Sexism in different cultures and societies - Research Paper Example

Sexism Sexism is a belief evolved in the twentieth century, which argues that one sex is inherently superior to other. Sexism assigns certain roles to people in the society based on their gender. The terms such as masculinity in relation to men and femininity in relation to women are evolved as a result of sexism. The belief that men are superior to women is a form of sexism. Men argue that they are privileged with certain rights because of some of their peculiar features and characteristics. For example, men have superior muscle power which helps them to do tough things which women cannot do. Men use their superiority in most important areas of political, economic, and social life. On the other hand women argue that they are superior to men, citing other reasons. They claim that women are the most beautiful creations in the world and the creator has given the ability of conception only to them. In both the cases, sexism is discussed or involved. This paper analyses sexism in different cultures and societies. Even though America is a much advanced country in the world, it is not free from sexism. Sexism and sex discrimination can be observed in different forms in American society. The following facts point towards the depth of sexism prevailing in America at present. Recent studies show that teachers call on boys in classrooms from three to eight times more frequently than they call on girls. The average woman in America earns seventy-nine cents for every dollar made by the average male. Women’s athletic budgets at schools and colleges average less than 20% of men’s. One-third of the families headed by women live below the poverty line. By the twenty-first century 99% of the people on welfare will be women and dependent children. Of the brighter high school graduates who do not go on to college, 70% to 90% are girls. In a recent poll taken by the "New York Times" 62% of working women interviewed agreed with this statement "Most men are willing to let women get ahead, but only if women do all the housework at home first (Hay) The above statistics clearly show that sexism exists in many forms in America. In schools, teachers, give more attention to the boys than the girls. They believe that boys are brighter than girls and should get more attention. In professional world, women are getting lesser salaries than men even though both of them are doing the same job. Many organizations in America have the belief that men can handle certain jobs better than women. For example, in the recently concluded American Presidential election, Hillary Clinton fought hard against current President Obama for getting the Democratic Party nomination. However, majority of the Americans, voted in favor of Obama because of their perception that a male President could be more effective than a female President. If we take the number of women presidents or prime ministers in countries worldwide, we can see that the number of females is much lesser than the number of males. Even in America like advanced country, people believe that men have superior abilities in taking decisions and handling pressure and this belief is definitely the contribution of sexism. The number of females going to colleges is less than the number of boys when we consider the statistics of boys and girls who attend the college education in America after their school education. This is because of the parental belief that giving college education to the boys is more important than giving college education to girls. If an American family faces financial problems in giving education to their children, they will stop the education of their daughters first and will try maximum to give education to their sons. Majority of the men in America believe that the primary role of women is to do all the housework at home. Only after the completion of the house works, men like their wives going for other professional works. McFadden (2010) has pointed out that in American society, “Women are still being fired for getting pregnant and getting demoted when they return from maternity leave” (McFadden) “TV regulators in the EU to set guidelines which would see the end of anything deemed to portray women as sex objects or reinforce gender stereotypes” (Irvine). European societies are also not free from sexism. Perhaps, Europe is the number one region which exploits females for commercial purposes. Most of the product manufacturers in this region utilize beautiful celebrities for selling their products. For selling perfumes and other aesthetic products, naked bodies of the beautiful women are utilized whereas for selling kitchen products the services of housewives are utilized in Europe. In other words, some preconceived notions are exist in Europe with respect to the roles of women and men which is another form of sexism. “Gender stereotyping in advertising straitjackets women, men, girls and boys by restricting individuals to predetermined and artificial roles that are often degrading, humiliating and dumped down for both sexes" (Irvine). “Caroline Flint, the minister for Europe, says media attention on her looks is insulting "when it gets in the way of the other things she hopes to contribute” (Fairford). In other words, even the women ministers in Europe are victims of sexism. People are more interested in exploring the beauty of their female ministers rather than analyzing their contributions to the public. In short, even influential people in Europe are victims of sexism in Europe. India is another country in which sexism exists in many forms. In fact in some of the northern Indian states in which literacy is less, abortion is a common practice if the fetus is diagnosed as a female. Even though the gender identification of fetus is prohibited by law in India, people go to private scanning centers to determine the gender of the fetus and to decide whether to keep or abort that fetus. Sati- a tradition or superstition, in which the females forced to accept death when their husbands died, is still prevailing in some of the traditional societies at the northern part of India. Srivastava (2008) has mentioned “the shocking incident of a seventy one year old woman performing Sati in Chattisgarh” one of the northern cities of India (Srivastava) . Even though the Indian government is trying hard to prohibit Sati, it is still observed at many parts of rural India. Sex violence against females in India is growing day by day. It is difficult for the females to walk on the foot paths during night time. Even in day time sex violence against the women is growing. In one of the recent examples, a teenage girl forced to suffer death while travelling in a train because of the sexual exploitation attempt by a fellow passenger. The Indian news daily Mathrubhumi dated 06 February 2011 reported that “the 23-year-old woman called Soumya was brutally attacked and raped after being kicked out of a running train, succumbed to her injuries at a hospital after fighting for life for five long days” (Mathrubhumi) To conclude, sexism exists in different forms in different cultures. In America, sexism prevents females from assuming top positions in the country whereas in Europe female beauty is utilized for commercial purpose. In Indian society, sexism exists in the form of superstitions. Female fetus abortion and Sati are some of the social evils still seen in Indian society. In short, sexism is not a myth; it is a fact even in the twenty first century. Works Cited 1. Fairford, Lucy. “Sexism, Motherhood, Ambition – and Looking Good. By the Europe Minister. Guardian.co.uk. 10 May 2009 Web. 30 March 2011. 2. Hay, Maggie. “Sexism and Sex Discrimination: Have Things Really Changed?”. Web. 30 March 2011. 3. Irvine, Chris. EU wants to ban 'sexist' TV commercials The Telegraph. 05 September 2008. Web. 30 March 2011. 4. McFadden, Joyce. “Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future”. 2010. Web. 30 March 2011. 5. Mathrubhumi. “Hartal in Shornur to Mourn Sowmya's Death. 06 February 2011. Web. 30 March 2011. 6. Srivastava, Shishir. “Practice of Sati still prevalent in India”. 2008. Web. 30 March 2011. Read More