My personal definition of sexism encompasses the practices of discrimination and stereotypes in relation to gender. The definition of the term sexism by Margaret W. Matlin (2012) is “bias against people on the basis gender” (pp. 4). Matlin also describes gender bias as the encompassment of “three issues: gender stereotypes, gender prejudice, and gender discrimination” (pp. 37). Stereotypes are ideas held towards certain groups of people, prejudice is a certain attitude held towards a group of people and, discrimination is a differential treatment of another group. My personal definition covers less bias. Matlin covers all three major biases based on gender while my definition only covers two specific areas, discrimination and stereotypes.
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Traditional sexism is very obvious and can often be picked out quickly. Modern sexism however is complicated and subtle. According to Matlin (2012) Modern sexism can makes it extremely difficult for a woman to be considered competent. Women are viewed less competently than men when qualifications aren’t specific, men tend to downgrade women, and women are viewed negatively when they act in a stereotypically masculine fashion (pp. 55). These views on competency and women are complicated and make very hard for a woman to be considered competent. On the other hand, while women aren’t viewed as very competent they are often thought of as pleasant unless they are also feminists, in which case they are rated lower on the scale of pleasantness than both men and women (pp. 56). The problem with modern sexism is that it is not uniform in either the like of dislike of women. In traditional sexism, at least the views are quite clear. In modern sexism, the views are intricate and display both a like and dislike of women. In other words, modern sexism is ambivalent (pp. 58). Modern sexism is hard to understand let alone counter, making it in my opinion more problematic than traditional
Traditional sexism is very obvious and can often be picked out quickly. Modern sexism however is complicated and subtle. According to Matlin (2012) Modern sexism can makes it extremely difficult for a woman to be considered competent. Women are viewed less competently than men when qualifications aren’t specific, men tend to downgrade women, and women are viewed negatively when they act in a stereotypically masculine fashion (pp. 55). These views on competency and women are complicated and make very hard for a woman to be considered competent. On the other hand, while women aren’t viewed as very competent they are often thought of as pleasant unless they are also feminists, in which case they are rated lower on the scale of pleasantness than both men and women (pp. 56). The problem with modern sexism is that it is not uniform in either the like of dislike of women. In traditional sexism, at least the views are quite clear. In modern sexism, the views are intricate and display both a like and dislike of women. In other words, modern sexism is ambivalent (pp. 58). Modern sexism is hard to understand let alone counter, making it in my opinion more problematic than traditional