Sexism: Definition and Facts - Essay Example

Social Psychology Sexism, the age-old, infamous acts of discriminating women on the basis of their gender in all areas of life has become one of the most highlighted issues around the globe. Women, with the support of some men, have frequently tried to deal with the issues related to sexism that prevail in all the societies of the world. No country, or no society for that matter, has been able to purge itself of the discriminatory clutches of sexism and thus been successful in allowing women to work and live freely in the society. Women all around the globe have been subjected to lesser degrees of preferences than their male counterparts. The aphorism, ‘men are better than women’ has become no less than a haunt for women who try to achieve an equal footing with men in the society. Women are forced to hear comments regarding their inferiority in all walks of life be it driving, office work, state affairs or something as womanly as cooking. The essay looks into the possible affects of sexism on women, how confronting sexism helps women, and a summary of the article ‘Excuse Me—What Did You Just Say?!: Women’s Public and Private Responses to Sexist Remarks’ (Swim and Hyers 68-88). Swim and Hyers have highlighted how women react to sexist remarks that they come across. The article is divided into two studies which throw light on styles of confrontations of sexism and types of responses influenced by costs of responses perceived respectively. In the first study, they have observed how women confront sexism keeping in mind that the style of confrontation varies within the groups due to difference in perceptions about sexism societal pressures. Women who are more afraid of being identified as feminists and being tabbed as rude are less likely to confront sexism publicly. While women who wish to put an end to the problems that they face due to sexism are more likely to confront sexist remarks publicly in an attempt to change the views of advocates of sexism. This is influenced by one’s personal beliefs and motivation to react coupled with the gender of the bystanders as more women respond publicly if they are surrounded by females who do not react openly to sexist comments than if they are surrounded by males who adopt an inactive stance on sexism. The study also suggests that women often develop private dislike for sexists and their comments when they are unable to confront sexism publicly. The second study suggests that women are more likely to assume that they are capable of publicly confronting sexism than they actually are. This hypothesis is coupled with the assumption that women usually analyze the costs and benefits associated with their responses before actually reacting to the situation. A public confrontation is thus made when women view their reaction as polite and only if they believe that their response would not augur a strong and impolite retaliation from the people who have passed the sexist comments. In their article, Swim and Hyers conclude that most of the women in their studies have not responded as they would have liked to respond to the sexist comments that were directed at them. Women in different parts of the world face sexism in round about similar forms. However, it has recently been noticed that confronting sexism helps women more than if the decide to remain quiet and develop a private dislike towards it. Instances of confronting sexism are generally lower because women are mostly afraid to confront sexism publicly. This is mostly because they are fearful of the fact that they will be discriminated more and will become the main target of the people who they will try to confront. They therefore avoid confronting sexist remarks publicly in an attempt to prevent themselves from becoming the point of focus for the sexist comments that would come forward as a reaction to their confrontation. Women also fear confronting sexism publicly because they are unable to deal with the label of impolite and rude that is stuck with them after they retaliate to a sexist comment. The constant attacks of discrimination tend to undermine the confidence of most women as they are forced to admit the discriminatory remarks because they come across them so often. This happens because they start believing that there must be truth in what the majority says. Not reacting to or not confronting sexism publicly does nothing but encourage sexists to keep on passing gender biased comments. By not reacting, women who are capable of reacting discourage other women from reacting too. When women who are perceived as role models do not confront sexism publicly they increase the risks of unresponsiveness from other women. This leads to women becoming more and more submissive to gender discrimination and thus developing lower levels of morale. Women who do not confront sexism at workplace are at a risk of reducing their motivation to work and also lose confidence in their own capabilities. These women are unable to pay more attention to their work because they constantly keep thinking about the possible steps that they might have taken in response to sexism and then go over the costs and benefits of the possible reactions to determine whether or not they should be adopted. They therefore start lacking the ability to produce work which would have otherwise helped them gain recognition as a good and competent employee. This in turn automatically allows their male counterparts to succeed at a greater speed and thus leads to a greater number of sexist remarks that support men as being more competent and better employees than females. A similar pattern can be observed in women who do not confront sexism in schools or institutions. They diminish their ability to excel in studies by losing concentration and thus allow males to score higher than themselves. This too undermines their confidence and renders them unable to counter sexism because they then have no sound facts to support themselves. Confronting sexism promises a number of benefits to the society as a whole as it seeks to alter the values and beliefs of sexists. Public confrontations discourage sexists from further passing on any comments that are gender biased or from giving preference to one gender over the other. Since we are talking about sexism in the context of women, I will only be highlighting the benefits of public confrontation to women. If women start confronting sexism