Every day we see sexism. It might be a joke about how she's "just a girl" so she should or can't do it. It might be telling him to "grow a pair" because he doesn't want to do something. Sexism is so deeply threaded into our lives that we don't even realize when someone says something sexist, or when we do.
The other day at school we had marching practice (the whole school has to do it for a youth rally). The police officer who is teaching us is not only sexist, but pretty much uses every other "ism" in the book.
There is one very short boy in my little brothers class, and the police officer told him his new name was "Short stuff" and made him repeat it until the whole school had burst out laughing. The boy was not very happy.
Anyway, one other boy was causing a disruption and the officer was not very happy. He yelled for everyone to be quiet and told the boy "According to psychology, people who look for attention don't do well without attention. But this is more seen in girls."
First of all, I checked with a psychologist and that claim was completely wrong. Second of all, saying that girls looked for attention more way unbelievably sexist. There is absolutely no evidence of that, or any studies done to prove that. He just said it to make the boy feel like he was acting like a girl, which is horrible.
There is nothing wrong with acting like a girl, or being a girl, or anything to do with girls. But now, for some reason, being "like a girl" is an insult. Why is it so wrong for a man to have feminine traits or for a woman to have male traits? Why is it insulting for one gender to be associated with the other?
However, there are people that think that "like a girl" or "like a man" is a compliment, but that is wrong too. Saying that one is a compliment is the same as saying the other is an insult.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter, so feel free to leave a comment. What sexism have you seen in your life?
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