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Stand Up Against

Sexism and Gender

Inequality

What is Sexism & Gender Inequality?

Sexism:Sexism is defined as the “behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex” (Merriam-Webster 2016). Sexism has been, and is currently a predominant, overlooked issue. There are different types of sexism that go unnoticed all the time, some types being more subtle than others, but all of them leaving an everlasting mark on society as a whole. Society recognized sexism as a social problem a generation ago, even though it has existed for centuries (Parillo 2014).

Gender Inequality:

“Gender inequality refers to an unequal treatment of perceptions of individuals based on their gender and arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles” (Wikipedia 2010). Most of the time these perceptions are so engrained in society that they aren’t even noticed.

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A Little History…

Sexism affects EVERYONE not just women and our “bodies can be hailed by sexist communication and recruited into particular patterns of feeling and response” (Calder-Dawe 2015, p. 89).

Why is it a Problem?

“For centuries, the presumption of male superiority led to patterns of prejudice and discrimination against women, and many of those patterns still persist despite numerous advances in gender equality” (Parillo 2014, p. 428).

Prevailing norms in the nineteenth century included women not being allowed to vote, own property in their own name, testify in court, or even spend their own wages without their husband’s permission.

In 1919 Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote (Parillo 2014)

During WWII many women were employed, but peacetime brought a renewed emphasis on the home as a “woman’s place” (Parillo 2014).

In the 1960’s a new wave of the feminist movement began succeeding in efforts to end many forms of sexual discrimination (Parillo 2014).

“Women’s status has improved but remains far from parity with men” (Parillo 2014, p. 454).

However… Women are not always the

victims of sexism; men can easily be as well.

Men pay 97% of Alimony, men lose custody in 84% of divorces, 40-70% of domestic violence is against men however less than 1% of domestic violence shelter spaces are for men (RealSexism n.d.).

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Examples of Sexism and Gender Inequality

Potential Outcomes

Changing The Future

“When sexism is routinely presented as harmless, its harms become difficult to see and speak of, even as they

accumulate around us” (Calder-Dawe 2015, p. 90). It is first important to be able to recognize sexism when it is

happening in order for anything to change. Being able to recognize and respond to institutionalized sexist behavior in

oneself or others is the most direct way to fight sexism. Another direct way to fight sexism is to teach others to

recognize sexism and to teach children the importance of equality between humanity. “Possessing self-awareness

about your own family and how it influences your attitudes and beliefs about other individuals’ families is extremely

Changing The Future

Gender inequality is evident in education, employment, income, legal status, political power, and much more (Parillo 2014).

Sexism can occur through cat calling, rude comments, sexual harassment, gender stereotypes in the workplace, movies and media that enforce gender stereotypes, etc. (Calder-Dawe 2015).

Through double standards: men are congratulated for sex and women are typically thought deviant for wanting it (Parillo 2014).

Sexism can have plenty of negative affects on

an individual both mentally and physically.

Some of the consequences of sexism include

domestic violence, job discrimination,

sometimes self-harm, and the overall well-

being and safety of the individual. If awareness

of the sexism that exists is not being

raised, the cycle will continue and a cultural drift away from sexism

will not be likely to occur. The problem of

sexism is that it is hidden in plain sight

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Challenge Yourself

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Stand UpNickel In a Jar…

Put a

include and enforce sexism.

outlook that does behavior and

Change the sexism.to promote well to ensure not

Be self-aware as occurring dailyaware of sexism

Recognize and be

about it” (Calder-Dawe 2015).

ways to talk all we must find sexism; most of and write about continue to think

“We must change.but by initiating recognizing it, not only by

Help fight sexism Challenge yourself to put

a nickel in jar any time sexism is heard, witnessed, or recognized by others or yourself.

Hopefully in doing so it will allow you to be more conscious of sexism and actually see just how much and quickly sexism adds up.

Be Aware

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Check out this commercial on YouTube called #LikeAGirl for the brand Always, and see how they changed the meaning of “like a girl” from an insult to the ultimate compliment it really is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

Check out this video on YouTube of Leslie Morgan Steiner telling her personal story of domestic violence she experienced during her first marriage and how she transformed her life!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yW5IsnSjo

Check this project out at everydaysexism.comLeave your story or read theirs and be able to recognize how sexism

affects YOUR life. Stand up, take the challenge and initiate change today.

Check It Out

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References

Calder-Dawe, O. (2015). The choreography of everyday sexism: Reworking sexism in

interaction. New Formations, (86), 89-105. doi: 10.3898/NEWF.86.05.2015

Kress, M. (2016). Week 7: Children and families. (Lecture Notes). Retrieved from

https://carmen.osu.edu/d2l/le/content/11650268/viewContent/8574369/View

Merriam-Dictionary.com. (2016). Sexism. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/sexism

Parillo, V.N. (2014). Strangers to these shores (11th Ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson

Education.

RealSexism.com. (n.d.).The real sexism project. Retrieved from. http://www.realsexism.com

Wikipedia. (2010). Gender inequality. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality

All images retrieved from Google Images.