Topic #2: Sexism

‘Sexism is the cultural assumption that men are superior to women and deserve preference and power over them.’ Yes that’s right folks, sexism is when men think they are better than women. Not wasting any time, can’t women think they are better than men? I mean, kids, let’s not forget that rhyme that goes ‘girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to jupiter to get stup-id-er’. That definitely shows some superiority against boys, saying we are smart and they are stupid. It seems as if people are thinking too loosely now a days of discriminating, based on sex or anything. Last year, my english teacher loosely shouted ‘racist’ at the most random of times, and when a teacher called on people from only the left side for some questions, for example, we students joked around and called that teacher ‘side-ist’.

People are thinking, as we are getting farther and farther from the Civil Rights movement, that it is ok to revert to our old ways of ‘I am better than you because of blah.’ As I said, we are joking, but what happens when someone takes it that extra step, 'till it isn’t joking and we are all fighting to defend who we were born to be?! I don’t find discriminating funny, but we have to admit we all think we are better than someone whether it’s what our grades are or how thin we can be. The thing is, society made us feel superior, since all the latest gossip is on power struggles between celebrities. Yet if we are so past that 'era' of letting media and others control us, why can’t we put an end to it? We all are ashamed of racism and sexism in the past, but how come now one seems to find it a problem now-a-days? In my article, it mentions that women still make around 77 cents to the male dollar, and that the ‘top 4’ jobs that women are is a nurse, teacher, etc.

It seems as if America is forgetting it's roots, and living life as one big power struggle. Not only are men sexist against women, but some women are scared to get a higher power in their job, in fear that since they are a women, people will think they are a bossy bitch (as mentioned in my annotated article). Is sexism all a man’s fault? I mean, that’s a big weight to put on people, much less men’s shoulders. Tradition is hard to break, and though discriminating against someone because of the body parts they may or may not have is wrong, people aren’t easy adjusters, and we can’t simply expect everyone to ‘get used’ to women being in power. As time goes on, though, we should expect to see improvement, which the article I read talked about, and said ‘We’ve come a long way, baby. But there’s still a long way to go’ (this article was written in March 2010).

sources:
Mankiller, Wilma, and others. "Sexism." The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Dec. 1 1998: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010

Bennett, Jessica, Jesse Ellison, and Sarah Ball. "Are We There Yet?." Newsweek Vol. 155, No. 13. 29 Mar 2010: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010.