Black women struggle with sexual health, double standard

In the early 2000s, a variety of Black TV shows such as Girlfriends and The Parkers had at least one episode about the high rates of HIV among Black women. These specific episodes emphasized getting tested regularly and practicing safe sex.

According to the CDC, in 2019 while Black Americans made up 13% of the population, they also accounted for 42% of new HIV cases. In regards to Black women and HIV, the Gilead shows that Black women only make up 13% of the female population in the United States, but count for over half of new HIV cases in women.

Detrina McCoy, a second-year student, said from what she has seen and experienced, she noticed that Black women do not get told a lot about what to expect in regards to sex.

Advertisement

“When I was younger, it was more of with my mom and stuff. She was more of, like, ‘Don’t have sex’. […] That’s not what you teach somebody, you teach them […] to use condoms. So when it comes to women […] we don’t get taught that because they’ll think we’re a slut if we want to have sex,” McCoy said.

She said the double standard that women are not supposed to even think about sex because it makes them seem fast and men should go out and have sex with whoever they want causes more harm than good.

“I do think it falls on us when it comes to unplanned pregnancies and STDs and things of that nature because men don’t get held accountable, because, like I told you, it’s, like, a pointer thing. So they can go in raw on different females and still be like ‘I’m the man,’ but they’re not getting checked out,” McCoy said.

While it takes two people to get pregnant or to get an STD, this double standard creates more pressure on the woman because, more often than not, men will place all of the blame on the woman, she said.

Ashley Hinton and Caitlan Laster, second-year students, both said the lack of sex education in the Black community is affecting Black women’s health.

“There is a lack of information. Also there’s a big thing in our community between Black men and women that condoms are just a barrier and there are a lot of Black men who also might have an education in terms of sex, but […] they don’t take care of themselves,” Laster said.

She said a majority of Black men only get checked out by doctors when it’s very serious; if it’s not, they’ll brush it off, and that mentality can possibly play into the part about why so many Black women are contracting STIs.

Advertisement*

Because people don’t think about the next steps they should take after having sex, such as cleaning up and getting tested, that is leading to increasing cases of sexual diseases and infections, Hinton said.

“If you practiced getting checkups and stuff like that […] you could know all of these things, but you’re not actually going to do it,” Hinton said. “I feel as though that would make sense as to why there are high cases, because sometimes people are not thinking about doing the other steps, even after care.”

According to a report done by the CDC, positive cases for gonorrhea among Black Americans has increased from 2016 to 2020.

Kania Dockery, a third-year student, said because of the lack of education Black women get when it comes to sex, they have to figure it out on their own.

“We have to go through a lot of trial and error and go through a lot of different things because we don’t have anybody to really talk to about those things,” Dockery said.

With Black women being sexualized at a young age and not being well educated when it comes to sex, it sets them up to not be aware of the risk that comes with sex and they end up with a negative image of themselves, she said.

“I feel like we do need to educate ourselves and make sure that we stay on top of us and don’t be afraid to pull another Black woman to the side and help her out as well. We should always help one another because, in reality, we all we got,” Dockery said.

Staff reporter Janiyah Gaston can be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram @janiyah_reports. To stay up to date with all your Southern Illinois News follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

Advertisement