Reclaiming Black girlhood: an exploration into sexual identity and femininity

As Black girls are synonymously identified as Black women throughout popular social language, media, and pop culture, there is a need to study the childhood of Black girls. This study seeks to explore the complexity of Black girls, and reimagine sexual identity and innocence as a nuanced part of shaping Black girlhood. With the perception of Black girls being “promiscuous”, “fast” and “academically immature” this thesis attempts to humanize and reaffirm Black girls as agents of power, innocence and youth. Grounded in Black feminist thought, this qualitative inquiry amplifies the voices from 20 Black girls’ narratives as knowledge that contributes to further understanding how they conceptualize femininity, sexuality and childhood. Therefore, the data from this research reveals how participants understand girlhood, sisterhood, navigating ideas of sexual identity, and sexual decision-making.