Photographic Images of Blacks in Sexuality Texts

ABSTRACT

In current human sexuality textbooks, photographs of “real people” have become a major form of illustration. I examined 16 college-level sexuality textbooks, published from 1980 to 1987, to see what images of Blacks were presented in these photographs. Visual images of individuals have the potential to represent a group to which the individual belongs, especially when there is little diversity in the images presented; every portrayal of Blacks carries more weight than that of whites, since whites are allowed more diversity in representation. In addition, the photograph itself has more impact than a drawing would, since it is seen as an objective representation of reality, rather than as an artist's construction. While it is a mistake to attribute a single meaning to an image, it is possible to speak of predictable ways in which the photograph may be read, based on dominant meanings in our culture. In examining the photographs in these texts, though individual images of Blacks are often positive, I found a problematic pattern to the photographs of Blacks that appeared. I have grouped these into the following recurrent themes: Blacks as “exotics,” Blacks as “sexually dangerous,” Blacks as asexual, and Blacks and paternal responsibility. This article, which raises issues about the impact of the photographic image and the subtle ways in which the most well-intended antiracist message can be subverted by the images presented, provides the theoretical framework to examine representations of other nondominant groups.