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| Really, Thrillist? This is who you choose to depict South Africa? |
I have often said that gender is always already raced, and race similarly is always already gendered. Here is what I mean. In this article where 40,000 men responded to the question, "What is the sexiest country?" the answers were almost exclusively white countries. But even worse, the one country with a large number of black people, South Africa is represented by a white woman. Even Brazil is represented by lighter colored women.
We claim to be more color blind than any other previous American generation, but ican we really say that? This study (and the accompanying study of the top ten sexiest country according to women voters) shows us that color-blindness is impossible. We instantaneously judge people based on the color of their skin, even before we can consciously think about it. Similarly, we instantaneously and unthinkingly judge people based on their perceived gender. There are consequences to both.
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Not the least consequence is in the anti-bullying efforts sweeping across the country over the last several years. Too many of these campaigns criminalize low levels of violence, and even nonviolent threats, but law enforcement does not help children become better people. In fact, the schoolhouse to jailhouse pipeline makes it clear that institutionalization leads to more institutionalization. And as a recent study showed, even black preschoolers are more likely to start down the pipeline than their white peers.
The moral of the story is this... Simply choosing to ignore race and gender is not the answer. We make assumptions about people before we even realize we are making those assumptions. We must actively engage in a struggle against sexism and racism or we will lose before we even begin.
