No Judgment Zone: Are Black Women Free To Talk About Sexuality on Their Own Terms?

April 23rd, 2012 - By Charing Ball

Source: emuleday.com

If you are wearing pearls and have been known to clutch them often because you think that discussions of sex should only happen in the bedroom, the following post is not for you. But if you are down for an open and frank discussion about sexuality, by all means, continue reading below.

From Jezebel:

In 2001, Glamour magazine assigned entertainment journalist Margeaux Rawson to interview the four Queens of Comedy — Adele Givens, Miss Laura Hayes, Mo’Nique and Sommore — about sex. The specific assignment was to uncover the “10 Commandments of Sex,” as decried by the Queens. Armed with all the buffalo wings and bottles of Veuve Clicquot her expense account could manage, the writer met the quartet of comediennes in a Los Angeles hotel suite. Alas, it appears as if the champagne and chicken should have been left in New York: Glamour deemed every inch of the transcript too “blue” for its perfume-scented pages. Lowbrow, on the other hand, considered the interview just lewd enough…”

Lewd is not quite the term I would use. This exchange about the dos and dont’s of all things sex with the self-proclaimed “Queens of Comedy” is balls-to-the-wall out there. I mean, from jump Mo’Nique sets it off with stuff that we can’t probably print in this post without making some of you blush. But lets just say the conversation involves lots of discussion about fellatio (both giving and receiving), junk size (and I quote: “If your package is too small, my favorite position is with another muthaf****), the avoidance of butt-play and S&M.

This conversation sounds familiar to me. I can remember vividly those days when a bunch of girlfriends and I would sit around – whether it be the bar or on somebody’s couch – and dish about what we liked, didn’t like so much, wanted to try, were NEVER gonna do (unless we were married) and all the other graphic details about our sexual conquests. You heard many of the words printed in the Jezzie article plus many more not even thought of.

Likewise, we were all different sexually – there was the one girlfriend that did and tried everything under the sun and always had a juicy story to share. There was the other girlfriend, who would blush and shake her head in embarrassment over our stories–that was until later in the conversation when she would drop some freaky bombshell that had the rest of our mouths wide open. And finally, there was the eavesdropping dude (perhaps the older brother or boyfriend of one of the girlfriends), who sat close enough to hear all of our sordid details without actually being involved in the conversation but would, from time to time, chime in to say something like: “I always knew girls were nastier than boys.”  These frank and colorful dialogues were the essence of our sister girl circles.  We felt free and safe to not only exhale but to inhale and exhale some more.

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  • Pingback: Sexy Saturday May 5, 2012 • Are We Free To Talk About Sexuality on Our Own Terms? : Madame Noire : Black Women’s Lifestyle Guide – Black Love « Heysoulsistas Features

  • heckno!

    i agree with Kayla,,,,the answer is NO!,,,,ladies. if a man has sex with 4 girls in one night, or 4 girls at one time; he wont think twice about telling people about the experience,,,,,if a woman does that she aint telling nobody,,,,(nobody with good character morals anyway),,,,ya’ll can fake like thats not true but it is,,,,,thats just the way it is,,,there will always be double standards,,,,,,,,,,if you have to share a room, men can’t sleep in same bed unless they gay,,,,,a real dude will just sleep on a chair or a floor;,, women gonna sleep in that damn bed together and still be viewed as straighter than my “manhood” if I was watchn!

  • Gmarie

    unfortunately we are held to a different standard when it comes to sexuality and talking about sexuality-from both our men and some of our friends/family members. I wish that were not the case..but it is what it is

  • StuckInDaMatrix

    To answer the question…HELL YES!  We always did and always will.  No matter what anyone says.  Sex is an integral part of human life.

  • Gimmeabreak78

    I think we are free to do that, but I think we have to evaluate what the word “free” means as it relates to sexual freedom.  Chelsea Handler is probably one of the most over the top comediennes in terms of her frank discussion of sex.  She’s white and she has a hit late night talk show.  I think when women talk about sex in mixed company the way Chelsea Handler and the Queens of Comedy do, it is with the express purpose of being ribald, shocking, and making people uncomfortable. It doesn’t matter whether the woman doing the talkng at that piont is black or white.   No one (including me) is truly comfortable with in your face female sexuality played for comedic purposes.  Frank disucssions about sex without the ulterior motive of shock value (think Dr. Ruth) are perfectly fine, however. 

