The Burden Of Benevolent Sexism Essay

Currently, this generation lies in a time of unprecedented growth and change. The last few decades have endured years of transformation thereby allowing for the evolution of the human mind. The evolution of the human mind and its thought process all lies within cultural beliefs; beliefs affect attitudes and attitudes invertedly affect behavior. These behaviors may implement a form of prejudice and discrimination upon a certain group of individuals. Perhaps the most concurred concept revolving around attitudes and behaviors rests upon gender roles. This flawed concept created by man himself has indoctrinated society to acquire a negative perception of women. Women carry a stigma that they are both unintelligent and are subordinate to their

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.

Sexism is generally associated with women but, when researching the effects it also has on men, my opinion has shifted. One of the first times we identify sexism dates back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At this time, due to a woman’s deceitful moral compass, settlers had the belief that women had to rely on men. Due to the religious beliefs at this time, and the story of Adam and Eve, women were deemed corrupt and untrustworthy. Feminine sexism has been around for decades but, we are just recently recognizing that men are victims of this disturbing phenomenon. (Tracy)

The rise of enlightened sexism: How pop culture took us from girl power to girls gone wild

Sexism has always been a major issue for women. It seems that today, everyone has to be careful of what they say and do so as to avoid offending someone. While everyone is busy worrying about extinguishing sexism towards women - which still is an issue that needs to be taken care of, who is concerned with sexism towards men? Sexism is just as much of an issue to men as it is to women.

When turning on the TV, a car commercial appears with men justifying driving an expensive and powerful sports car by complaining about what females in their lives require. Though women slowly gain economic power, the media never represents them as leaders thus reflecting American culture’s view of women. Sexism prevails in American culture and workforce, teaching sexism while denying its presence. Americans must shift their culture to impede sexism because it oppresses women.

In the fight for equality, it is obvious to defend against forms of sexism that are used for antagonization. However, chivalrous attitudes that cast women as weak and in need of men are often ignored. Social psychologists have studied the effects of benevolent sexism using experiments testing one’s performance shortly after being labeled as incompetent. Benevolent sexism is not a series of compliments, but rather a threat to one’s ability to think, learn, and perceive information. The workplace is an environment of which benevolent sexism occurs most often and one of which most are familiar with. Benevolent sexism in business does not allow men and women to achieve the same goals within the work place. Forcing an individual into a social role can limit them to only specific simple tasks that do not allow for maximum personal growth.

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.

“You bitches need to learn your places. You do not order a brute around and get away with it!”

The flip side of these apparent advantages to women is that the seemingly positive effects of benevolent sexism typically only apply to women who are gender-role conforming, rather than women as a whole. Women in traditional domestic roles may benefit, but there are negative consequences for those who do not fit these roles. The idea that women need to be protected or taken care of is in some lights flattering, but it also portrays women as childlike, helpless, incompetent, and as a result suited only for lower status roles. Women are also more likely to accept sexist restrictions on behavior when the reason given is benevolently sexist (Becker & Wright, 2011). By extension of these examples, benevolent sexism is just another way of justifying gender inequality and maintaining the current power dynamic of the patriarchy.

Women have been experiencing gender discrimination for years. Gender stereotypes for women are formed by unfair beliefs that all men and women are the same. This discrimination leads to certain effects such as how men expect women to do housework, take care of the children, and take on a passive role. Similar gender stereotypes are seen in “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell. In this short story, the murder of Mr. Wright was investigated by a group of men and women in Mr. Wright’s home. As the men search for evidence of a motive upstairs, the women stay downstairs and accidentally find the evidence needed to solve the murder. In Glaspell’s short story, “A Jury of Her Peers”, and in the article “Philosophical and Political Issues Surrounding Gender” it is made clear that gender stereotypes lead to gender discrimination. This discrimination causes men to assume women’s opinions are not as important as theirs and expect women to do all the house chores.

What is sexism? Does sexism even exist? These questions are commonly asked by students and adults alike since this particular topic has seemingly eluded the awareness of most. Sexism is frequently the discrimination of women and/or favoritism of men. It is astonishingly prevalent and incredibly real in society. For instance, sexism in Arabic, Islamic countries, such as Afghanistan, is rampant and, unfortunately, not under control. Extremists believe sexism is merely a figment of the accuser’s imagination and the extremist’s view their treatment of woman as a necessity and something that must be adhered to. (Khaled Hosseini, 2007) Therefore, transmitting this obliviousness to the now ignorant citizens of the world. Regardless of

Throughout history, sexism has went from being one of the most undiscussed topic to being one of the most diverse, controversial topics in the United States. Sexism can be described as “Unfair treatment of people because of their sex; especially; unfair treatment to women” (Merriam- Webster). Thesis

I chose to research the topic of sexism for several reasons. To begin, I wanted to find more in depth information to learn more about sexism. This topic is oddly fascinating to me and I wanted to discover more about it. Next, I believe that all people should be treated equally and that it is not fair for women to get paid less than a man because of a few different physical characteristics. I find it a little unbelievable that someone could be capable of some of the heinous acts that sexist people can commit. Finally, to me, sexism is a major problem and others should be aware about it, too. I chose to research sexism to inform people that the little sexist comments they make have a much bigger meaning. As a result, sexism is an intriguing

Sexism is categorized by extreme cases, but when in reality, both female and male parties execute sexism everyday even in the simplest forms. Though women tend to receive more grieve when it comes to sexist acts or sexist slurs made by men, the level of sexist disputes has decreases drastically with time. The play “Trifles” displays the major difference is the mindset of the split sexes. The setting presents a time when women were belittled and not taken seriously. Susan Glaspell’s play is evidence on the progress our society has made concerning sexism, never less the ever-existing conflict still takes its toll in our everyday life.