In this week's reading, Sheryl Sandberg explains, "Men and women also differ when it comes to explaining failure. When a man fails, he points to factors like 'didn't study enough' or 'not interested in the subject matter.' When a woman fails, she is more likely to believe it is due to an inherent lack of ability." (30)
This quote reminded me of a speech I heard at a community health workshop in Jamaica Plain, Boston. It's a speech I try to repeat whenever possible. Essentially it goes as follows.
1) Women and racial minorities are more likely to take their failures personally--attributing them to inherent shortcomings or lack of effort. They also may perceive that they have experienced bias or discrimination.
2) These factors lead to chronic stress. Minority women are constantly wondering if a failure was due to their own personal failure or to an unfair system. They still cannot imagine that it was just the luck of the draw (as other non-minority men might feel) and had nothing to do with them. Especially in the face of discrimination, whether blatant or just suspected, stress levels spike.
3) Chronic stress over a lifetime leads to concrete health disparities--risk of heart disease, weight problems, risk of getting cancer, issues conceiving and bearing children, and life expectancy.
I may dramatize the point a bit when I stress, "if at all possible, let some of your failures just go. Lingering on them too long is literally killing you." Still, I think the idea holds. Here are some studies I've found on the topic.
Cortisol and Cardiac Reactivity in the Context of Sex Discrimination: The Moderating Effects of Mood and Perceived Control : http://www.bentham-open.com/contents/pdf/TOPSYJ/TOPSYJ-1-1.pdf
From “In the Air” to “Under the Skin”: Cortisol Responses to Social Identity Threat: http://wendyberrymendes.com/cms/uploads/Townsend,%20Gangi,%20Major%20and%20Mendes,%202011.pdf
Associations Between Self-Reported Discrimination and Diurnal Cortisol Rhythms Among Young Adults: The Moderating Role of Racial-Ethnic Minority Status: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4254319/#R34
Health Disparities and Stress: https://www.apa.org/topics/health-disparities/stress.pdf
Discrimination and racial disparities in health: evidence and needed research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2821669/
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Diurnal Cortisol Rhythms in Preadolescents: The Role of Parental Psychosocial Risk and Monitoring: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3419379/
Stress-Induced Inflammatory Responses in Women: Effects of Race and Pregnancy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3788648/
Steph, I enjoyed the diversity of the pieces you touched. It was fascinating to learn about how the effects of discrimination and bias can manifest themselves physically. I had never known that before. In particular, I was drawn to your piece on "Stress-Induced Inflammatory Responses in Women: Effects of Race and Pregnancy:". It was fascinating to learn how harmful stress can be on the human body. Thanks for sharing these, i enjoyed learning more about these topics.
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