I was writing a blog just moments ago to give permanence to my gripe with the definition of sexism which was: the prejudgment that because of gender, a person will possess certain negative traits. I immediately took issue with this definition because it seemed to be placing the word 'gender' where we were led to believe the word 'sex' ought be. As I frustratedly collected thoughts to convey my argument I realized that 'sex' and 'gender' are more interchangeable.
* I will ignore the phenomena of intersexuality and hermaphrodites in this post, as that is an entirely different can of worms. For the duration of this blog, people are either male or female.
Sexism is prejudgment based on gender?? That can't make any sense! Sex is male or female; gender is how that sex behaves on the basis of his or her sex, so shouldn't sexism be a prejudice based on whether a person is male or female? Generally this is what happens in sexism, but this is where I see the light: sex feeds gender.
Example:
Sam needs a heavy box lifted onto the top shelf, but Sam has a broken arm. Sam looks to the curb and sees his friends, Bob and Eileen, eager to help. Bob and Eileen are married, weigh the same, share the same height, and they spot each other at the gym 3 times a week - who will Sam ask to lift his box onto the shelf? Is he immediately a sexist because he asks Bob? Is he overcompensating for sexism in society by asking Eileen to do it?
If Sam asks Bob then we'd better be prepared to discuss the sexist implications of his choice. He probably meant no harm, he simply needed to make a choice between the man and the woman, and something was programmed in his head that this was a job for a man. If we asked Sam if Eileen was capable of lifting the box he'd surely say she was; they are good friends and he knows that she keeps herself in good shape.But alas, the gender roles have already been determined: anything categorized as rugged or strenuous is associated with men, and anything dainty or tender falls into the female category.
We will always make decisions based on sex, and this is entirely due to gender roles that have been in establishment since the dawn of (humans). The trick, I suppose, is to not look at these gender roles as boundaries, and our society has come a long way in encouraging people to step outside of their gender roles and determine for themselves how they would like to be defined by being the person whom they wish to be defined as.
To clarify: sexism is indeed a prejudice based on gender, in that if we see a male, we assume certain qualities and traits about him to be true, based on the gender roles which have defined what a man is. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't know how to sew a button to a shirt or make the meanest bowl of broccoli soup that you ever did taste.
Furthermore, let us look at gender roles in a similar light to certain romance languages which prescribe any object as masculine or feminine. A lamp for instance is a feminine word, but a man need not feel emasculated when he uses one. And this is what we strive for: a world where any man or woman can fulfill any gender role they wish (granted they are able to do so...). Outwardly sexist individuals will continue to exist, but tolerance for them is decreasing by the day. When we look back in time, even only decades or years ago, we can see that we have made positive progress on this front - good for us!
Sexism is prejudice based on gender? Darn rights it is!
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