  • Mariahlookinglikeasquarebecky

    We r “free” to do whatever we want however with that “freedom” comes consequences that women of other races do not face.
    Kim K makes a sex tape, poses in playboy and she is a coveted media figure.
    Karrine Steffans does it and she is dubed a “heaux”.
    Madonna acts a heathenish “heaux” and appears in a corset & tongues a chick- shes an icon.
    Janet Jackson has a nip flash by and she is “lewd”….
     

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JAI4SRENU2A5WKRTELXXYJPDSI Kayla

    we are free. But am I going to broadcast in public how my boyfriend bent me over backwards last night. Some things are very juicy that need to be shared. And some things should be kept to ourselves. To heck with what everyone thinks about me and black woman as a whole. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/ChristinaIaintgotnomoney4uhoneyCampbell ChristinaItsruff Beingadiamond

       Please say it again Kayla some folks have to much pride and shyt they should hide! I don’t want to know how anybody let alone close family or friends practice unsafe Oral Morals and let jokas travel the Hershey Highway! No I most certainly don’t!

  • F3ral Anarchy

     Seems like they can only speak upon this in a comical setting.  Black americans as a group are the most sexually repressed group of people on the planet.  Hypermasculity, rampant homophobia and the mindset of “black folks just dont do that” is the root of it all.  BDSM is accepted among all other ethnic groups as something quite normal in 2012 but is still underground for blacks.  Even smaller groups who are into extreme bdsm have been rubbernecked into small circles like secret societies.  Deviant sexual acts as “nasty” as blacks see them are sexual norms in some cultures.  Does the conversation need to be had?  YES….Will it be had?  probably never

    • dunbar

      it may be your norm but its not THE norm. just cuz a small percentage of alot of people are into it and indulge in it everyday doesn’t make it the norm…..drugs and sex trafficking could be the “norm” if what your saying is true. it goes on all the time,,,,is that the norm?? how bout hazing,,its the norm for people in the Divine 9 but to others outside they go ape-doodoo over it,,,,,,and as far as other cultures,,,uh no,,,You will always have People who go against the “WHOLE”,,they are called exceptions,,,,you ever hear chinese or indians open about stuff like that,,they are about respect and honor and perception,,,they take that stuff seriously,,,,i’m far from a conservative but there are somethings that just shouldn’t be out in the open ,,,,

  • LaLaLaMeansILoveYou

    To answer the question…yes, we are free to discuss that side of us just as freely as anyone else is. However, as with ANYTHING else we do (the way we wear our hair, how we are at work, etc.), it will be taken differently and analyzed (in most instances negatively) by the world.

    Perfect example. If the cast of “Girlfriends” had slored around town HALF as much as the cast of “Sex and the City”, they would have had to shut the entire show down due to the protesting of black women being portrayed as HOEZ…I used to joke and call SATC “SL*TS in the City”…and with good reason.

    We are under the attack and microscope of the world right now it seems. Other women wear their hair natural, no issue…we do it, we’re “making a statement” or “going against the norm”.

    Other women get “tude-y”, they’re called tired or overworked…we do it, we’re being the typical “bitter black woman”.

    Other women get fed up with their men’s bull-ish, refuse to settle, and demand better, they’re empowering themselves and taking a stand for what they deserve in a relationship…we do it, and again, we’re being the typical “bitter black woman” or “overly independant and bound to end up lonely”.

    As I said, we are free to do as we please and personally I don’t believe in making decisions or patterning how I’m going to live my life based on other’s IGNORANCE, but unfortunately everything we do will be seen in a different light, it’s up to each of us individually to determine how we are going to let that affect the things that we do. Sermon finished.

    • http://www.facebook.com/ChristinaIaintgotnomoney4uhoneyCampbell ChristinaItsruff Beingadiamond

       Amen, Alady & Hallelujah, Preach Sista! What you wrote is most certainly square biz!