by Dee Holder

Created on: March 02, 2010

This question is not as simple as it seems.  One can look at it from a historical, global, cultural, societal and individual perspective.  The answer to the question can change depending on which perspective one uses to evaluate the question.   On a historical and global perspective I think the answer would have to be sexism.  Women as a group, regardless of culture or civilization have suffered horrific crimes and have essentially been treated as second class citizens in most countries throughout history and even in present times in some countries.  Even many western countries still have evidence of discrimination against women, even as women have increased their economic and cultural power over the years.

It would be interesting to note that in the US, black men were able to vote before white women and that we have elected a black male president before we allowed a woman to run the white house and not just live there.  As a black woman I had to think for a while before I decided which side to write to.  I thought back on my life and tried to determine which of the two forms of discrimination have caused me the most stress and have had the most impact on my life, career and relationships.

When I thought about it, I had to admit that being black has a greater effect in my day to day interactions than does being female. As a woman, I see myself represented in the media, the arts and in the workplace.   Not only am I represented in the media as a woman, but there are many different images, personalities and versions of women that I can identify with.  Female characters in movies, books and TV series are well fleshed out, interesting and varied.  You find women (of course) well represented as partners for male leading men (why this is relevant will be explained later).

In essence, while I have experienced discrimination and frustrations because I am a woman in a mostly male workplace it is not constant and there are times when being female has actually been an advantage in my social interactions.   This is a very different situation to being black in American society.  As a black person I find it much harder to see myself represented in the media, arts and in the workplace.  In my current job you can count the number of blacks working there on one hand.  Where I live there are no other black tenants, I went to predominantly white universities for all three of my degrees.

When

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