My Two Cents

Entry #7- Sexism

I am an egalitarian. That means I believe that people's race, gender, nationality, etc do not determine their value as a person. For example, one person cannot be considered inferior to another person simply because they are a different race.

There are people on both sides of the "gender war" issue. There are those that think that women belong in the kitchen, and then there are those that think all men are evil pigs. I am happy to say that I am on neither side. I believe in gender equality. Gender equality does not mean making men and women be exactly the same. There are differences between men and women (biological differences, brain differences). No two of us are the same. In fact, equality in general does not mean that everyone has to be the same way. I think people often mistake equality for similarity.

Some people have comitted horrible crimes, and not everyone is born with the same opportunities. Unfortunately, some people are born with diseases, and some people are raised in poverty. Gender equality, in my view though, means that simply being a man does not make you inferior to women just because you're a man, and vice versa for women. Gender equality means that your personality and character determines your value as a human and how you are treated in society, not your gender.

I am a girl, but I am still different from other girls. Just like one boy is different from other boys. Am I still equal in terms of my value as a human being to other girls and boys? Yes.

In some countries, men and women are equal under the law. But both men and women still deal with stereotypes of what they need to act or be like. Let's talk about those.

#1- Guys

I'd like to say that I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to follow traditional gender roles. There is nothing wrong with being a feminine girl, or a masculine boy. A common misconception is that people who are fighting for less frigid gender roles think that boys should not do things that are traditionally masculine and girls should never do things that are feminine. This is not true.

If a girl wants to play with dolls and a boy wants to wear blue, that is awesome. If a woman wants to be a mother or a stay-at-home mom, that is totally cool. If a man wants to be strong or drive a truck, there is nothing wrong with that. This is important, because these days, if someone says that they want to be a stay at home mom or if a little girl wears pink, people immediately call it sexist and try to push those people to do other things.

Boys should not be pushed into certain activities or behaviors against their will to further someone's agenda. In fact, shaming or putting down boys who do like more masculine things is the absolute wrong way to go about anything.

But a boy who naturally likes more feminine things should not be considered wrong or disgusting.

When a girl likes more masculine things, other people are okay with it or even encourage it. When a boy likes more feminine things or behaves in a feminine way, though, people are definitely not so quick to be accepting of it.

We automatically assume that men are incapable of doing things like taking care of children or cooking. When a woman likes being around young children, it's sweet. When a man likes young children, he's a "creep" or a "predator". If a man wants to be a stay at home dad, he's seen as a loser or deadbeat. Only 2 percent of men are preschool teachers in America. Many men have said that they feel excluded when it comes to jobs that require interacting with kids.

More people often expect that men should be 'tough' and never show emotion, if they experience it. As a result, men are stereotyped as incompetent, emotionally unintelligent buffoons who are insensitive and don't understand anything. They are also stereotyped as hormone crazed machines and animals who can't control themselves.