Table Of ContentGirls 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
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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.
