much more colorful, revealing and extravagant in comparison to her peers. While she references arriving to children’s parties far overdressed and people believing she was, at times, scantily clad, she attributes this to the island culture, because a party in her eyes was “a fiesta with salsa, laughter and dancing” (Cofer 104). She also recalls that “at Puerto Rican festivities, neither the music nor the colors we wore could be too loud” (Cofer 104). Puerto Rican women, and other Latin women dress to reflect the vivid colors and warm climate of Islands South East of the United States and South America. This cultural divide regarding the meaning of one’s dress can be misinterpreted and is the basis for some of the most damaging stereotypes surrounding
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She writes of the “boss men” (Cofer 105), who run the factories that many Latin-American immigrants end up working in due to their lack of skill or education. The men in charge make creepy advances on the women, who are often powerless to say no for fear of losing their employment. She even says some bosses go as far to coerce women into sexual acts with the threat of being fired (Cofer 105). It is this stereotype specifically that puts Latin women in an especially dangerous position regarding sexual assault. Raquel Reichard, a political and cultural journalist, wrote an article entitled “What Rape Culture Looks Like in The Latino Community”, in which she gives examples of rich and or famous men getting away with rape, drug lords who commit rape being glorified in movies and on television, and pervasive victim …show more content…
A study in The Journal of Gender, Race and Justice found that of women who had been sexually harassed in the workplace, only 61.9% were white, even though white women make up 84.8% of the female labor force. The study also found that “other women of color” meaning other, non-black minorities, including Latin women, made up only 3.7% of the female work force at the time of the study, yet they accounted for 14.7% of the sexual harassment complaints (Hernandez). The sick men who harass and assault women, will do so no matter their race or ethnicity of the woman. Though all groups of women face sexual harassment and sexual violence, it is the assumption that Latin women are always interested in sex or are welcoming of sexual advances, perpetuated by stereotyping, that puts these women at higher risk.
Like Judith Ortiz Cofer, Brent Staples also faces stereotyping in his day to day life, as a black man. He references his recognition of the way people act around him, specifically when walking at night, and that because he is perceived with fear, he is in danger of someone acting upon their fear of
She writes of the “boss men” (Cofer 105), who run the factories that many Latin-American immigrants end up working in due to their lack of skill or education. The men in charge make creepy advances on the women, who are often powerless to say no for fear of losing their employment. She even says some bosses go as far to coerce women into sexual acts with the threat of being fired (Cofer 105). It is this stereotype specifically that puts Latin women in an especially dangerous position regarding sexual assault. Raquel Reichard, a political and cultural journalist, wrote an article entitled “What Rape Culture Looks Like in The Latino Community”, in which she gives examples of rich and or famous men getting away with rape, drug lords who commit rape being glorified in movies and on television, and pervasive victim …show more content…
A study in The Journal of Gender, Race and Justice found that of women who had been sexually harassed in the workplace, only 61.9% were white, even though white women make up 84.8% of the female labor force. The study also found that “other women of color” meaning other, non-black minorities, including Latin women, made up only 3.7% of the female work force at the time of the study, yet they accounted for 14.7% of the sexual harassment complaints (Hernandez). The sick men who harass and assault women, will do so no matter their race or ethnicity of the woman. Though all groups of women face sexual harassment and sexual violence, it is the assumption that Latin women are always interested in sex or are welcoming of sexual advances, perpetuated by stereotyping, that puts these women at higher risk.
Like Judith Ortiz Cofer, Brent Staples also faces stereotyping in his day to day life, as a black man. He references his recognition of the way people act around him, specifically when walking at night, and that because he is perceived with fear, he is in danger of someone acting upon their fear of