Socialized sexism
Socialized sexismRunning Head: SOCIALIZED SEXISM
Abstract
This paper asserts that sexism in America is socialized. Examples of sexism in America from a very young age to an old age are given to support the idea that sexism is engrained into American society in an endless loop of discrimination and harassment.
Socialized Sexism
Results of Yale University’s Implicit Assumption Test (IAT)
On the gender test I received a score of: “You have a moderate automatic preference between females and science.” That score places me in the 3% of those who have taken the test who believe the same as me. This number is alarming for many reasons. Not only does it display the perceived gender gap in the sciences and liberal arts, it can be applied to many jobs across America.
The family, education system, workplace, and media directly and indirectly socialize society to have deep-seated stereotypes and prejudices. The effects of these prejudices are often seen much later in life, where an employer or co-worker makes a harmful decision based on the gender of the applicant. It can also make a worker uncomfortable when confronted with a workplace dominated by the opposite gender.
The family is the first place that a child is subjected to sexism and the indirect domination of one gender over another. The first hint at a sexist difference is the bearer of the children. Children see their mom as a place where they can take comfort, be safe, be relaxed and soothed, and be protected. The father is seen as the person who goes off to work and provides for the family. He is also the child’s playmate, showing it the different types of gender specific toys. From the start, a child is indirectly socialized to see that men and women are different and that the mother is the care-taker of the family and the father earns the money. Later on in life, the child may carry out this indirect gender socialization by the way that he or she treats and expects to be treated by members of the opposite sex. Many people find a over-dominating women offensive, because the woman does not fit the description of their mother. Accepting a strong willed woman becomes difficult in our society because of the indirect socialization through our mothers. The way that children are supposed to act is also supported through the parents. When a little boy rushes home with tears in his eyes because of cut or scrape, the ill fated words, “Be brave, little boys are brave.”, will come out. If the same were to happen to a little girl, she would be cuddled and hugged and allowed to finish crying. This indirectly socializes children that boys are tough and girls aren’t. Boys aren’t allowed to cry, or show any emotion seen as negative by society. The...
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