Sexism Against Women

Today many are under the impression that sexism is no longer that big of an issue. Many will bring up advancements in women’s rights such as the Violence Against Women Act legally protecting women from abuse or how in 2009 President Obama gave women the opportunity to file a complaint about pay discrimination (Imbornoni 2013). While it is true that there have been many advancements in gender equality, discrimination against women is still prevalent in American culture. Sexism is all around us in many forms; whether it be in blatantly offensive discrimination in the workplace or casual comments that come off as harmless yet questionable. In 2015, it is still completely clear that the United States has not conquered sexism. It is especially clear

Sexism in entertainment is unfortunately spread all throughout it in terms of wage and even on the red carpet. Academy Award-winning actor Sandra Bullock spoke to Variety about her experiences in Hollywood: “I always make a joke: ‘Watch, we’re going to walk down the red carpet, I’m going to be asked about my dress and my hair while the man standing next to me will be asked about his performance and political issues’” (Setoodeh 2015). Unfortunately, it is no surprise at this point that well-established women are only questioned about their appearances before the start of award shows. Changing the channel to literally any live video of the red carpet interviews still proves that today. Inequality is seen in many other less publicized work places as

All women have experienced it, even if they are not fully aware of it. Benevolent sexism is a form of sexism that casts women as the weaker sex and in need of protection or help of men. BS is seen in many situations where a man believes a woman is not capable of doing an action herself, such as computer issues or lifting heavy items. While these actions in and of themselves are not necessarily harmful towards women, they reinforce gender roles by subtly implying that women are weak and unable to do such things themselves. (Fiske and Glick 2011)
Benevolent sexism seems harmless, but it is a lot darker than it seems; it actually is directly correlated with hostile sexism (HS) which is a full-on negative view of women. In an article I read, the repercussions of BS is discussed in depth,
“BS was the carrot aimed at enticing women to enact traditional roles and HS was the stick used to punish them when they resisted. […] BS does not represent sympathy for the underdog stemming from a contemporary sense of fair play. Rather it is a fundamentally antiegalitarian, gender-traditional attitude.” (Fiske and Glick 2011)
These casually sexist attitudes towards women are, in reality, harmful toward the view of women’s role in society. With these views reinforcing gender roles, it holds women back from feeling safe enough to break free from such a constricting