Cathy J. Cohen Democracy Remixed, Black Youth and the Future of American Politics (2010)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.When asked why they thought young black people were having sexbefore they were ready, many participants suggested there was pres-sure, especially on girls.A number of respondents first listed struc-tural or commercial pressures such as the messages found in moviesand videos.Quickly, however, the respondents once again turned theirattention to the personal decision-making of young people, especiallyyoung women.For example, it was generally agreed that althoughblack girls were more mature than black boys with regard to sex, theywere being pressured to have sex for fear of losing their boyfriends orpartners.As one heterosexual female explained, young women have sexbefore they want to because they don t want to make this man mad.Some of them are scared that he will hit them in the eye.Some of themare scared that he won t want to be with them no more or they aren tgoing to get the so-called dough he was giving them. In this answer,we find the reality of limited agency in the sexual lives of young blacks.Of course, a young person can decide to not have sex, but it may bedifficult to implement such a decision if you are also concerned withbeing accepted and having access to resources and your personal andintimate relationships are a primary means for securing the status andresources that all young people seek.When one consults the numerous articles and studies documentingthe shrinking number of black men who are not incarcerated, havecontinuous employment, or are what William Julius Wilson deemsmarriage-eligible, one finds structural forces, like the labor marketand the criminal justice system, working to limit the power and sexualdecision-making of young black women.36 These systems of regula-tion and control, by limiting the number of black men available forpartnership, put pressure on young women to do whatever is necessaryto find and keep a partner.This is especially true if they believe thathaving a partner is important to their lives and will affect what oth-ers think of them.Participants in all three groups, but especially thefemale respondents, believed that young black heterosexual women, Baby Mama 83faced with the prospect of being alone and without the additionalresources and status of a male partner, were willing to engage in sexualpractices that they might not desire.A number of respondents across the three groups also commentedon how public representations affect decisions about sex.One het-erosexual male explained that young black men have sex because theybelieve that is what they are supposed to do.The images on televisionand their social networks promote the idea that guys are supposed tobe players, and young men care what other people think about them. A lot of people go out and have sex just because they want people tothink he is the party guy or he is the player.It is all in the songs and it isall that you see. In contrast to the pressures put on young men to havesex, respondents suggested that the public imagery surrounding blackwomen had a different effect.They believed that because the sexual-ity of black women has repeatedly been demonized and used to justifytheir secondary status and treatment, young black women are rightlyconcerned with their reputations and with the negative consequences,in particular, to women when they have multiple sex partners.In thiscase, both societal and community norms about what is proper sexualactivity for young people, especially young women, was thought tolimit their sexual self-presentation, if not their sexual decision-making.One heterosexual male respondent put it this way: They [society]have a double standard.If a guy does it, he is a player and if a girl doesit, she is a ho. Similarly, a gay male respondent stated, I think it ismore acceptable for a man to have multiple partners, but if a womanhas multiple sex partners, she is labeled a ho. One consequence of thisdouble standard, as will be discussed later, is that it shuts down much-needed open dialogue about the sexual decision-making of young blackpeople, especially young black women, as they attempt to perform anidealized chastity that is not true, or necessarily healthy.In addition to the differential pressure felt by men and women toengage in sex, most respondents believed that other factors such asparental relationships, peer group pressure, and religiosity also playeda significant role in the sexual decision-making of young black Ameri-cans.One heterosexual female commented, Friends give you a lot ofpressure.They re like, Girl, come on. Participants confirmed whatresearchers have long argued: that peer groups, family, neighborhood,and networks shape expectations, desires, and sexual choices.Interest-ingly, one factor that was repeatedly offered by the participants as amajor influence on the sexual and intimate lives of black youth onethat has yet to withstand consistent and rigorous examination was rap84 Democracy Remixedmusic.Respondents expressed concern about the messages impartedby rap music and suggested that for young adolescents, rap music wasa major source of information on topics ranging from sexual expecta-tions to HIV and AIDS.One young lesbian respondent said, I thinkas far as rap music having something to do with it [having sex]; I thinkif you are over 17 or 18, it doesn t affect you.It affects those underus because they probably haven t experienced it [sex] yet and they arehearing all this [and they think] I wonder what it s going to be like ifI did have that done to me. But as far as someone older, it is just talk [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki