A Critical Analysis on the Topic of Sexism
As Sensoy and DiAngelo describe it, sexism is “The systemic oppression of women by men. Sexism is based on the belief that men are inherently superior to women” (228). Although there have been many movements and acts to stabilize this internal and structural dominance over women, it’s still a very large issue in Canada, and throughout the world today.
To start, sexism, in our society, can only be inflicted by men to women—never the other way around. This is because of the institutional power backing men. Power can be described as the ability to do something in a certain way or the ability influence the behaviour of others/ course of events (Sensory and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 73). In today’s society, men are considered the dominant group—“The group at the top of the social hierarchy…. The dominant group is the group that is valued more highly… [and they] set the norms by which the minoritized group is judged” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 223)—because of this institutional power they hold. Quite often, people see men as dominant because of their physical strength and build, their aggressive nature, and the leadership in government that we’ve had in the past, and still today. Since the beginning of governance in Canada, there has only been one female prime minister: Kim Campbell in 1993 (Pallardy, n.d.). We have had male examples of leadership for majority of Canada’s history. This does not give just to women who have been following men’s orders for decades, nor is it a good example for young females wanting to be a leader for their country.
Sexism can occur in any scenario or environment. It could be something as simple as the boys in a school being asked to help with lifting chairs, or a female politician not being selected into office because of her sex. This is problematic as in both scenarios, the women are shunned out due to the stereotypes or prejudices that are presumed of them. A prejudice is “Learned prejudgment about members of social groups to which we don’t belong. Prejudice is based on limited knowledge or experience with the group. Simplistic judgements and assumptions are made and projected onto everyone from that group” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 228). There could have been several prejudices made about the girls lifting chairs in the previous example: they are too weak to lift, or they will injure themselves lifting. Some of the prejudices that could be made about the female running for office could be that she is not smart enough to lead a country, and that she will be overwhelmed with all of the pressure, that our economy and country as a whole will collapse. Although these are all internalized thoughts about females, many people in our society are not afraid to act on these learned prejudgments.
Discrimination is “Action based on prejudice. When we act on our prejudices, we are discriminating” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 223). It is not possible for the men to discriminate the women in the two examples above. When men (privileged) act on their prejudices against women (marginalized) it is considered oppression: “The discrimination of one social group against another, backed by institutional power” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 226). The only difference between discrimination and oppression is that oppression is back by the institutional power in society. If the boys were to say to the girls, “Let the strong ones handle this,” it would be considered oppression since men are the dominant group in society. If one of the girls were to say to one of her girl friends, “Just let the boys handle this,” it would be considered discrimination as women are the oppressed group in society. This group can be described as devalued in society encompassing how they’re represented, the degree to access resources, and how unequal access is rationalized (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017). Keeping such stereotypes in our minds, like how voting a female into office would bring our economy and country down, is an example of implicit bias. These stereotypes/prejudices and attitudes/biases affect out understanding, actions, and decisions unconsciously (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017). They blur our vision on the bigger picture and the ultimate goal in the end (in this case, having an equitable and just government for all—it doesn’t matter what sex makes this possible).
The term sexism itself was a concept originally formulated to raise consciousness about the oppression of girls and women (Masequesway, n.d.). The history dates back thousands of years ago; men have always been “dominant” over women. Women had minimal rights and freedoms for themselves. They couldn’t vote or own land, nor was their pay comparable to men if the woman even worked (there is still issues with pay today)(Canadian Heritage, 2017). From the past, there are several sexist ideologies applied to women in regard to housing and daily life: women cook, clean, and care for their babies while men work. They are still expected today for the most part.
Women suffer the most from sexism. It is the oppressive treatment that women get, as well as “the belief in the inherent superiority of men and male norms and the organization of society based on this belief” (patriarchy)(Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 227), that deny them of so many opportunities in their lives. Some of the impacts on women from sexism would be a low income, less opportunities, mental health issues, and so on. Men don’t necessarily benefit from women having mental health issues or a low income, but rather the degradation of women to boost the male norms—patriarchy—in society.
Intersectionality is “The understanding that we simultaneously occupy multiple social positions and that these positions do not cancel each other out; they interact in complex ways” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 225). This is the understanding that one could be white, female, poor, and gay; one could be white, male, upper class, and bisexual. Not one person is just white for example; all of these social positions work together. One could have the privileges of being white, but could also be oppressed because they’re female, bisexual, etcetera. This idea of intersectionality relates to sexism as sex is a social position that everyone in society has: you’re either born a male and are privileged, or you’re born a female going to face sexist encounters and situations throughout your life (keep in mind that sex is what you’re born as; gender is what you identify as).
