Lanice R. Avery, Ph.D.

Dr. Avery’s has a joint faculty appointment in the Departments of Psychology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her overarching research interests are at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and mainstream media. Specifically, she is interested in Black women’s intersectional identities and how the negotiation of dominant gender ideologies and racial stereotypes are associated with adverse psychological and sexual health outcomes. Currently, she has three lines of research that focus on understanding the structural and sociocultural determinants of health inequalities for multiply marginalized populations. First, she examines the physical and mental health consequences associated with internalizing constraining feminine beauty and body standards. A second line focuses on the role of popular media in gendered-racial identity development and the socialization of erotic injustice. Finally, her work interrogates how gendered-racism and racial stereotypes impact Black women’s self-esteem, sense of belonging, and experiences of interpersonal relationships. Taken together, the primary aim of Dr. Avery’s research is to promote healthy gender and sexual development among socially marginalized and stigmatized groups. She runs the Research on Intersectionality, Sexuality, and Empowerment (RISE) Lab at the University of Virginia.

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