The Problem Of Gender Sexism

Women first gained the right to vote on August 26, 1920 with the 19th amendment was approved, giving women full voting rights. Fortified by the constitutional victory in 1920, the handful of new women in Congress embarked on what would become a century-long journey to broaden women’s role in government. In the intervening years, the drive for more women’s rights encompassed the lives of the next generations of women. Even today, women are still fighting for their rights and stand up against prejudice. On the forefront of this movement are our women congresswomen who speak on behalf of all women. When Hillary Clinton announced her presidential candidacy, controversial questions immediately surfaced about the role of gender in politics. Through Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008 and 2016, media is the principal propagator in showing bias and sexism.

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.

While studying art and popular culture in class, our class came across a very interesting topic and story. Throughout time everything has changed in humanity, in the way that humans look at one another. Now in the 1980’s when the whole AIDS and HIV epidemic started that’s when the whole world saw the disgrace in each other. Now in class learning about the disgrace that women had upon the world because of HIV and AIDS has really changed in a way that women are not allowed to be free within themselves anymore. The woman of today have to deal with sexism, classism and even racism just in order to survive in this world. But even through all of this women are still strong and fight for what they believe in and never give up, no matter what

The article I read was You’re Sexist. And So Am I from USA Today. This article went into discussing how everyone has internalized sexism, believing in sexism in their head, whether they like to believe it or not. This is because society teaches people norms that women must follow in order for them to be respected. As we have discussed in class, this is the idea of subjectivity because all of these social codes are predetermined and that makes them very difficult to change. One example of this was in the article when it talked about how women often chose their careers around them someday becoming mothers. Women are expected to have children and then take time off from work to raise their children. No one believes that men should be expected to stay at home and raise children because it is not the societal norm. Therefore when a woman chooses a career around impending motherhood, she is falling into subjectivity.

Sexism has been prevalent in our society for generations. It has plagued the views and outlooks on gender, and has molded the populace’s minds to favor one over the other. Engrained within society is the strict framework of binary gender roles, and placing males and females into distinct and rigid categories that they can rarely break free from. While progress has been made with regards to weakening these rigid and unfair gender roles, the prejudice views that run rampant through the minds of the older generations, and into the up-and-coming ones, are difficult to combat. Women are often overlooked and regarded as the inferior gender, and they are often portrayed as individuals who are at men’s every beck and call. This is highlighted through the observations of Paula Rothenberg in her novel Invisible Privilege, she discusses her observations and dealings first hand with prejudice of all kinds. The book recalls her experiences from the mid to late 20th century, which was a time of more blatant sexism, but I will be using other sources in addition to prove that sexism is still a prevalent issue in everyday life. The sources I will pull from in addition to the novel include, “Different but Equal? Inequalities in the workplace, the Nature Based Narrative, and the Title VII prohibition on the Masculinization of the ‘Ideal Workers,’” an academic article by Kristin Housh, which uses statistical information to argue that women are treated differently in the workplace. Secondly, “Gender Bias in Education,” an op-ed by Amanda Chapman, which discusses unequal treatment of women in education, in addition to a visual and song lyrics that also support these arguments. Sexism and unequal treatment of women in the workplace and education is still a problem in society today that needs to be changed.

Even when the founding fathers began to rise up, there was still a common stereotype of women being weak and powerless. Described in her letter, Abigail Adams says the truth about men back then that could be applied to the average common man today. “I desire you would Remember the Ladies, [...]. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.” (Kylene G. Beers 111). Even back then women had troubles fitting in with the tyrants that men are, there has been little change in the status quo. This means there must be a call for change, to get rid of sexism.

The horror movie cliché has a vast amount of stereotypical archetypes such as the dumb jock, the promiscuous female, the geek, and the innocent virgin. There are plenty of more archetypes that are on the protagonist side and as well as the antagonist side of the story. Of course in horror movies the antagonist archetype is the slow-walking, super-human and/or creature-like monster that usually wins a running race against their prey except is killed ultimately by the innocent virgin. There are movies in the past, present and likely future that will always contain these archetype characters because we have them in every aspect of life. On a daily basis, fictional horror movie killers wearing masks, like Jason Vorhees and Michael Meyers,

In the age of advanced technology, the media is one of the most reliable sources of information. However that source cannot always be trusted; it can be used as a device to brainwash or influence our society. The media are used to control of what we should see and believe while leaving out the rest of the story; which caused stereotypes of other races and genders. We are facing two of the most sensitive controversies of our advanced society: racism and sexism, which were made even worse by the stereotypes created by the mass media. American people should educate themselves to prevent the further spreading of racism and sexism through stereotype.

Isms in society have a way of dividing the country down many different lines of identity; for example, ethnicity, age, weight, and religious preference are aspects that compose an individual that are often discriminated against. With recent events, the issue of sexism was made apparent to Americans. Sexism is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially :discrimination against women” (Sexism).

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).

Today, so many people feel the need to be someone that others want them to be and not what they actually want to be. People often accept the position into which they are born and grow up in, and then pass that position onto their children. Until someone has enough power to speak out against it, this cycle will continue. This is true in both Girl by Jamaica Kincaid and A&P by John Updike. Both of these stories examine sexism and the need to fulfill a certain roll that society places upon women. In Girl, Kincaid brings up the issues of females needing to conform to be a certain person and provides her audience with a specific set of rules that women should follow when alone and with other men. Overall, Kincaid and Updike are attempting to portray the strong division of genders and the need to fit a certain role within society today.

The chapters this week expanded my understanding and knowledge about the impact of gender roles and sexism on men and women’s health struggles and outcomes across life, they showed me what health can look like for both men and women. Women live longer than men, yet they are often more ill throughout the year. Out of nine of the ten leading causes in death, men are more likely to die. Women have higher rates of morbidity (illness) and men have higher rates of mortality (death) (Helgeson, 2012).

There are many different views and opinions on sexism throughout the contrasting societies in the world. A number of people define sexism differently in various ways. One author describes the multiple definitions and proceeds to explain her own opinion on the topic of sexism in her article Sexism: A Femme-Inist Perspective (Dahl, 2015). She includes several key concepts that support the meaning and relevance of sexism in the multiple environments. These key concepts involve sexism itself, feminism, discrimination, and stereotypical expectations of the gender. In this article, the author believes that the female gender is more biased. The researcher agrees that the female sex is more criticized. The author states that the sexist incidents “describe

By definition, gender roles are specific functions and expectations that have been set by society based on gender. These predispositions influence the actions and reactions of an individual. One’s gender significantly affects day to day decision making and long-term aspirations.

Gender is the socially- constructed role and explanation of relationships between men and women. (Sport & Dev) In my opinion, I define Gender inequality as the unfair treatment amid both sexes. According to Sage Knowledge, "Gender inequality is allowing individuals of different opportunities due to perceived differences based solely on issues of gender."