- It’s when a woman walks home from the bus and someone wolf-whistles at her
- It’s when we see half-naked women on billboards, usually advertising something completely unrelated like burgers
- It’s when magazines tell us, as men and women, how to behave, how to look and what to desire
- It’s when a woman feels unsafe to walk alone at night
- It’s when rape survivors are blamed for the abuse they have suffered, assuming “they asked for it.”
- It’s when women are destined to have a life of up to 2/3 less pay than men and significantly more difficulty in advancing in their jobs
- It’s being EXPECTED to be strong and tough, or to be sweet and defenceless
- It’s assuming a nurse will be a woman and a doctor will be man
- It’s when a woman playing with children is seen as a natural maternal activity, but a man playing with children is regarded with suspicion
It happens everyday, it’s all around us and worst of all, many of us pretend it doesn’t exist –Sexism
Sexism is the oppression or discrimination of a person based on their sex or gender. It reinforces attitudes and behaviour based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles in our society. Sexism can be anything from pay inequality to a music video that portrays women as sexual objects. Sexism affects us all, but particularly women, as it is engrained in our patriarchal (male-dominated) society. Sexism is an attitude that can affect women in almost every aspect of their lives and can prevent them from achieving their potential.
Language
Sexism manifests itself in our society in many different ways, from the accepted gender roles to the language we use. When you think of the word “master” and “mistress”, which meaning holds more power? They both mean the same thing, apart from the gender that is attached to it. What about bachelor or spinster? Which would you rather be? Almost anything can become an insult if you add ‘like a girl’ to the end of it. “Ahhhh you throw like a girl.” Music videos, TV programmes and the mass media give women a variety of labels from ‘ho’ to ‘chick’ or ‘doll’. There are also many words used to describe people who do not conform to socially accepted gender stereotypes, like ‘poofter’ or ‘tomboy’.
Beauty
Media and advertising is a powerful medium in our society and virtually impossible to escape. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded by sexist images that subject women to a certain ideal of beauty. While using women’s bodies to sell you something, the airbrushed images tells us what beauty is. Women start to measure themselves against these impossible and unrealistic standards. The cosmetic industry uses women’s insecurities to their own advantage, by selling us products to help us achieve this beauty ideal. The underlying message of many ads is, “you’re not beautiful unless you buy our product.” These insecurities can develop into lack of self esteem or even psychological disorders, often related to eating. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are eating disorders suffered mostly by women. One in four girls may suffer from the symptoms of an eating disorder and 52% of teenagers begin dieting before the age of 14.
Aotearoa New Zealand
Globally Aotearoa New Zealand has led the way in promoting women’s equality, being the first in the world to give women the vote and first in the world to simultaneously have a woman governor general, woman mayor and elected female prime minister. Although many improvements on the position of women have been made, sexism still exists in this country in many forms. Women are still associated with passivity, weakness, submissiveness and being emotional. They’re often seen or treated like sexual objects. Men are stereotyped to be aggressive, powerful, strong and rational. Particularly in New Zealand culture, men are expected to be tough and rugged and not show emotion. These stereotypes are blatant sexism, but are usually accepted- subconsciously or not.
We still have a long way to go. Women all over the world still struggle for justice, equality and respect. Next time you see sexist behaviour- don’t just accept it! Do something about it, challenge this behaviour and let people around you know that sexism will no longer be accepted or tolerated.
Five Facts
- The majority of people worldwide who live in absolute poverty (that is, living on less than one dollar a day) are women.
- Women do 75% of the world’s work, including unpaid, yet own only 10% of the world wealth.
- Out of over 180 countries, only 11 are currently led by women.
- 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives.
- Female graduates are likely to earn less than their male counterparts and take, on average, twice as long to pay back their student loans. (Meaning they could pay up to 20% more for the same education!)