What is Sexism?

[BreakfastMan]

Let's see what the dictionary tells me what sexism is...

1 : prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially discrimination against women
2 : behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex

Seems as good a definition as any, to me.

 

[axlryder]

As long as sexism against women exists, they can bully their way through anything they want in first world countries if they put their minds to it.

Which is why the religious, military, financial, political and industrial institutions of western nations tend to be dominated by men, and between 1 in 4 and 1 in 6 women in western countries will be raped during their lifetimes, with a single digits percentile chance the rapist/s will be convicted?

Yeah, all those initiative to try and stop the abuse and discrimination of women aren't really proof they've got it so much better.

There are definitely still glass ceilings in existence for most women in the business world, and women are simply not treated fairly in many cases. Though, to be fair, I've personally dealt with quite a bit of BS at my own place of work in terms of distribution of labor, promotion and favoritism that was all in favor of the women. I know a few of my friends have to deal with the same BS. That's not meant to say it somehow mitigates the crap that most women have to deal with on a regular basis, or that woman don't deal with the brunt of it (I honestly wouldn't know one way or the other in that regard), but from what I've observed, both sexes are getting shit on now, as opposed to just one.

I think the problem is that, instead of trying to actually address sexism, businesses are putting safeguards in place to make things more "equal", but mostly in an artificial sense. They're less concerned about getting the right people for the job, and making people understand that gender isn't and shouldn't be a limiting factor, and more concerned about avoiding a lawsuit.

Also, about one out of six men is sexually assaulted at some point in his life, so it's an issue that needs to be addressed for the sake of both genders I'd say.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

Sexism is this thing I do.

When a male asks me for the time, let's say on the street, I will ignore them by pretending my iPod is too loud.

When a female asks me for the time, let's say on the street, I would answer, quarter after four, assuming that in this scenario the time is in fact a quarter after four.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

Sexism is this thing I do.

When a male asks me for the time, let's say on the street, I will ignore them by pretending my iPod is too loud.

When a female asks me for the time, let's say on the street, I would answer, quarter after four, assuming that in this scenario the time is in fact a quarter after four.

Do you answer "quarter after four" regardless of what the time actually is? That is pretty dastardly.

See I thought to myself if anyone would think that, so I will edit my post so no further misunderstandings will take place! By the way I like that your name is boots and that you have a clown avatar!

 

[Rose and Thorn]

double post!

 

[Thaluikhain]

I think the problem is that, instead of trying to actually address sexism, businesses are putting safeguards in place to make things more "equal", but mostly in an artificial sense. They're less concerned about getting the right people for the job, and making people understand that gender isn't and shouldn't be a limiting factor, and more concerned about avoiding a lawsuit.

Certainly that seems to be the case, and it is a hamfisted response, but I'd argue that a flawed solution is still better than nothing.

Why even bother mentioning the chance of rapist conviction? That is not gender specific.

Technically no, but like you say, the vast majority of victims are female, the vast majority of perpetrators are male, and the vast majority of the people running the police and judiciary are also male. Reporting rates of rape tend to go up when there are more female police officers.

Circumcision I will grant, I'd overlooked that as it's not nearly as prevalent where I live.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Sexism is prejudice that uses gender (Actually that should probably be perceived gender) as the base of the prejudice. What defines prejudice behavior is a much slipper and debatable topic. It has all kinds of issues in psychology and sociology and I've always found it to be far to confusing to understand. I try but everytime I think I've got it, I'm wrong. Hopefully "it's the thought that counts" applies to not being sexist too.

 

[axlryder]

I think the problem is that, instead of trying to actually address sexism, businesses are putting safeguards in place to make things more "equal", but mostly in an artificial sense. They're less concerned about getting the right people for the job, and making people understand that gender isn't and shouldn't be a limiting factor, and more concerned about avoiding a lawsuit.

Certainly that seems to be the case, and it is a hamfisted response, but I'd argue that a flawed solution is still better than nothing.

Why even bother mentioning the chance of rapist conviction? That is not gender specific.

Technically no, but like you say, the vast majority of victims are female, the vast majority of perpetrators are male, and the vast majority of the people running the police and judiciary are also male. Reporting rates of rape tend to go up when there are more female police officers.

Circumcision I will grant, I'd overlooked that as it's not nearly as prevalent where I live.

The second part of your quote is not my own, though it was attributed to me, just fyi. As to the part that was meant to be directed at me, I honestly think that, while it might kind of fix some current problems, it's ultimately just going to create different problems (as it sort of already has). The actual merits of its implementation at this point are kind of moot, since it's already well under way. Though, based on general impression, I'd agree if it was this or nothing, this is probably better. I would love for a better solution to be developed, but not only would coming up with an effective one be difficult, I doubt it would be implemented anyway. Ah well, 'tis life.

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

Meanwhile women still earn less money than men for the same jobs

People keep saying this, but I want to know exactly if this is true.

Is there any definitive proof of this? I don't mean the numbers that say women earn less than men on average, because that doesn't prove what you've said. The difference in what is earned could just as easily be caused by women preferring jobs that just happen to have lower wages on average.

