Pathways to Pleasure and Protection

Exploring Embodiment, Desire, and Entitlement to Pleasure as Predictors of Black and White Young Women’s Sexual Agency

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12005128
AutoresJennifer F Chmielewski (0000-0003-4735-5004, Department of Psychology, The CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY, USA, autor correspondente), Christin P Bowman (University of Kansas), Deborah L Tolman (0000-0002-1932-2101, Department of Psychology, The CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY, USA)
Ano2020
Volume44
Fascículo3
Páginas307-322
Data de publicação2020-05-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPsychology of Women Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0361-6843 • E-ISSN: 1471-6402
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0361684320917395
OpenAlexW3026894302
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas27
Referências citadas76

Sexual agency is a fundamental dimension of sexual subjectivity and well-being. Research and theory suggest that it functions in the service of both protection from harm and enabling sexual pleasure. However, sexual agency can be difficult for women to navigate in a social landscape in which femininity ideologies remain powerful social forces, operating in racialized ways. We examined how embodiment, sexual desire, and entitlement to sexual pleasure were associated with sexual agency in the service of protection (i.e., condom use and refusing unwanted sex) and pleasure (i.e., asking for what one wants from a sexual partner) for Black and White heterosexual college women using path analysis and path invariance testing. We found that across race, women’s embodiment was associated with greater comfort with their sexual desire, which in turn was associated with greater entitlement to sexual pleasure and sexual agency in service of both pleasure and protection. While Black and White women evidenced similar levels of both forms of agency, Black participants’ agency in the service of protection was unrelated to their entitlement to sexual pleasure. We discuss these findings in light of racialized discourses of women’s sexuality and the importance of understanding sexual desire as anchored in the body and enabling young women’s sexual agency

Agency (philosophy · Entitlement (fair division · Human sexuality · Pleasure · Sexual attraction · Sexual behavior · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology