Girls of Color, Sexuality, and Sex Education SharonLamb(cid:129)TangelaRoberts(cid:129)AleksandraPlocha Girls of Color, Sexuality, and Sex Education SharonLamb AleksandraPlocha UniversityofMassachusettsBoston UniversityofMassachusettsBoston Boston,Massachusetts,USA Boston,Massachusetts,USA TangelaRoberts UniversityofMassachusettsBoston Boston,Massachusetts,USA ISBN978-1-137-60153-7 ISBN978-1-137-60155-1(eBook) DOI10.1057/978-1-137-60155-1 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016949550 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsof translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. 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Thisbook isdedicated to theboys and girlsin our SexualEthics for a CaringSocietyclassrooms,for theirhonestyand joy and fortheir persistentchallengesthat madeusand the curriculumbetter A CKNOWLEDGMENTS The first author would like to thank the Spencer Foundation who pro- videdfundingthroughtheNewCivicsgrantprogramtowardtheteaching ofthecurriculuminschools,theAssociationforMoralEducation(AME) for the original grant to write the Sexual Ethics for a Caring Society Curriculum (SECS-C), and University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) for its incredible support of faculty members’ and students’ researchingrowingPhDprograms.LynMikelBrown,herformerwriting partner, still remains a resource, source of encouragement, and guiding light inthe area ofgirls’ development. We would also like to thank the girls, teachers, and counselors at the charter school in a suburb of Boston that supported this work. Their interest in providing a sexual ethics curriculum in addition to a health andpreventioncurriculumreflectedtheirintensivefocusonteachingtheir studentsto be responsible citizensandcaring partners. With enormous gratitude we thank Renee Randazzo who was a leader of this project for two years, taught the curriculum for five semesters, wrotefirstdraftsofsomeportionsofChaps.4and5,andwhohelpedkeep the focus on feminist analysis and heteronormativity throughout all our meetings. Her contributions infuse this book at every level. She is an amazingwomanwhocombineshersocialjusticeactivismintheclassroom withanopenandcaringindividualizedapproachtothestudentswithinit. We also thank Madeline Brodt who taught for one semester and brought her fantastic energy and lively mind to each and every meeting. Lucas Dangler, Kaelin Farmer, and Elena Kosterina were also part of our research group and shaped our thinking with their insights and analysis. vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS SusanLambeSariñana,alsoamemberoftheresearchteam,broughtusto the wonderful charter school (which prefers to remain unnamed) and introduced us to the lovely counselor there who helped us form the focus groupsand toteachour curriculum inthe advisoryperiods. We especially thank the journal editors and reviewers for the Canadian journal Girlhood Studies and the British journal Gender and Education. Thesetwojournalsunderstandqualitativeresearchandreflexivityrequired ofinterpretivework,andsupporttheideathatWhiteresearchersaswellas researchersofcolormaywriteaboutgirlsofcolorwithrespectandinsight. Finally, we thank our colleagues and peers in the Department of Counseling and School Psychology at UMass Boston, our best resource whenwehavequestionsandwanttofleshoutour thinking.Weconsider ourselvesextremely fortunateto workamong them. C ONTENTS 1 Introduction:Girlsof Color,Sex, and HealthySexuality 1 2 BodyImage, Sexy,andSexualization 15 3 Respect 27 4 Girlsof Colorin SexEducation Classrooms 37 5 Girlsof Colorand the Media 53 6 Recommendations:Working withGirlsof Color Around IssuesofSexuality, Sexualization, andSexEducation 67 References 77 Index 91 ix A A BOUT THE UTHORS Sharon Lamb, EdD, PhD, ABPP, and Harvard Graduate School of Education graduate, is Professor of Counseling Psychology in the Department of Counseling and School Psychology at UMass Boston. Sharon has written, edited, and coauthored nine books and won two awards: the Books for a Better Life Award, for Packaging Girlhood, and the Society for Sex Therapy and Research’s book award for Sex, Therapy, and Kids. She is a coauthor of the American Psychological Association’s TaskForceReportontheSexualizationofGirlsand,withLynMikelBrown and Mark Tappan, Packaging Boyhood. Her most recent book, Sex Ed for CaringSchools:CreatinganEthics-BasedCurriculum,published2013.She currentlycochairstheAPATaskForceontheRevisionoftheGuidelinesfor PsychologicalPracticewithGirlsandWomen.Sharoniscurrentlyworking on the ethical reasoning of bystanders who intervene or choose not to intervene in “sketchy” sexual situations. An experienced clinician, Sharon also sees children, adolescents, adults, and couples at her therapy office in Shelburne, Vermont, and trains students at UMass Boston during their internship year. Sharon also does forensic evaluations in the state of Vermontasanexpertonchildren’sdevelopment,sexualabuse,harassment, andattachment.SharonismarriedtopianistPaulOrgel,hastwosonsand twograndsons,andlivesinShelburne,Vermont. Aleksandra Plocha, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling and School Psychology PhD program at UMass Boston. Aleksandra has her BA in Psychology from Boston College and MS in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Aleksandra’s xi xii ABOUTTHEAUTHOR current research focuses on the topics of resilience, emerging adulthood, andbereavement.Herotherareasofresearchincludechildandadolescent sexuality, sexual ethics, and familial patterns associated with a child’s diagnosisofceliacdisease.Aleksandrahasexperienceworkingwithcollege students, children, adolescents, adults, and families presenting with a variety of concerns, including stress and adjustment difficulties, mood disorders,psychosis,schizophrenia,substanceabuse,andcomplextrauma. She also has experience working with individuals of all ages in psychiatric crisis. She considers her clinical orientation to be eclectic,primarily using client-centered andrelational-basedtherapies. Tangela Roberts, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the Department of CounselingandSchoolPsychologyatUMassBoston.Whilesheisorigin- ally from Birmingham, Alabama, she received her MS in Community Counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BA from St.John’sUniversityinQueens,NewYork.Primarily,sheisinterestedin intersectionality,socialjustice,womanism,raceandethnicity,lesbian,gay, bisexual,transgender,and/orqueer(LGBTQ)issues,andsexualorienta- tion identity development. Tangela’s work on intersectionality research tends to focus on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, discrimination, and community support. Tangela positions her work to be aimed at develop- ingabetterunderstandingofcriticaltheories,whilefocusingonintersec- tionalidentities,resilience,andsupport.Previousresearchprojectsinclude the Black identity and community support; impact of biphobia on the sexual orientation identity development process of bisexual identified persons; the role of community support on mental health for bisexual peopleofcolor;andAfrican-AmericanandLatinogayfamilynetworksand HIV prevention. Tangela has two pet ferrets and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.