publicly, they will be working towards putting an end to gender biases that have developed in the minds of many against them. This would ensure that sexism is minimized all across the globe as reports of public confrontations of sexism will encourage women in other countries to take steps to eradicate the evil that exists in the form of sexism. Public confrontations would also allow women to increase their chances of being accepted into the society as an equal by males who have developed a sense of superiority due to the submissive attitude of women. A research that was conducted in the University of Nebraska – Lincoln states that women who confront sexism publicly at workplace increase their levels of self-confidence and esteem. They become more competent and better employees as they have higher levels of motivation after they put an end to the discriminations directed against them. They also make greater efforts to be acknowledged as better employees and thus help to counter workplace sexist remarks that term men as better employees than women. Same can be said about women who decide to confront sexism publicly in their institutions as they would stop gender discrimination for themselves and also encourage other women in their institute to stand up against sexism. As their efforts to end sexism will boost their confidence, it would also encourage them to nullify the sexist comments by studying more and thus proving themselves to be better students than men. Women who are known to be egotistic and cannot stand the idea of letting men be termed as better students than themselves put in more effort in their studies to achieve higher grades and thus the self-satisfaction of being better students. They also confront sexist remarks publicly partly for self-satisfaction and partly for the benefit of all the women in their institute. Men who are confronted publicly also make efforts to undo the bad that they have done. They adopt a friendlier style towards the women who were displeased due to their sexist comments and who had confronted their sexist remarks publicly. They are more likely to adopt a more polite tone and choose their words carefully in order to prevent any further confrontations. Sexism is one of the biggest problems that persist in almost every society of the world. It robs women of their rights and diminishes their chances of hiring in offices, admissions in institutions and acceptability as an equal in the society. It therefore demoralizes women who come in contact with sexism and thus makes them less confident. It is, therefore, important for all the women to adopt a more active stance against sexism in order to put an end to the discrimination that has become a harsh reality of their lives. Women should boost their confidence and seek help to make them more capable of confronting sexism publicly so that they can contribute towards eradicating the gender bias that has haunted them for centuries. The most important step towards enabling women to confront sexism is to create awareness amongst them. They should be informed that the costs that they have associated with public confrontations of sexism are of no importance, and that their fear of being disliked by the society and of being referred to as rude are insignificant when compared to the problems that they might face if sexism is not pushed out of their society. Women who are capable of confronting sexism should seek to motivate other women by talking to them personally and by running awareness programs that would contain group sessions where women motivate each other and talk about the problems that they are facing due to sexism. Possible ways of confrontation should also be told and discussed during these group sessions in order to help women, who are unable to decide upon how they should confront sexism, develop a plan to counter sexism. Success stories should also be exchanged in order to further motivate women and also to give them the assurance that their fears related to further discrimination upon confrontation are baseless. Workplaces should develop anti-sexist bodies which provide immunity to women against sexism and also helps them counter the problems faced due to gender discrimination. Senior management should open their doors to any complaints that are made against sexism and should take actions to eradicate it from their workplace to discourage sexist remarks and activities in the future. A rule should also be passed against sexism in the code of ethics as a step towards eliminating sexism from the workplace. The administration of institutes should also form anti-sexist committees that welcome reports against sexist behaviors in the institute in order to purge their establishments of sexism. Strict action should be taken against any student or any faculty that resorts to sexism to further the cause and to discourage those who might have discriminated on the basis of gender in the future. By confronting sexism publicly in workplaces and in institutes, one not only takes a step towards eradicating sexism from that very place but also ensures that it is eliminated from the society. It is the individuals that make a society. By publicly confronting and stopping an individual from passing on sexist comments, a woman not only stops him from making these comments in the institute or workplace but also inculcates in him the sense that he should not pass sexist remarks anywhere. This is because she helps him realize that sexism is an evil and that women will no longer remain silent if they are attacked with sexist comments. References Janet K. Swim and Lauri L. Hyers (1999). "Excuse Me—What Did You Just Say?!: Women’s Public and Private Responses to Sexist Remarks." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 35, 68–88. February 20, 2011. Gervais, Amy L. Hilliard and Theresa K. Vescio (2010). “Confronting sexism may be 'antidote' for workplace distress.Study: Women who call out prejudiced statements feel more capable, competent.” Sex Roles. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/uon-csm112410.php. February 20, 2011. Tom Jacobs (2010). “Accusations of Sexism Spur Greater Sensitivity.” http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/accusations-of-sexism-spur-greater-sensitivity-23794/. Feruary 20, 2011. About Equal Opportunities. About Equal Opportunities, 2000-2011. http://www.aboutequalopportunities.co.uk/confronting-sexism.html. February 20, 2011 Read More