What do black women want?
By Jill Nelson

The headline, "Are You Satisfied? The New, Ground-Breaking Ebony Sex Survey" called my name when I saw the March issue of Ebony. Founded in 1945 by John and Eunice Johnson, the magazine has been a part of black America for 60 years. But Ebony? Sex survey? This isn't the magazine my grandparents and parents knew and read — and I'm glad.
I tore into that magazine as if it were food for the starving, which, in a way, it was. I'm seriously looking for answers. There were none, yet: The survey questions won't be published until the April issue. But that headline hooked me.

Now that I know it's coming, I have time to urge all of my female friends, acquaintances and strangers in line at the grocery store to participate. The survey offers the opportunity for black women to help answer that age-old question: What do women want?

Let's hope that once women have voiced their feelings and the results are in, others — particularly male others — will want to hear the answers.

Ebony 's managing editor, Lynn Norment, says the magazine decided to do the survey because so many female readers ask about sex and sexuality issues, yet "we didn't find much information that reflected the problems afflicting African-American women."

The survey is the work of Hope Ashby, a New York psychotherapist. I was struck by her comments in the current issue about how history and culture can affect sexuality negatively. Many black women, she says, see two choices: Jezebel the Slut or Mammy the Asexual. I don't know anyone who precisely fits those stereotypes, but we are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to acknowledging our sexuality and getting what we desire.

It's nearly impossible to read women's magazines without taking at least one sex survey; I know I have. But what's exciting about this one is that it is tailored to elicit honest responses from black women. I'd wager that a black female psychotherapist can come up with questions that will encourage and enable us to do just that. The results also could have an important impact on black women's physical and mental health.

On the face of it, it's surprising that Ebony, not renowned for being sexy or hip, is hosting this survey. Yet it's precisely because Ebony is so venerable - and virtually a mandatory subscription for many African-American families - that its survey has the potential to reach not only a large number of women, but also women across class, generations and political views.

By responding, each woman will give voice not only to herself, but also to all African-American women.

Jill Nelson is a writer and editor in New York City.