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357 17 Black Mother-Daughter Narratives about Sexuality The Influence of Black Religious Symbolism on Attitudes and Behavior SANDR A L. BARNES AND MIA SMITH BYNUM Literature correlates Black religious, familial, and cultural influences with sexual conservatism in the Black community (Billingsley, 1992; Hogan & Kitagawa, 1985; Murry, 199; Sterk-Elifson, 199). However, studies on Black female adolescent sexual behavior suggest greater sexual behavior and earlier onset of such behavior as compared to their White and Hispanic counterparts (Ventura et al., 1995, 200). Research also shows that maternal views and the quality of Black mother-daughter relationships affect sexual outcomes for daughters (Bynum, forthcoming). However, given the historic influence of institutions such as the Black Church in the Black community (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990),1 little research has been performed concerning the potential influence of Black religious dictates on mother-daughter views about sexuality and sexual outcomes among the latter group. This study combines quantitative and qualitative techniques in sociology and psychology to examine Black religious symbolism in mother-daughter narratives about sexuality, dating, and relationships. Specifically, we consider whether and how priestly and prophetic symbolism will emerge and whether such dictates influence daughters’ sexual attitudes and behavior. We contend that this research is cutting edge because it informs existing literature by considering the potential effects of a long-standing Black religious paradigm in secular spaces to better understand contemporary Black family and sexual dynamics. Furthermore, a multimethod and multidisciplined approach may uncover nuanced ways in which adolescent sexual development may be affected by religious symbols and mothering techniques. Results have applied implications by uncovering possible ways to use Black religious symbolism to promote healthier sexual identities and relationships and combat social problems such as high incidences of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Lastly, given the research focus 358 SANDRA L. BARNES AND MIA SMITH BYNUM on sexual socialization among poor and working-class, less-educated Black adolescent females, findings will inform literature based on an examination of college females from largely middle-class families. The Black Church and Sexuality Sexuality can be broadly defined as the set of attitudes and behavior individuals possess based on their sex; it includes topics such as family dynamics, gender roles, sexual identity, and relationship development. Through the process of sexual socialization, caregivers attempt to provide knowledge as well as instruction to their young regarding values, norms, beliefs, and behavior about sexuality (Carroll & Wolpe, 1996). Although the Black Church has a history of proactive involvement in family, couples, and youth events, its direct involvement with issues specifically germane to sexuality has varied. Post-slavery, the historic Black Church validated the innate humanity of Blacks who had been sexually exploited during slavery; sanctioned their marriages; and reinforced the value of all Black children, regardless of lineage (Billingsley, 1992, 1999; Du Bois, 1903/2003; Wilmore, 1995). For example, Higginbotham (1993) describes how Black Baptist women organized local and national efforts to promote sex education for Black youth and suggested that the basis “for a healthy sex life is an individual and social morality combined with full knowledge of sexual realities” (p. 178). Their programmatic foci provided training about venereal diseases and reproduction and the correlation between sexuality, health, and poverty. For them, sexual responsibility and respectability were grounded in a belief in the centrality of motherhood, which they described as “science as exact as mathematics” (p. 180) and could be used to counter prevailing negative stereotypes about Black sexual deviance and promiscuity. Scriptural interpretation continues to inform and reinforce sexual conservatism, the primacy of marriage and the nuclear family, heterosexuality, sexual behavior within marriage, procreation and nurturance of offspring, and traditional gender roles. The Black Church provided a unique impact because of its focus on such issues within the context of the Black experience in White society. Studies show that, because of their family-oriented, child-centered nature, over 90 percent of Black churches provide programs geared toward children and youth and many also sponsor marriage counseling, teenage pregnancy programs , male/female rite-of-passage programs, and single’s ministries (Barnes, 200; Billingsley, 1999; Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990; Mays & Nicholson, 1933). Yet many such efforts directly or indirectly foster patriarchy, gender inequities, and homophobia (Barnes, 2006; Fears, 200). Increased trends in sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV on Black college campuses) and teenage pregnancy and concerns about the Black Church’s limited response to adolescents and young adult problems have prompted some contemporary Black Churches to...

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