Filters: Sex and Other Misconceptions 181
Sanctions related to humiliating body language can take many
forms. They come from avoidance and unvoiced disapproval all the
way through blatant humiliation, both formal and informal.
Pop culture prejudice
In the 2006–2007 Survivor episodes filmed on the Cook Islands,
the long-running reality TV show featured tribes segregated by
race. At first, this jolted and offended lots of fans and foes of the
series. As the idea got second consideration from many people,
however, the pink elephant in the room became visible: humans do
tend to go toward their own. If “your own” is visibly defined by
features and color, then it’s easy to find your brethren. In other
words, in the thinking of the show’s producers, if five African-
Americans, five Asians, five Caucasians, and five Hispanics find
themselves stranded on an island without the benefit of television
cameras, there is a high likelihood that they will hang out with people
of their own race ifthey have nothing more binding than race.
Race can easily become secondary, however, to nationalism, or
fraternal bonding such as common organizations or religious affilia-
tion. It’s an exercise predicated on the operation of tribal distinc-
tions at their most basic level: “You don’t look like me” or “You do
look like me.” One of the most succinct commentaries I heard
about this was a tongue-in-cheek remark by one of the African-
American pundits on the NPR show News and Notes. He said he
was going to “root for the Black tribe.”