Table of Contents
Abstract
Over the years, gender bias has evoked several debates worldwide. In fact, women have been disadvantaged and labeled the weaker gender in many spheres of life. This has given rise to the concept of sexism which denotes degradation and subordination of women. Women have continued to suffer as their political rights, freedom of speech, dress code, promotion at work, and other privileges are withheld from them in the pretext of being weaker than men. This has not only offended but also led to serious consequences in their relationship with men in professional networks. The purpose of this essay is to investigate sexism in terms of how it influences the life of an individual and the perceptions of persons who have been victims of sexism. The general finding of this essay is that sexism paints a dark picture of discrimination. Concepts such as gender roles, ageism, and gender socialization will be of great use to the investigation of this topic.
How Sexism has influenced my Life
I have learned many lessons from sexism experiences. The community in which I live is highly sexist. By this, I mean that the men around the community discriminate women and offend them using deliberate language meant to harm their ego because of their gender. According to Ronai, Zsembik, and Feagin (2014), the general bias towards women has been ingrained in the minds of men for a long time. This is because gender socialization has taught different sexes to exhibit a specific behavior in relation to one another. Therefore, men have been socialized to disrespect women and portray them as weaker. This has made my life quite unbearable especially in contexts such as family, health, political, and educational areas. On more than three occasions, I have been a victim of street harassment and family violence because of my gender. The men perpetrating these acts have been on the defensive
Stereotyping in the place of work is experience sexism has brought to my life. Most of the organizations feel that a woman cannot ascend leadership positions and be a manager where even males exist. This echoes the idea expressed by Koepke, Eyssel, and Bohner (2014, p. 1) who opine that discrimination at workplaces may take other serious forms in which a woman is even raped and that much blame is labeled against the “the rape victim, particularly if she had behaved in an overtly sexual manner.” Koepke, Eyssel, and Bohner (2014) continue to note that gender roles are especially biased against women for they ascribe a superior position to the males even at the places of work. Therefore, women find it difficult handling managerial positions in their professions. This is worsened by the fact that gender roles in the home define house chores as duties to be performed by the women as men pursue concrete career stability and financial maturity.
Lately, sexism has created a sense of apathy in regards to management positions. One remarkable stereotype was uttered at the workplace. It stated that women are weak and need to be either protected or supervised by men. The stereotype has since killed my struggle for competitive chances for fear of being insulted by the chauvinist colleagues. Closely related to this is the concept of ageism which labels all aged professional women incompetent and fit for compulsory retirement. The ostracism most old women suffer in different offices has made me reconsider the professional heights of my career. Perhaps I should work just a little longer before I age and become irrelevant in the assessment of men. Sexism is the worst disease that ever affected humanity (Ronai, Zsembik, & Feagin, 2014).
My perception of sexism borders on negative descriptions. First, sexism is a poor culture that promotes no social fabric in the coexistence between men and women. As Fox and Tang (2016) reiterate, men and women have existed and cooperated since creation. The two are mutually inclusive and any efforts to isolate one by subordination can only be termed archaic. Considering the number of women in the world’s current workforce, sexism is a sure way to limit the talent pool as it blocks potential areas women can effectively contribute their talents for the betterment of the organizations. I express earnest abhorrence to the manner in which men have used misguided justifications from religious literature to oppress women. These concepts are not only demeaning but also perpetrating hidden abuse meant to frustrate women.
In conclusion, this essay has attempted an investigation of sexism. It is apparent that sexism is prevalent in many places in the world. The effects of sexism have great weight on the wellbeing of women who are the victims. Concepts such as gender roles, ageism, and sexism and gender socialization should be redefined without bias so that the place of women in the community can be established without prejudice. Done this way, the world would be a better place to integrate the talents of both men and women in a harmonious organization.
- Ronai, C. R., Zsembik, B. A., & Feagin, J. R. (2014). Everyday sexism in the third millennium. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Koepke, S., Eyssel, F., & Bohner, G. (2014). “She Deserved It” Effects of Sexism Norms, Type of Violence, and Victim’s Pre-Assault Behavior on Blame Attributions Toward Female Victims and Approval of the Aggressor’s Behavior. Violence against women, 20(4), 446- 464.
- Fox, J., & Tang, W. Y. (2014). Sexism in online video games: The role of conformity to masculine norms and social dominance orientation. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 314-320.