Hypersexualization and Disproportionate Punishments of Black Girls in All-Girl Catholic High Schools
Location
PANEL: Black & Latine Experiences in Education
Wilder 101
Moderator: Christina Neilson
Document Type
Presentation - Oberlin Community Only
Start Date
4-25-2025 2:00 PM
End Date
4-25-2025 3:00 PM
Abstract
Faculty in private Catholic all-girls high schools in the US enforce a standard of modesty that they feel Black girls tarnish. The constant adultification and hypersexualization of Black girls in US society - especially in learning settings - regularly disrupts their education. Studies reveal that faculty responses are derived from a long history of objectification, criminalization, stereotypes, and over-sexualization of young Black girls and women.
Using a sociological lens, this study adopts an autoethnographic methodology to offer a nuanced perspective on my experiences in the context of the existing scholarship of Monique W. Morris, Catalina Carpan, and Robin M. Boylorn.
Keywords:
Hypersexualization, Adultification, Dress coding, Disproportionate targeting, Stereotypes
Recommended Citation
Powell, Ella, "Hypersexualization and Disproportionate Punishments of Black Girls in All-Girl Catholic High Schools" (2025). Research Symposium. 45.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2025/presentations/45
Major
Africana Studies
English
Award
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
Project Mentor(s)
Meredith Gadsby, Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies
2025
Hypersexualization and Disproportionate Punishments of Black Girls in All-Girl Catholic High Schools
PANEL: Black & Latine Experiences in Education
Wilder 101
Moderator: Christina Neilson
Faculty in private Catholic all-girls high schools in the US enforce a standard of modesty that they feel Black girls tarnish. The constant adultification and hypersexualization of Black girls in US society - especially in learning settings - regularly disrupts their education. Studies reveal that faculty responses are derived from a long history of objectification, criminalization, stereotypes, and over-sexualization of young Black girls and women.
Using a sociological lens, this study adopts an autoethnographic methodology to offer a nuanced perspective on my experiences in the context of the existing scholarship of Monique W. Morris, Catalina Carpan, and Robin M. Boylorn.
Notes
Access to the presentation slides is available to Oberlin College users only.