sexual socialization processes were also influenced by ethnicity, social class, and religious orientation. Our findings situate Black women’s family sexual socialization practices within a sociohistorical framework and highlight the need to support Black girls’ healthy sexual development by eliminating fear, shame, or taboo around sexual exploration. Education and advocacy efforts should focus on communicating openly with youth to help them make more positive decisions about sex and bodily autonomy.

Despite the growing literature on the mental health implications of adverse childhood events (ACEs), little empirical evidence considers the role of sociocultural scripts in Black women’s experiences of trauma and mental health. Emerging scholarship suggests that gendered racial stereotypes, such as the Superwoman Schema, might worsen the impact of ACEs on the mental health outcomes of Black women in the U.S. To address this gap, we sought to examine relationships among Black women’s exposure to ACEs, endorsement of the Superwoman Schema, and mental health outcomes. The current sample included 447 Black women (20–35 years old) who completed measures of adverse childhood events, Superwoman Schema endorsement, and mental health (stress, anxiety, and depression). ACEs and endorsement of the Superwoman Schema were associated with higher stress, anxiety, and depressive symptomology. Additionally, Black women who experienced more ACEs and felt a stronger obligation to present an image of strength indicated more stress. Black women who experienced more ACEs and had a stronger determination to succeed reported higher anxiety. These results offer further evidence of the role of the Superwoman Schema on Black women’s mental health. The authors discuss future research directions and clinical implications regarding the interconnections among sociocultural scripts of Black womanhood and trauma experiences.

Few scholars have considered the racial socialization that Black mothers offer to their daughters on racial discrimination and violence or how mothers’ other social identities (social class and ethnicity) may influence their discourse on these topics. To address this gap, we used consensual qualitative research methods to explore the racial socialization that 47 Black college women recalled from their mothers on racial discrimination and violence during their formative years. The following themes emerged: (a) the nature of Black mothers’ socialization on racial discrimination (consistent messaging, messaging focused on sons, more socialization in response to police shootings, anti-Black messaging from immigrant mothers, and absence of messages) and (b) the ways that mothers socialized their daughters to respond to racial discrimination (self-advocacy, get home safe, code switching, and take the high road). Participants described how their mothers’ socialization messages reflected their personal race-related beliefs and experiences including perceptions of the United States racial climate. Our findings highlight the need for socialization in Black family contexts that addresses the unique and intersectional experiences of Black girls. In particular, scholars and practitioners must draw attention to how racism and sexism contribute to the state-sanctioned violence that Black women and girls experience. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684320979679

A growing number of scholars have considered how young Black women develop their identities within and against White supremacist ideologies of Black womanhood. The current study offers an analysis of how the ongoing socialization of respectability politics in some Black family contexts can contribute to the vilification of the ‘the wrong type’ of Black girls and women. Using Black feminism as a theoretical and methodological lens, we explored how 33 Black college women (18-24 years) described and interpreted familial socialization messages on ‘poor examples of Black womanhood.’ Four themes, consistent with prior literature on controlling images, emerged: the Gold Digger/Jezebel, the Welfare Queen/Teenaged Mom, the Angry, Black woman, and the Hoodrat/Ratchet Chick. Participants described how these stereotypes of Black women were framed as cautionary tales to avoid during their journey into adulthood. The findings also illuminated how the young women internalized, negotiated, or rejected certain socialization messages, as they worked towards their own self-definitions of Black womanhood. Authors discuss how Black families can resist socialization practices that reinforce classist and misogynistic notions of Black womanhood.