In the research literature and in popular culture, women have been typically categorized according to their sexuality. The classic archetypes represent women in terms of both biological and psychological character
istics. They are either good or evil. The good woman will be represented biologically as virginal (i. e., pure, innocent, and naive) and psychologically as a self-effacing, self-denying earth mother. The evil woman is seen as a whore; she is a scheming, ambitious, and a clever seductress.
Embedded in the distinctions about good women and evil women is an assumption of “cultural equivalency” (i. e., the view that the expecta tions, judgments, and behavioral assessments about good and bad will be similar across all groups) (Strong &. DeVault, 1994). However, even the early investigators in the area of sexuality noted that normality must be defined by the cultural group (Kinsey, Pomeroy, & Martin, 1948). Strong and De Vault (1994) are unequivocal in their statement of this principle. “Sexuality cannot be fully understood,” they maintain, “without consid ering ethnic variation” (p. 78). However, in psychology the research on sex and ethnicity has been slow to emerge. The scant attention in the literature was underscored in an article cowritten by Pamela Reid and Eliz abeth Kelly (Reid & Kelly, 1994). This review of gender-related topics revealed that research on women of color is at best sparse. Perhaps even worse than no research has been the tendency to problematize sex research on ethnic minorities. This is particularly the case for African American women and Latinas. Since these women are often among the poor, the politics of sex allows society to justify the use of class and ethnic biases through the assertion that these poor ethnic women are promiscuous and in need of state control (Anderson, 1993; Reid, 1993); hence, the push for legislation to regulate payment to mothers receiving public assistance and to deny poor women access to free abortions.
Variations on sexual stereotoypes based on ethnicity have been noted by a number of social scientists. We are not surprised that most are dom inated by phallocentric thinking (i. e., “the assumption that women’s pri mary sexual orientation is naturally directed toward men”; Anderson, 1993, p. 81). For example, Reid (1988) reviewed the literature on African American women and reported the historic promotion of an image of Black women as licentious and promiscuous. Within the majority culture, roles for African American women were limited to “mammy, welfare cheat, Jez ebel, period” (Painter, 1992, p. 210). Such a uniform perspective consis tently fails to recognize the variety of social class experiences, religious orientations, and family or cultural backgrounds found among African American people.
Among all ethnic groups we can identify the diversity of cultures experienced. This is particularly true among Latina and Asian American women, yet they also have been depicted in formulaic ways. Latinas, for example, are categorized as hot-tempered and sensuous or virtuous and naive; this dichotomy leaves little room for individual expression (Espin, 1984). There also persist images of Asian American women as passive and willing to submit their will to men, thereby justifying their commodifica
tion as mail-order brides. More often, however, Asian women are left out of public view. Taylor and Stem (1997) note a trend toward depicting Asian women solely as workers and ignoring their human side and their personal relationships.
A few researchers, such as LaFromboise, Heyle, &. Ozer (1990), have observed and disclosed the nature of gender roles among Native American communities. It is more likely, however, to find majority-held stereotypes of Native American women in popular films and literature. In the popular renditions of Native American women, for example, they are either silent domestics or loyal followers of the men who have claimed them, whether Indian or White. Tuan (1984) noted that attempts also have been made to portray Native American women as sexually uninhibited and wild. Ste reotypic representations of women as naturally wild or animalistic also pro vide a rationale for control (i. e., taming the uncontrollable). Similarly, representations of women as puerile and simple-minded justify, for some, their treatment as chattel or children.