The purpose of Racism and Sexuality: How Women of Color Learn about
Sex and the Body is to
explore how women and female-assigned people of color are taught about
sexuality and sex-negativity through the lens of race. Sex negativity is
described as the perception of sex being dangerous, harmful, or deviant; those
who grow up in sex-negative cycles believe sex and therefore their body is
shameful. Participants were nine women and female-assigned people of color aged
18-20 interviewed through Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions. The results showed
a triple jeopardy of youth, race, and gender as significant factors in how
participants viewed body image and sexuality. Participants resorted to
self-regulation in order to combat
certain perceptions and sex-negative roles in their daily lives as a result of
their intersecting identities.