Episode 268: Sex-Positive Sexuality Research

A surprising amount of sexuality research isn’t very sex-positive, and this is especially true when you look at sex research on minority populations. Historically, most of it has been focused on risks, such as STIs, unintended pregnancies, or risky sexual practices. While there’s certainly value to that work, when it becomes the predominant focus, it really inhibits our understanding of diverse people and sexualities. In today’s show, we’re going to focus on Black women’s sexuality and explore what sex-positive research focused on this population can tell us.

My guest is award-winning sexuality educator Dr. Shemeka Thorpe. She is an assistant professor of health promotion at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Thorpe has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and her work has been featured extensively in the media. In 2023, Buzzfeed listed her as one of the top 20 Black sexologists you should follow.

Some of the topics we explore in this episode include:

• How unbalanced is the study of sexuality when it comes to minority populations?
• Why is talking about race as a “risk factor” a problematic way of approaching sex research?
• How do Black women (and men) conceptualize pleasure?
• How common is sexual pain in Black women, and how do social and racialized expectations and scripts affect how pain is experienced for them?
• How does sexual fantasy and desire vary across racial and ethnic groups?
• How can we promote better, more equitable sex education and research?

Make sure to check out Dr. Shemeka’s website to learn more about her work and follow her on Instagram at @DrShemeka.

Got a sex question? Send me a podcast voicemail to have it answered on a future episode at speakpipe.com/sexandpsychology.

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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.