Conference fights black women sex stereotypes

A one-day sexual health conference for black women is being held in Hamilton with an eye to break the stereotype that they are hypersexual.

The UsNow conference for women of colour is the brainchild of best friends Naika Thomas, a public health nurse, and Akua Amoako-Tuffour, a pharmacist at St. Joseph’s hospital.

They decided it was high time to have a platform for black women to come together to talk openly about these issues and how to become empowered on sexuality and sexual health.

“The stereotypes of women of colour being exotic, animalistic, hypersexual have not only made them more vulnerable in terms of safety, but have also closed them off to discussion and empowerment,” Thomas and AmoakoTuffour said in announcing the conference.

“The intersectionality between race and sexuality has influenced not only how women of colour view and approach issues related to sex, sexual health and sexuality, but also how society views and treats women of colour in relation to sex.”

In an interview with The Spec, Thomas said that for change to happen, it’s time to take this subject on, and for necessary conversations to take place.

She says she and AmoakoTuffour have been encouraged to explore the topic after seeing more black artists in the spotlight, and more relevant events such as Hamilton’s first black hair brunch last month. (The black hair brunch in August celebrated the unique nature of black hair.)

“We’ve seen the landscape of Hamilton change in terms of diversity.”

And in that landscape, many black women come from backgrounds that can be very religious, or from an immigrant family where sex and sexuality are not discussed, Thomas says.

That point was obvious in their work, social networks and even in their faith groups, Thomas said. She said it’s time to break the stereotype that portrays black women as “freaks in the bed.”

The sexual conference is the first event put on by QueensConnected, a business Thomas and Amoako-Tuffour formed a few months ago. The name is intended to look “at ourselves from a high point ... from the highest value, to see the full worth of who we are as women”.

Their mission is to raise health awareness, promote healthy lifestyles, and to entertain and promote artistic expression — all with a focus on women of colour, Thomas said.

“All women have been objectified, but it was (historically) more pernicious in women of colour in that they were being sold for various reasons and

purposes,” Thomas said, noting some were sold as slaves and domestics, but some also as mistresses, for concubines and for sexual purposes only.