It is important to address sexism so that females are granted equal opportunities as men are, and so that both sexes can live freely and equally amongst each other. In regard to societal practices, it is important that we address sexism so that all humans feel like they have the equal opportunities and chances to succeed in their every day life. In the school setting, it is important that we teach students that sexism is real so that they can learn at a young age to identify the inequality of, and what is wrong with, male dominance. This way, children can all start on the same playing field of understanding, and work toward equality for both sexes in the future. It is also important to address sexism in schools so that we can change the oppressive nature that schools inhabit in regard to sex. Although schools can be both informative and educational on sexism, it can also be a prime example of it: like the previous example where the boys were the ones to carry the chairs rather than the girls. It is important that we address sexism in a critical social justice lens as the people who are committing the injustice are usually unaware or willfully ignorant to it. Men may get offensive around the suggestion that sexism exists; they might dislike the reminder that what benefits them is socially unjust; they might lack the patience/interest to listen to the minoritized group (females) about the issue of sexism (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 202). As a female, it is not my responsibility to speak out for change about the injustice when it comes to male dominance. Of course I can speak and teach information about the issue, but as a member of the oppressed group I don’t have the power to change this—it is up to males in society to do so. This is why it will be important to address this topic to my future students so that the males do not fall into the past socialization and normalized culture of male dominance.
For the previous reasons, it is important that we address sexism, overall, so that both males and females can live freely amongst each other with no discriminating or oppressive ideals challenging them. We can do this in three ways: changing the individual mindset, changing the systemic ideals, and altering the school/classroom objectives in regard to sexism.
Changing the ideological and individual mindset means to challenge the prejudices of individuals who are willfully ignorant, or unaware of sexism, and to educate and/or broaden their understanding—but more important, their acceptance—of the sexist issues occurring today. When I hear something sexist in a conversation or towards myself or others, I will be sure to give a logical explanation of the unjust words they are speaking and back my answer with my knowledge of critical social justice. We should take action by standing up for women when something sexist is brought into play. To do this, we can inform the critic of their wrong- doing(s), remind them that they may be coming from a place of willful ignorance due to “inequitable power” (Sensoy and DiAngelo, 2017, p. 206), and educate them that it is very degrading to women to be making sexist comments as it can affect their well-being and reinforce internalized oppression. We can also guide the minds of children away from sexist ideals. When asking children to help clean up for example, we can encourage everyone to help sweep, wash, and so on—not just the girls. By doing this, we’re showing boys at a young age that tasks like these are not directed to just girls, but rather everyone.
To address change in the systemic context (a larger systematic level), big companies and people with a bigger platform need to make a change. Media and communication professionals should be heavily taught about sex equality. Today, we see many advertisements reinforcing the sexist ideals that we need to be avoiding: a woman washing dishes with the advertised dish soap. In workplaces, women should feel supported if they are ever a victim of sexism: they could have complaint boxes, disciplinary measures, and support services (Human Rights Channel). During meetings, there could be a pre-determined time limit for each speaker ensuring there’s enough time for everyone to speak—not just men.
In a school/classroom setting, there are several methods to ensure sexism is addressed. Teachers should ensure not to assign gender roles: do not ask boys to help carry chairs, but rather the whole class so the girls don’t feel belittled for example. Teaching about sexism is critical to young children so they are familiar with the gender inequality and its impacts. Reviewing the course work is something teachers should ensure to do before teaching it so that textbooks for example don’t contain sexist images (sets bad example to students and shows them exactly what we don’t want them to be practicing). Teachers should also express their support to students at the beginning of the year so that students can feel comfortable if they ever need to report any sexist issues they’ve encountered/felt, or anything bothering them at all (Human Rights Channel).
It is beyond important that we address sexism in the eyes of critical social justice to eliminate its oppressive injustices in Canada, and around the world. It is most definitely in control of men to not only be an advocate, but make a change for women who are affected greatly from sexism. We must continue to push for sex equality for the sake of today’s women, all the future generations of women, and society as a whole.
References
Heritage, C. (2017, October 25). Government of Canada. Canada.ca. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/rights-women.html.
Human Rights Channel. (n.d.). Sexism: See it. name it. stop it. Human Rights Channel. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.coe.int/en/web/human-rights-channel/stop-sexism.
Masequesway, G. (n.d.). Sexism. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/sexism.
Pallardy, R. (n.d.). List of prime ministers of Canada. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-prime-ministers-of- Canada-1800352.
Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. J. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in Social Justice Education. Teachers College Press.