Trash TV' Takes Its Toll

Good news and bad news: a study suggests that while negative
stereotypes about black women's sexuality are on the wane, biases about
white women are becoming harsher.

Debbie Davis, Ph.D., a psychologist, and her colleagues at the
University of Nevada-Reno, asked 248 people to describe the sexuality of
women of different races and classes: how casual or conservative they are
about sex, how they treat and are treated by men, the extent of their
sexual experience, skill and availability.

Looking first at economic class, they found that lower-class women
are perceived as morally more loose than middle-class women and more
likely to use their sexuality to attract men. They are also viewed as
being more likely to be treated badly by men and to have children out of
wedlock.

Looking at race, the sexuality of Asian women is perceived most
positively, followed by Latina women, African-American women and, at the
bottom, white women. Davis attributes these attitudes in part to the
popularity of so-called "trash talk" shows. Calling it the "Jerry
Springer effect," she speculates that such programs, which often depict
lower-class white women in degrading or disrespectful ways, may be
influencing the general population's perception of their
sexuality.