Contrary to centuries of stereotypes, black people are more sexually conservative than white people. At least that’s what was claimed in a recent study published in the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality.
“Sexuality in Black and White” examined data that had been self-reported by 800 college students who identified themselves as either “white” or “black.” The data led researchers to conclude that win relation to white students, black students are sexually conservative in their values and behavior. Here are a few of the study’s highlights:
- White people were more likely than black people to have sex with someone after meeting them for the first time.
- Whites were more likely to co-habitate with a partner before getting married, whereas blacks were less likely to “just live with someone.”
- White people were less likely to date outside of their race than black people were, and black people were less likely to date outside of their religion than white people were. Black students were also more disapproving of homosexual coupling than were whites.
Now, here’s the one I always get caught up on (ideologically, of course):
- Black students were less likely than white students to have performed oral sex on someone.
Even if only look within the parameters of this study, a logic emerges in some form: when it comes to the relationship between race and sexual behavior, reality is the exact opposite of the most common stereotype. White people aren’t conservative–they’re slutty! And black people aren’t slutty–they’re conservative! But how and where does the idea that black people don’t have oral sex fit into the history of racial stereotyping?
The authors of “Sexuality in Black and White” briefly discuss the notion that black men are more sensitive to feelings of symbolic subordination during sexual encounters and because performing oral sex is a gesture of servitude, going down on means he risks full emasculation. Does this seem right to you?
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