In and out of love with hip-hop: saliency of sexual scripts for young adult African American women in hip-hop and Black-oriented television

Abstract

Hip-hop media and Black-oriented reality television are powerful mechanisms for conveying and promoting stereotypes of Black women. Black women’s sexuality is frequently presented as highly-salient in each medium. However, little is known about the impact of those images on Black women’s sexuality and identity. The current study uses focus-group methodology to engage young adult Black in critical discussion of two predominant sexual scripts found in hip-hop music and Black-oriented reality television – the Freak and the Gold Digger. Analyses revealed shared and distinct aspects of each sexual script represented in both media and the impact of those scripts on participants’ experiences. Implications for future research are discussed.