Exploring Black Sexuality

232 Pages·2006·8.532 MB·English

by  Robert Staples

Exploring Black Sexuality

Exploring Black Sexuality
Robert Staples
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Oxford
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
PO Box 317
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Copyright © 2006 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Staples, Robert.
Exploring black sexuality / Robert Staples.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-4658-5 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN -1 0: 0-7425-4658-6 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-4659-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-I0: 0-7425-4659-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. African Americans-Social conditions. 2. African Americans-Sexual behavior.
3. Sex customs-United States. I. Title.
EI85.86.S725 2006
306.7089'96073-dc22 2005030691
Printed in the United States of America
et::: :'.TM
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSIjNISO Z39.48-1992.
To Dr. Alfred Kinsey,
whose scientific breakthrough made this book possible,
to Richard Pryor,
who provided a racial perspective that showed sexual
relationships could be fun if you didn't take them too seriously,
and to the memory of Alphonso Pinkney, 1930-2005.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Chapter 1 Sexuality on the Dark Continent 1
Chapter 2 The Myth of Black Sexual Superiority 17
Chapter 3 Images and Beliefs in Popular Culture 37
Chapter 4 Queer and Black in America 55
Chapter 5 Dating as a Sexual Adventure 79
Chapter 6 Sexual Theft and Other Crimes 99
Chapter 7 When Races Copulate 121
Chapter 8 Sexuality of the Rich and Famous 141
Chapter 9 Prostitutes, Pimps, and Pornography 157
Chapter 10 Black Sexuality in the Twenty-First Century 175
Conclusion 189
Index 203
About the Author 209
vii

Acknowledgments
During the thirty-five years of this book's evolution, a number of people con
tributed to its development and content. Although all the research and
preparation was done in the United States, most of the writing was com
pleted in Melbourne, Australia. I hold an appointment as visiting research
fellow in the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University.
My thanks to Professor Lynette Russell, director of the Centre, for the insti
tutional support she provided, and to Diana Hettihewa for secretarial help
and her friendly demeanor. All of the drafts and revisions were typed by the
Publications Unit at Monash University under the direction of its manager,
Ms. Laura Allen, and Ms. Beverly Higgins, her assistant. They served a
greater function than word processors: their fast and accurate typing kept me
constantly in a writing mode due to their fast completion rates.
I am grateful to Alan McClare, acquisitions editor, who very capably han
dled my manuscript, solicited reviews, and facilitated numerous aspects of
publication. I thank Sheila-Katherine Zwiebel, production editor, who effi
ciently coordinated all the tasks of bringing this book to fruition. I am heav
ily indebted to her for getting the book out on schedule, for her attention to
detail, and for answering e-mails in the middle of the night, something made
necessary by my location in Melbourne, some eighteen hours ahead of the
state of Maryland.
Among my academic colleagues I wish to thank Dr. Robert Hall of North
eastern University, who provided many helpful suggestions in the early stages
of this book's development. Professor Paul Rosenblatt of the University of
ix