Sexism: Sociology Blog

  What is sexism?

Sexism is one of the major issues that affect our society and socialization. So what is sexism defined as? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, sexism is discrimination and prejudice based on sex, especially towards women. In other words, sexism shows disrespected behaviors because of a person’s sex. Very much like racism, sexism can cause society issues such as hate crimes, stereotyping, and domestic violence.

 The Difference Between Sex and Gender

Most people think that sex and gender mean the same thing, but it is not necessarily true. Sex is something biological, while gender is something that involves culture. Sex is biological because it is something that we are genetically given at birth. Males and females receive different genitals, reproductive systems, and secondary sex characteristics (facial hair, voice change, breast development, widening the hips. etc) Males also have XY chromosomes while females have XX chromosomes. Gender is considered cultural because it is a socialized behavior made for society based on sex. In other words, gender is based on masculine and feminine behavior.

Gender Roles (“Blending In” With Our Sex Norms)

Gender roles are socialized expectations of what is acceptable, normal, desirable, and conforming for males and females in groups and organizations. In other words, males and females express how masculine or feminine they are to their society. For instances, males are expected to like the color blue, act tough and aggressive, play video games, and more. Females are expected to like pink, spend their time shopping, talking about love and romance, wear make-up and many more. Gender roles also relates to different responsibilities for males and females. According to an article, “Family Change and Gender Differences: Implications for Theory and Practice”, written by Rachel T Hare-Mustin, it states that men are expected to work to provide for their families, while women are expected to become first morality and goodness by putting their family in need first instead of their own needs (taking care of their children, cleaning their homes, grocery shopping, etc.) Overall, gender roles involve different interests, attitudes, and responsibilities.

 History of Gender Discrimination

Discrimination is one of society’s biggest issues because some people from the society judge others based on ignorance and their beliefs.  Gender discrimination can lead to legal problems and can prevent a person from doing what he or she would want to do. For instance, a man would not let a woman rent an apartment because of her sex. The man does not find the woman responsible enough to let her rent the apartment because he believes that women cannot live well on their own.  An event like this would most likely cause the woman to sue the man because he showed gender discrimination by not allowing her to rent the apartment. Gender discrimination also occurred during the early 20^th century. For example, women were not allowed to legally vote until the 1920’s. Women were not allowed to vote before that time because many men believed that politics was considered a “masculine business”. Nowadays in our society, gender discrimination is less frequent, however it still people in society that express discrimination based on a person’s sex.

Gender Stereotyping

In our society today, we often hear things that are not necessarily true, which would be defined as stereotyping. We often hear stereotypes that are based on sex, race, gender, religion and other topics. Gender stereotyping is one of the most common stereotyping that exists in our society today. An example of gender stereotyping, “men are always the abusing partner”. Although some male partners are more likely to abuse their spouse and children, not all males are violent towards their love ones. In fact, some male partners happen to be victims themselves of abusive relationship by their girlfriends or wives. Therefore, the stereotype of males always being the abusive partner in a relationship is not necessarily true. Another stereotype would be that “female’s menstrual cycles impaired their abilities”. It’s true that menstrual cycles are sometimes painful, however women can’t always blame menstrual cycles for their actions. A woman’s behavior can make her act in a way she shouldn’t act for personal reasons, whether she’s on her period or not. According to an article “Atomic Stereotyping” by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Curtis D. Hardin, it states that gender stereotyping can operate instantly in judgment. Meaning that society judges gender without knowing the facts first because of stereotypes that they hear from others everyday. 

   Hate Motives Leads to Sexual Assault 

Hate crimes not only occurs in the United States, but they also in many parts of the world, especially poor countries. Rape and sexual assault are considered an act of hate, especially towards. Reason believing why rape is considered a hate crime is so that the rapist would feel more powerful than the other due to the sex. Women would most likely be victims of rape because they are believed to be weak and helpless. Children can also be victims of gender hate crimes, especially little girls.  Rape isn’t the only way to express a hate crime towards gender; hate crimes can be express in other different ways such as hateful speeches, domestic violence, vandalism, and many others.

  Sexism Advertisements

Commercials, billboards, and advertisements are ways of getting a product noticed so people will purchase the merchandise. However, there are some advertisements that involve sexism and it could attract the audience’s attention in so many ways. An advertisement can seem funny to some people while other people may find it offensive. Take the Dr. Pepper 10 commercial for example. During the commercial, the actors said things like “so you can keep the romantic comedy and lady drinks” and “it’s not for women. Some people believed that the commercial is expressing sexism because it makes it sounds like all men love action movies and like the aggression when it is not always true. Some women love masculine things and some men love feminine things. Other people do not find the commercial offensive at all because they believed that it was funny and shouldn’t be taken so seriously. Overall, a picture says a thousand words, so advertisements need to be used wisely.

   Denial Of Access To Jobs and Careers

Finding a job is really hard nowadays in our society. Getting a job might be harder for others because some companies refuse to hire someone due to their sex, especially towards women. During the 20^th century, only 30% of women worked outside of their homes, while 50% of women today work in many different career fields. In general, a person who is responsible and talented can obtain a successful career, including women. However in some companies, women receive lower payment than men even if they have better skills, education and training. Even though this is the 21st century, there are still women that have to stay home and take care of their homes and children. Whether an individual is male or female, a person has the right to receive a job based on their education, skills, and responsibility not on the sex and gender.

Works Cited

Hare-Mustin, Rachel. "Family Change and Gender Differences: Implications for Theory and Practice." Family Relations Issue 37.1, pp. 36-41.1988. Website.

Banaji, Mahzarin, and Curtis Hardin. "Automatic Stereotyping." Psychological Science, Issue 7.3, pp. 136-141. 1996. Website.
Hammond, Ron and Cheney, Paul. Introduction of Sociology. 2012. Self Published Book.