Breaking barriers: Black women leaders battling the dual forces of racism and sexism
|Published
By Rosieda Shabodien
Recently, the media reported incidents of racist acts and racial slurs, followed by the usual flurry of surprise, shock and condemnation. For me and many black women, there was no surprise. We said, “Here is yet another exhibit of what we endure and what happens in the absence of ongoing broad-scale anti-racism and anti-sexism being mainstreamed.”
Despite South Africa’s extensive anti-discriminatory laws and diversity-promoting policies, sexism and racism remain deeply embedded in our society. Did we naively think that patriarchy and its sidekicks, racism and sexism, would suddenly be scared into retirement by the profundity of South Africa’s anti-discriminatory laws?
For South African women of colour, we frequently collide with unconscious or intentional racism and sexism - whether shopping, relaxing at the beach, working in our chosen professions, or even in leadership roles.
When black women ascend to leadership positions, it is not that they have triumphed over racism and sexism but rather a testament to their resilience and determination. Yet, their achievement can intensify the backlash, as there's something about a black woman in power that short-circuits the minds of individuals steeped in racial and gender biases and exacerbates their race and gender triggers.
Research also underscores that women in leadership are often trapped in a “double-bind” or “tightrope” phenomenon. Society expects women to be caring, nurturing and consultative, aligning with traditional notions of femininity. Yet, when women leaders exhibit these traits in their chosen professions, they are judged weak, indecisive and ineffectual.
On the flip side, if they demonstrate assertiveness and decisiveness — traits celebrated in male leaders — they are negatively evaluated for not adhering to traditional gender norms and judged to be aggressive women. This paradox places women in an untenable position, where they are assessed as either too soft or too assertive and rarely perceived as the ideal leader. Unfortunately, our minds are still programmed to “think leader, think male”.
Adding race to this gender dynamic means that the challenges black women encounter are manifold — we face a “triple-bind”. Besides sexism and gender stereotypes, we also contend with race stereotypes about what it means to be a black woman. The “angry black woman” trope casts assertive black women as hostile or overly aggressive. Alternatively, the “disempowered black woman” trope suggests that women of colour need special assistance in leadership roles. These stereotypes, rooted in historical and cultural biases, force black women to constantly prove their leadership capabilities and competence while dispelling stereotypes.
There is no denying that being in leadership is inherently challenging. However, women also have to contend with bias and stereotypes that necessitate them to engage in emotional labour, which their male counterparts do not have to. Emotional labour involves controlling one’s own emotions and managing the feelings of others – not ruffling male feathers – to meet job expectations.
For black women leaders, this means navigating their leadership responsibilities in addition to countering unconscious and deliberate sexism and racism. The additional burden of emotional labour takes a personal toll and highlights the urgent need for systemic change.
According to the latest Commission for Employment Equity report, the private sector is South Africa's largest employer, making up 72.2% of jobs. Despite 30 years of democracy and talk of transformation, white men hold 65.1% of the country’s top management positions and 51.8% in the private sector. In contrast, black women hold only 11.9% of top management positions, even though they represent 42.8% of the workforce. White women, who account for 3.5% of the workforce, hold 13.3% of top management positions.
Under pressure to address diversity, the South African private sector often resorts to performative diversity. One common practice, as the latest statistics underscore, is appointing white women to leadership and governance positions instead of equally qualified black women. This practice of “white women as the face of diversity” is a typical dance in South Africa.
Alternatively, companies resort to diversity washing, or what I call the oil painting phenomenon. This is where people of colour are in leadership structures; however, it serves as a mere illusion of workplace inclusivity because the company does not invest in implementing systemic transformational changes needed to ensure a truly diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace.
In my book, What Women Want Coaches to Know: A Gender-Intelligent Coaching Approach, I use an analogy to highlight why superficial diversity initiatives fall short. Imagine instructing a swimmer to cross a river but, alarmingly, withholding crucial information: crocodiles are lurking in the river. Then, instead of addressing the real danger — the crocodiles — when the swimmer is mauled, we blame the swimmer for not swimming fast enough or not having the right experience. This is precisely what happens when we ignore the deep-seated systemic biases and prejudices that black women face.
Too often, we pretend we live in a post-race world and resort to “fix-the-woman” solutions. This is when we assume that women, especially black women, need special assistance instead of confronting the system that is creating an unequal playing field. This approach fails to address the underlying systemic issues, akin to allowing crocodiles to flourish while we focus on the individual swimmer.
The moment has arrived in South Africa to overhaul systemic racism and sexism in both our professional and private domains. We can start this process by ensuring that those who are in leadership undergo profound transformational initiatives that wake up our brains to our internalised racism and sexism and pursue the hard work of reprogramming ourselves to overcome racism and sexism.
Rosieda Shabodien is a leadership and Executive Coach specialising in Gender-Intelligent and Women’s Empowerment Coaching & Author of What Women Want Coaches To Know: A Gender-Intelligent Coaching Approach
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