Many, if not all, females can describe, in detail, acts of sexism they experience regularly whether it be street harassment from a passing car on what was supposed to be a calming walk or a rape joke made by a group of boys where you awkwardly laugh because it’s too scary to speak up. Sexism is everywhere, and while some may think it impacts all genders equally, it doesn’t, and the effects on women are extremely harmful.
The most subtle forms of sexism are the ones that are ingrained into society and the ways of thinking that parents and caregivers hold. Starting at age six girls stop thinking of themselves and women as really really smart (the term children associate with brilliance) and are less likely to play games that need a really really smart brain. Since many gatekeepers, the most prevalent figures in a young child’s life, often enforce gender stereotypes without even realizing it. Some parental figures, often the men, will encourage kids to play with gender-stereotypical toys, praising them when they do and scolding them when they don’t.
Additionally, gatekeepers are more likely to give children certain toys based on their gender; this means that girls are often given toys that stimulate roleplay as caregivers rather than science and math-related toys which encourage high academic and career goals. Young children are constantly observing and trying to make sense of the world around them; when kids are exposed continuously to gender as an important divisional concept, they will continue to grow with these ideals. These gender stereotypes ingrained in society have detrimental impacts on young girls. Further in life, they will be less likely to strive toward high academic achievements, and they will shy away from “harder”, more male-dominated careers, which “coincidentally” have a much higher pay.
Between the ages of 16 and 30, women will experience the most blatant forms of sexism. These incidents are frequent and occur in schools, streets, and even the home. Specifically in schools, blatant sexism from peers and teachers begins in grade school and continues for girls through college and into their careers. 66% of female students and 37% of male students have encountered sexist remarks being used in schools, 36% of female students have experienced discrimination on the basis of their gender versus 15% of male students. Many times, sexism, especially toward girls, can feel even more prevalent. Whether it be a joke or flat-out discrimination, sexism is everywhere, and it’s awkward for girls to combat and difficult for them to cope with.
Imagine you are in a harder math class, the majority of the students are male, and you’re just starting to be confident in your ability and feel like you’re taken seriously by your peers when a joke is made about how you should “go back to the kitchen” after you get a question wrong. This is something almost every woman has experienced in one way or another, and it’s hard to know how to respond; if you don’t laugh, you’re overly sensitive; if you say something back, you’re a buzz-kill and rude, and if you laugh, along you inadvertently say that this behavior is ok. It’s an impossible limbo and one that creates lots of anger women are told they can’t express because it’s an “unfeminine” emotion, leaving women feeling powerless.
In addition to the uncomfortable moments after sexist comments and actions, repeatedly being exposed to this behavior can drastically impact a person’s mental health. Student’s who experience sexism at school reported lesser life satisfaction, and school girls who are targets of sexism are likely to develop body dysmorphia and become increasingly ashamed of their appearance and less confident in their abilities.
The examples and impacts of sexism discussed in this article are only a fraction of what women deal with throughout their lives; if all of them were included, this would be a thick book in the back of a library, not an article. These accounts, statistics, and ideas need to be shared to everyone regardless of gender in order to make real and positive changes in all of society.
