Sure much of that stuff is true. If you don't come from the Middle-Earth region, but the Southern-Earth area, then you're bound to be willingly following Sauron, for unexplained reasons (I guess because those people don't have fully developed brains), and if you're a woman in just about anything fantasy/historical, or old, then you can expect to be a fairly weak, or worthless character, only driving plots forward by your need to be rescued or saved, only occasionally using your charm(s) and wits to do things independently.

That's all true. But do I care? Not one bit. Tolkien wrote a long time ago, when these sorts of things were more or less acceptable. Plus, the story centers on Middle-Earth, so we have no idea what happened south of there, and how Sauron forced the people there to serve him. Similarly, let's not forget that Saruman the White (aka, Whitey), betrayed everyone and went over to Sauron. Add in the Treebeard segments, and how Saruman used industry to destroy the forest, and the forest kicked his ass, and it turns out that Tolkien was a downright environmentalist.

Basically, what I'm saying is yes, there are sexist and racist overtones to LotR. And it's not a big deal. Tolkien wrote a long time ago, and when you're really looking for something, you can find evidence of it easily, blowing the whole thing out of proportion.