Sexism in The Work Place Essay

Sexism is defined as prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex, and is a topic that has been on and off the media throughout the years, becoming more prevalent in the 21st century. Many iconic figures throughout the ages have spoken out for women, people like Mahatma Gandhi, who said “Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking, or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; to me, the female sex is not the weaker sex.” Sexism has been around for about as long as the human race, dating back to biblical times and beyond. A woman’s traditional role in the family has been that of the cook, the cleaner, the child raiser, and the gardener.

Sexism is defined as prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s sex or gender. Although sexism is often discussed in regards to females, it affects both males and females. Statistically though, it affects more women on average than men. Sexism can occur in many different situations and has two distinctly different forms. Hostile sexism is a more overt form of sexism that encompasses the negative evaluations and stereotypes about a gender. Examples include actions such as promoting a male employee over a female employee simply based on gender and stereotypes about women such as the idea that women belong in the kitchen. Benevolent sexism is sometimes more difficult to identify in an everyday setting as it is covert and appears subjectively positive. Benevolent sexism is harmful as it perpetuates the ideas that women are weaker than men and are not capable of doing

When we hear the word sexism most minds automatically associate feminine oppression. I began to wonder why that was. Webster defines sexism as “prejudice based on sex; especially: discrimination against women.” After reading this I had to know why that was.

Sexism is defined as the discrimination and bias towards one gender, that one gender is powerful and righteous compared to the other. Sexism has been the largest barrier between sexes to the point in which cultures as well as religions rely on misogyny to set limitation on women to make men feel more empowered. Sexism rooted about twenty five hundred years ago in which women were considered property to a man. Parents would trade their young women for more wealth. Till this day there has been a very misogynistic view towards how to properly maintain a household. A man is to hold the job in the house and provide for the family while a women stayed home to clean, cook, take care of her

In the reading, “From the Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home”, Hochschild explains her experience conducting a case study with a series of different women to get their perceptions of their lives as mothers, but also working women. Moreover, she provides good information to start her study. She reports that in 1950, 30 percent of American women were in the labor force, 28 percent of married women with children worked out of home. Today, those numbers have dramatically increased. During her findings, she saw that women felt a responsibility to be able to balance work and life at home, focused more on children, and expressing how overworked or tired they felt. Whereas men in this study expressed that women did most of the work around the house and childcare. In addition, what stood out to me in this reading was that some men felt pleased that their wives received more income than them. For instance, in an interview a man expressed, “was more pleased than threatened by her

The days of mom staying at home full-time are long gone for most families. More women are their family’s breadwinners than ever before. Heather Boushey in The New Breadwinners, states “Women are more likely to work outside the home and their earning are more important to their families well-being than ever before in our nation’s history” (31). In families today there’s no one staying at home in the day, so there no one there when kids come home from school with everyday life.

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

Sexism- the subordination of an individual man or woman or a group of men or women and the assumption of the superiority of an individual woman of man or a group of women of man based solely on sex. It reflects both individual and institutional acts, decisions, habits, procedures and policies that neglect, overlook, exploit, subjugate, or maintain subordination of

Going back into America’s history, the expectations of a woman from the late 1800’s and early 1900s, were to be a good homemaker and wife. Now into the late 1900’s and 2000’s, this role has added on much more responsibility and expectations of today’s woman, such as returning to school and working a full time job, while continuing to take care of home. Though the type of work a woman can execute has changed, it also brings along societal issues. Issues such as: unequal pay wages differentiations between men and women and between different races amongst women, the concern of maternity leave and of course, the struggle of balancing work and a family.

“I have to drive to work, take care of my finances, maintain a social life, and take care of my kids while being a supportive wife,” a modern woman would say. Throughout American literature and history, the role of a “traditional woman” was vacuous- to stay at home, to cook, to clean, and to take care of the children. Today, that stereotypical role is no longer a strong foundation for their lifestyle. Women’s role in America has changed overtime because they are no longer dependent on men, discarded in the workforce, or seen as voiceless and depreciated.

Sexism is Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women. This was happening to women every day in Shakespearian times. This was because in that time people followed the great chain of being. We learn that we should never do this to women and it is unfair if women or even anyone is treated unfairly. We as a nation should not be sexist.

Sexism has been a serious problem in society for decades, and it continues to persist in today’s culture. Sexism is the result of men and women being treated differently. Consequently, this creates profound inequalities between the sexes (Hesmondhalgh and Baker).

Sexism is the social justice issue that involves discrimination in society based on gender. Both men and women can experience the effects of sexism today but women seem to endure this injustice more. This can be seen in the work force today as women do not receive equal rights as men in this particular department. Women are often paid less than men and there is a “glass ceiling” which is the term used for the barriers that women face in being promoted to higher-level jobs. Although our world has made significant progress lately in creating equal rights for all women, in the U.S. today, men still dominate the most important positions of power. Another area where both women and men are sexualized is the media. The media creates unrealistic images

Throughout the centuries, sexism has always been a prominent barrier between sexes. Sexism is defined as the discrimination or hatred against people based on their gender rather than their individual qualities. This is often shown through common modern day events, for example, the notion that women are not on the same level as men has always been in existence. Multiple groups/movements make this issue more visible to the public eye and sometimes this assists in bringing light to the matter, unfortunately sexism will continue throughout our world as is has since the beginning of time.

Not only are woman subjected to society norms based on their personality characteristics, but also on their life choices and “domestic responsibilities” questions arise for woman like “who will care for you children and husband”. Montague Kern and Paige P. Edley state that women will continue to be “criticized for abandoning their traditional family roles” (1). This topic is not something that is brought up to their male counterparts. I don’t believe I have ever heard a man be questioned on who was going to assume the responsibility of raising their children. So until society genuinely accepts that raising children and other domestic issues are shared endeavors, then women will continue to face this barrier. (Robson, 208)