The Aspects Of Hostile And Benevolent Sexism In The Workplace

Sexism is the ideology that maintains that one sex is inherently inferior to the other. Sexism or discrimination based on gender has been a social issue for many years; it is the ideology that one sex is superior or inferior to the other. Sexism does not only affect females, but also males. Men are very often victimized by social stereotypes and norms based on gender expectations. Sexism has appears in almost all social institutions including family, the media, religion, sports, the military, politics, and the government. However, although both genders are affected, men have benefited from sexism the most (Thompson 300-301.)

Sexism is discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex or gender, as in restricted job opportunities, especially such discrimination directed against women. Sexism is not discriminating women, but rather a group of men in an Oregon state mental hospital.

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

Benevolent sexism, sometimes called ambivalent sexism, comes in many forms, but has three main subtypes as

(A) Despite the fact that there is an increasing number of women in the workforce, there are few in leadership positions. This is because of ambivalent sexism. There are two different types of ambivalent sexism: hostile and benevolent. A Hostile sexist is someone who as combative and antagonistic view towards a woman. He believes that women are trying to gain control over men using feministic views and their sexuality (which they are threatened by). Examples of hostile sexism: “Women do not appreciate everything that men do for them” or “Women use sex to gain power over men”. Hostile sexism punishes women who do not conform to social roles with aggression and hostility, and it rewards women who conform. Benevolent sexism is when a

Sexism may manifest itself in many different forms: blatant, covert, and subtle sexism (Swim, Mallett & Stangor, 2004). Specifically,

Sexism is a type of discrimination which I feel is such a part of our culture that we often do not even recognize it and it is widely overlooked. Johnson (2013) suggests “we need to deal with the social roots that generate and nurture the social problems that are reflected in the behavior of individuals” (p. 335). Unquestionably, it becomes difficult to recognize, and therefore begin to change, that which is the social norm in our world; and yet, to do nothing perpetuates the problem of a patriarchal culture (Johnson, 2013).

Sexism refers to all those practices and attitudes that promote the differential treatment of people because of their biological sex, which are assumed characteristics and behaviors. The sexist practices mainly affect women given the validity of cultural beliefs that consider them inferior or unequal to men by nature. I could say that not only women are affected by sexism, it's been situations in which I've also been victim of sexism. I remember having gone out to dinner with many friends, when we arrived at the restaurant we have a delicious dinner. After dinner, it is so uncomfortable time to pay the bill. The waiter comes and leaves that little notebook on the table with a piece of white paper within that contains the amount

The purpose of this paper is to select a social justice issue that is prevalent within our society, engage in a group, develop peer relationships, and finally analyze and conclude based on the collaborative research of the selected issue. The selected topic of sexism within the workplace is analyzed in depth by examining this social justice issue, its demographics, and its impact on the workforce utilizing the feminist theory. This group has investigated the history of the social justice issue by providing and analyzing research dated back to the Industrial Revolution and Unionization leading up to the basic present-day overview; the hiring process within the workplace by providing and analyzing research the definition of occupational discrimination,

Ellen Ullman, a strong, passionate woman, grows up with an ambitious dream of reaching high and aiming for the stars. Defying the social standard, she immerses herself into the male-dominated career of computer programming where she immediately runs straight into a barrier separating her from the path to contentment and success in the workplace. Unlike many women, Ullman found a way to shatter the glass ceiling and rise above, but she cannot discover how to end sexism for all other women across the nation. America is said to be the land of equal-opportunity, but working women are still experiencing great levels of discrimination in the workplace. The root of sexism comes from an abstract way of thinking—stereotypes. Throughout history and still today, the American culture promotes the stereotypes of women being viewed only as the care holders of the family that raise the children and tidy up the house. Sexism does not just affect a few women, because across the nation and for many years, there have been an abundance of accounts of women suffering from discrimination. Women are discriminated against by receiving less pay and subservient jobs due to the stereotypes used against them in the workplace which, in turn, damages both women and businesses directly. In order to push forward through this great injustice, people must start at the elementary level to extinguish stereotypes and allow America’s children to grow with an open mind.

In the research conducted by Hald et al., benevolent sexism is loosely defined as attitudes toward women which categorize them as being helpless, sensitive, and more likely than men to crave intimacy. Hostile sexism is defined as more blatant inferiority and/or disgust associated with, in this case, women. Garos et al. note that benevolent sexism is seemingly positive, but is associated with a close-minded view of women as it holds them to stereotypical views and standards.

Hostile sexism exists in about any place one might look. Whether it be in the classroom or in the workplace, sexist people are the culprit in the gender equality movement. However, not all types of sexism are apparent. Benevolent sexism is a passive form of stereotyping people based on their gender (Glick). Surprisingly, this type of passive sexism starts at home. When parents have a baby boy or girl, their future and expectations are already mapped out and planned in the minds of their parents. While it might not be obvious at first, parents do hold different standards and hoped for their children based on their gender.

When I first stumbled upon benevolent sexism in the textbook I had to stick to the section for a little bit. I was very intrigued by the concept as I was completely unaware that it classified as sexism, let alone that it was actually harmful to the egalitarian movement. Benevolent sexism is mistaken with an appreciation and respect for women, which can make it hard to identify and then classify correctly. In the textbook, this concept is described as the following: “a more subtle kind of sexism that argues for women’s special niceness and purity (...) You may initially think that benevolent sexism cannot be harmful. However, it still emphasizes that women are different from men and that they are also weaker.” (Matlin 58) This struck a chord with me particularly because I did initially think that it could not be harmful, and was oblivious to the consequences that its existence entailed. Discussion in class as well as textbook readings showed that this sexism was very much alive and running in our society, which prompted me to think, why is it that there aren’t obvious efforts against benevolent sexism? My own experience answered this question; a great portion of women do not see this invisible sexism and endorse it unknowingly.

Discrimination is an ongoing problem that exists in many forms and is often studied by social psychologists. According to Bordens and Horowitz (2014), discrimination is defined as “overt behavior- often negatively directed toward a particular group and often tied to prejudicial attitudes- which involves behaving in different ways toward members of different groups” (p. 106). Although discriminatory behaviors have seemed to simmer down over the past decades, individuals still to this day continue to face discrimination based on characteristics such as their race, religion, age, gender, and sexual orientation. My paper focuses on three studies about gender discrimination, or sexism. These studies target gender discrimination in the workplace, people’s perceptions and levels of supportiveness towards situations which entail gender discrimination, and factors that influence their perceptions. The first portion of the paper consists of summaries of the articles while the second section includes an analysis of these studies.

Sexism is something that has impacted me personally throughout my life. This has been based on the fact that I am a gender conforming woman in today’s society which places the value on men. There are several factors that contribute to my privilege as well, but those will be discussed further below. Sexism can take many different forms, and can sometimes not even be readily apparent. This was discussed and made evident in our class discussion on whether President Trump’s retweet was sexist or not. In today’s society, it can be difficult to discern whether or not something is sexist, or whether or not it is just a poorly chosen joke. This is not to say that sexism is not still prevalent, as will be showcased below.