Is there any proof that women actually are paid less than men working the exact same job on the exact same hours simply because they're women?

I'll be completely satisfied if there is actual proof of this happening.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Sexism is something which happens to women.

It can often be easily swapped with "misogyny", sexism/misogyny are terms which go hand-in-hand because randomly labeling someone as being one is the easiest way to stir up a huge shitstorm anywhere.
Discussions & issues revolving around sexism always about women so I reckon it's time the dictionary definition is changed already. Us males wouldn't mind.

 

[wearesoneutralthatithurts]

99% rapists
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/SOO.PDF

in germany too :
http://www.bmfsfj.de/RedaktionBMFSFJ/Abteilung4/Pdf-Anlagen/langfassung-studie-frauen-teil-eins,property=pdf,bereich=bmfsfj,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf

3% of males worldwide are victims of rape and 13% of women.

and, well if men are dominating science, politics and economy- if men are dominating and shaping the system and if males are more often to become suicidal, maybe men should change?

if you have the power and you use it to create a unhealthy system which kills males more often than females, than use your power to chance the system-but i think "you" will have to question what being a man means.

live fast die young? work hard to be of worth? earn much,get a house, a fast car, nice cigarrs, eat and fuck and have power? al this doesn't seem to be healthy...


but well, if women get the same full stressful 60hr jobs as men, they die as fast and have the same stress related illnesses.

so not sex is relevant but the system I think.^^

some other things-women are more likely to care for their parents if they get old and become ill. they don't give them into a nursing home, they do it themselves because this is expected. same goes for children and housework. (and because of that you cant have a 60hr job in management-you wouldn't get one anyway because as a women you might become pregnant. And your marriage might crumble because i think that very few man can cope a wife that earns a lot more money because society expects en to be the breadwinner to be worthy and the women to get pregnant or to be good-looking and a nice object and such )

 

[aba1]

Meanwhile women still earn less money than men for the same jobs

People keep saying this, but I want to know exactly if this is true.

Is there any definitive proof of this? I don't mean the numbers that say women earn less than men on average, because that doesn't prove what you've said. The difference in what is earned could just as easily be caused by women preferring jobs that just happen to have lower wages on average.

Is there any proof that women actually are paid less than men working the exact same job on the exact same hours simply because they're women?

I'll be completely satisfied if there is actual proof of this happening.

I looked into this and it isn't true basically women generally work less hours than men over all which is why women make less. Women also tend to work part time significantly more than men who work full time more often which is also a giant factor. In the end men and women get paid the same for the same job for the same hours. It should also be noted women also tend to take on the role of the homemaker as well more often which could be attributing factor to why women work part time more often or less hours.

It could be argued that women have it easier because any field women are not generally associated with want more women to get involved, while fields that tend to bring more women in discourage men from getting involved (daycare and elementary school teaching etc). Plus most companies prefer to give raises and higher positions to women because it looks better on the company. This is all subjective though so it shouldn't be taken as fact and more of a observation on my own part.

 

[Simca]

Discussing sexism (you're actually referring to "genderism" here but whatever) on gaming forums (or the internet in general honestly) ends very badly.

There are a lot of men who don't understand it (obviously) but I'm not sure what causes those people to want to blatantly advertise their lack of understanding and look like complete morons in the process. It's honestly okay if you haven't sat down and thought through every philosophical issue (most people don't have the time). It's okay that you don't have a major in the subject.

However, you need to moderate yourself to a large extent when you're posting on a sensitive issue and you have no idea what you're talking about, and self-moderation seems a subject that is also beyond the grasp of most people on the internet. You can contribute to the discussion without knowing everything about it but you need to be careful in wording things (i.e. "I think" or "My understanding of the subject is").

Something relevant to the above posts on statistics: One thing where women have started to overtake men recently (by a significant amount actually) is education. I don't have the exact numbers, but men drop out of high school much more often than women, and women are quite a bit more likely to enter (or complete) college.

Sexism is something which happens to women.

It can often be easily swapped with "misogyny", sexism/misogyny are terms which go hand-in-hand because randomly labeling someone as being one is the easiest way to stir up a huge shitstorm anywhere.
Discussions & issues revolving around sexism always about women so I reckon it's time the dictionary definition is changed already. Us males wouldn't mind.

Sexism against both genders exists in the form of peer pressure to conform to gender roles, though. It's just more common for women since their socially-defined gender roles are much more restrictive (especially the older "housewife" stereotypes which harm working women even today).

However, a feminine guy will be discriminated against just as a female firefighter might be, and those are both types of sexism.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

What is it really? I seem to be hearing that term a lot lately, but its thrown around so casually, a sort of knee-jerk reaction to anything and everything that portrays a gender in a slightly less than optimal light.

Have you tried Google or Wikipedia? Both will have lots of information on the subject.

 

[Brainwreck]

Women have been for the most part systematically oppressed by men (who used to rule society, and still hold larger sway) throughout human history. They're still oppressed in about half of the world.
This affords them some leeway in calling men out on what they perceive as 'sexism'. Actually, no, a lot of leeway.

Shush yo little mouth before you make comments without thinking of the context. And prepare for a deserved verbal thrashing if you don't.