Following Their Lead: Contributions of Media Use to Black Women's Gender Beliefs and Sexual Agency

• In Event: Media and Race

Abstract

Although media exposure has emerged as a significant predictor of consumers’ sexual decision-making, less is known about the mechanisms involved, and about the dynamics of these relations for adults and for African Americans. To address this gap, we used SEM to test whether participants’ endorsement of gendered sexual scripts mediates connections between their consumption of four mainstream media (music videos, reality TV programming, movies, and women’s magazines) and three dimensions of their sexual agency (sexual assertiveness, sexual inhibition, and sexual deception). We surveyed 609 Black women who were undergraduate and graduate students at two universities. Results confirmed expectations, such that greater media consumption lead to greater support of gendered sexual scripts; in turn, endorsing these scripts predicted lower levels of sexual assertiveness, greater sexual inhibition, and stronger sexual deception reflecting a relational imperative. We discuss implications of these findings both for the field and for Black women’s lives.

Authors

• Lucretia Monique Ward

• Morgan Jerald, U of Michigan

• Lanice Avery, U of Virginia

• Elizabeth Cole, U of Michigan