Sexism In The Help

In comparing the oppression of women to a metaphorical birdcage, Marilyn Frye’s essay “Oppression” expands the definition of what constitutes as an oppressive act. In doing so, some would argue that her definition allows for nearly every interaction between men and women to have some underlying sexist tone. Others, including myself, would deny such a claim and argue that as opposed to stretching the realms of sexism, Frye’s interpretation contributes to a deeper understanding of sexism in modern society. While it is true that Frye’s metaphor could be over applied and abused, in the long term, it is more beneficial than detrimental. Because the situation of women in the western world has improved vastly in comparison to other societies,

Martin Luther King Jr. once said “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” However, I will not be silent. Sexism is a thing of the past, present, and future. Women have never been seen as equal to men. This idea and concept affect how women carry out their lives. Women may act different or speak different just based on society's thoughts about their gender. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and in today’s society it is clear that because of women’s perceived “weakness”, men now dominate women legally, physically and financially.

Solnit addresses how women are told to avoid these situations, but men are not told how to avoid these situations. Conversely, there is a realization that every male isn’t violent, and many men see the detrimental effects violence and abuse has on women. Furthermore, the article pinpoints that

When you think about women in the work field today, what do you see? A successful lawyer, a doctor, perhaps. That’s true. In fact, there have been more females holding high employment positions in the late 20th and 21st century than ever before. According to Donald M. Fisk in “Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003”, 60% of working-age women worked in the labor force in 1999. That’s 41% more than that of 1900, where only 19% of women worked in the labor force. Among these women, a vast majority have seen their salaries sky-rocket in the past two decades, almost surpassing those of male workers. However, it is not always this way.

One can agree that for many generations women were victims of sexism. Even though sexism was unfair, it later taught women to stand up for themselves. One reason why sexism existed was because men were looked upon as superior. Because men had the role of being strong, aggressive and the sole provider. Unfortunately, men were to become the masters of most women. For the duration, women were

“I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that?” (Sojourner Truth) Truer words were never spoken in 1851 and in 2016 as well. Gender should not affect the way others view women, but in a city like Chicago, where 87% of women between the ages of 16-64 have personally experienced sexual harassment by a male stranger, sexism is still clearly an issue today. Our research and classic readings in our HWOC class suggest that women are often perceived as being lesser and are treated differently than men in the arts, in sports, at the office, and on the streets. This cultural mindset needs to change if sexism is to remain only on the pages of classic literature and be erased from local communities and modern society.

While sexism is no longer as overt a practice as in the past, it is arguably just as pervasive. bell hooks’ life as an academic has been spent trying to breakdown the existent sexist barriers, which have prohibited women from achieving equality with men.

Over the last several decades, great strides have been made when it comes to eliminating sexism and progressing towards gender equality. However, sexism is still ingrained in our everyday culture. This is evident in the fact that in 2017 women earn about 80 cents to a man’s dollar and are less likely to be promoted within the workplace. It’s an unfortunate fact the most women will experience some form of sexism throughout their lives. In this paper, I will address my personal experiences with both hostile and benevolent sexism, how the two forms of sexism differ, and how these experiences have affected me.

The Impacts of Societal Pressures, Gender Normalities and Conformity During the 1960’s, women were not viewed as equals to men by society and they generally stayed home to cook, clean, and care for the children. In the novel The Help, Kathryn Stockett illustrates how societal pressures, gender normalities and conformity impacted the life of women during the 1960’s. The main protagonist, Skeeter is greatly affected by the expectations of society as she has goals and aspirations beyond getting married and having children. On the contrary, Miss Celia desperately wants to fit into society and prove that she is able to be a proper woman despite her background.

4.) “…greater social, political, economic, and cultural power of men has structured this “private” sphere to the disadvantage of women and children, rendering them vulnerable to domestic violence without outside interference, often leaving women economically dependent on men…” (Camp, 2011:49,50)

Sexism is a challenge almost all women face. In a way, sexism can be beneficial because it can motivate women to defy society's standards and anything holding them back. However, in The House on Mango Street, author Sandra Cisneros, shows both sides of sexism, and how it can motivate women. Sexism can also make women give up and not accomplish anything. While Cisneros has the protagonist fight off sexism, Esperanza runs into many cases of sexism where the women just give up. Similarly, with The Help, author Kathryn Stockett, also shows both the positive and negative side of sexism. Skeeter, the protagonist fights off sexism to gain freedom, and in doing so she finds that all her friends don’t want to change the roles they have. Both

“Look at us! We’re just like everyone else. We’ve bought into the same ridiculous delusion; this idea that you have to settle down and resign from life.” (April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road). It has become a society norm that women are meant to serve housewives; to cook, clean, garden, and nurture children, even though they are much more capable of other things. The role of women is greatly overseen, as they are not perceived to be of their full potential, rather than as societies idealistic expectation. This is because men and those who are wealthy are unable to look past gender and accept women as of equal significance.

Sexism, is a prejudice plain and simple. One of the earliest forms of violence directed toward women was the Witch Hunt Trials of the Middle Ages. Bishops debated whether a woman was really human at all. If her nose were too long, she had red hair, a humped back, or if she was exceptionally beautiful, she was thought to be a witch and was burned at the stake. There was an estimated nine million women burned during the Witch Trials. During the “Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960’s, feminist theorists explained that oppression of women was widespread in nearly all human society, and spoke of sexism instead of male chauvinism. Male chauvinists were usually individual men who expressed the belief that they were superior to women” (Napikoski). By the mid 20th century sexism was established and began to appear in advertising. Between the 1970’s and 1990’s women began to feel more equal to men until the 1980’s where they were portrayed as sex symbols on national television (The Origin and History of SEXISM). There are two main types of sexism, benevolent and hostile, and their definitions are opposite from one another. Hostile sexism is what most people perceive as sexism today as it seems sexism is occurring more and more often and is, notably, more vulgar. It is the notion that women are inferior or not as worthy; a belief that males are intrinsically superior. For many years women have been degraded and looked down upon with the idea that their place is in the kitchen with

The mainstream media is one of the most popular, prominent ways people get their information about social issues, government action, and the general knowledge about what is happening in the world. A topic that has received a quite a large amount of media coverage in history, throughout the years, and currently, is gender inequality. Specifically, the issue of women being stereotyped into traditional “home” roles and not being able to join the work force or, rather, being pressured not to attempt to join. This particular issue has definitely lost much of its ammunition with the breaking of traditional gender roles in the past few decades, the successes of women’s movements and the overall national attitudes. However, not all of the stereotypes have been destroyed, and while women have entered the workforce, they are still being paid less than men for the same work. The lingering inequality of the past and the pay gap are huge issues covered by mainstream media in mostly constructive ways, and it should be receiving much more attention than it has in the past.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a fine example of sexism toward men. While defending women?s rights and making a stand against sexism toward women in her piece Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Stanton demonstrates (many times) examples of sexism toward men: ?The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries?on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her? (165). By blaming men for every repression women have suffered over the years, Stanton is completely contradicting her argument by being sexist toward men.