Sexual Racism

Sounds ugly, and it is.

Once we thought that women of color were sexually harassed to the same degree as other women. We have come to learn that because they are often marginalized, less powerful, female minorities are harassed more and with greater severity.

More than the marginalization (lack of power in the workplace) of critical importance is having race/ethnicity and minority group status. Being a minority exerts unique and direct effects upon the likelihood of being sexually harassed or assaulted.

This is why it is called sexual racism. The punishment is sexual, and it is meted out due to race, more-so than gender. The inequalities of race and social class are sexualized in the workplace, and perhaps everywhere else as well, i.e., the family.

The roots reach back to times of slavery, when rape of black women wasn't something to argue about. Perhaps, sick as this sounds, white "masters" thought it welcomed. That and using sex as a way to maintain superiority, hammered in the status quo. Again, a way to hurt, to intimidate. Anything to make a group tremble.

So sexual harassment and assault is a way to hurt people you wanted to hurt anyway.

Audrey J. Murrell, in an early essay on sexual harassment and women of color, reminds us that stereotypes die hard. In the workplace minorities have always occupied powerless positions with unlikely opportunities to change jobs. Mothers, aunts, and the women in the community warned younger black women, for example, about the threat of sexual violence in the world. Even post-slavery, stereotypes persist about the black female as hyper-sexual, wild.

Asian women are still featured in pornography as submissive, tortured, wanting to serve.

Latina women are thought to be "hot-blooded" and passionate, yet submissive, for Latino men are dominating.

Sexual racism is how the stereotype is played out, how myths shape aggressive attitudes and sexual behavior.

Has any of this changed since the eighties when Ms. Murrell wrote her essay?

We can only hope so. But I am confident, based upon the stories women tell me, that sexual racism is alive and well. It is still rationalized by perpetrators and isn't outed or confronted by victims, not nearly enough, for fear of losing employment that is hard to come by.

So nothing new, not really, under the sun.

Linda Freedman, PhD, LCSW, LMFT

Women in Sports

We just have to share this one, that University of Connecticut's women's basketball team won 90 straight games before Stanford broke the streak. Ninety games, however, is amazing. The Huskie's coach, Geno Auriemma, is surely a hero, and this is the best college team performance since John Wooden led his UCLA team forty years ago.

And what kind of news coverage did they get? Two lines on ESPN. And a post by CNBC.COM's Darren Rovell.

Mr. Rovell explains the phenomena: Women's basketball is a different game, and the advertisers, those who drive the networks, recognize that we like watching men play a man's game, a lot more.

The reason why a second tier bowl game was on ESPN and the Huskies were on ESPN2 on Tuesday is not because the women didn't deserve to be on the mothership, it's because more people were going to watch Louisville and Southern Miss in the Beef O' Brady's Bowl. And they did—twice as many people watched the bowl game.

The NFL doesn't have billions of dollars in television deals because their players are strong men. It's because more people watch and the advertising is worth more, so the networks pay more in upfront rights fees.

Which is all good, fine, but as Mr. Rovell suggests, give credit where credit is due. These female athletes are spectacular and should be in the sports limelight.

We need them in the limelight because women (and men) need to participate more, watch less. If we admire female athletes, maybe we'll do that, get out and bounce the ball.

Women of all ages worry about body image, and obesity is something many will tell you they fight their entire lives. Self-esteem hinges for so many of us, on looks. Doctors are always telling us to exercise, but the truth is that most of us get into the habit when we're young, develop our skills as children. We don't have to become stars, but if playing competitively becomes valued for women, more of us will simply want to play for fun.

Just learning the rules, putting together pickup games, enjoying the play should be something women value, too. Get away from the computer, get out and play.

So thank you, the women at UCONN, for giving it your all, proving that sports for women is not only normal, it is wonderful.

Linda Freedman, PhD, LCSW, LMFT