Reverberations of Racism and Sexism Through the Subjective Sexualities of Undergraduate Women of Color

Abstract

Young women of color (among others) face both subtle and overt discrimination on a regular basis, but few studies have examined relations between discrimination and sexual outcomes using quantitative tools. We surveyed 154 self-identified undergraduate women of color to examine connections between race- and sex-based discrimination and subjective sexual well-being (i.e., condom use self-efficacy and sexual life satisfaction) and also tested whether sexual autonomy mediated these relations. When examined individually, each form of discrimination was related negatively to condom use self-efficacy and sexual life satisfaction, such that as women reported more discrimination, they reported poorer sexual well-being. However, when examining both racism and sexism as joint predictors, only racism remained significant and there were no racism × sexism interaction effects. In a path model, sexual autonomy mediated the relation between racism and each measure of subjective sexual well-being; racism was negatively related to sexual autonomy, which in turn was positively related to both condom use self-efficacy and sexual life satisfaction. These findings are consistent with the broader literature on the negative impact of discrimination on various aspects of mental and physical health. They also reinforce the position that redressing social inequality is a vital component of promoting individual health.

Notes

¹Like Williams and Mohammed (2009), we use the terms discrimination and perceived discrimination interchangeably. Much of the psychological research has used perceived discrimination to note that the discrimination was assessed via self-report. This is not to imply that it is “less real” than other forms of discrimination.