Sexism

727 Words2 Pages

We [women] are, as a sex, infinitely superior to men." Elizabeth Stanton (prominent woman suffragist) - (excerpted from One Woman, One Vote by Wheeler, pg. 58) "Frailty, thy name is woman." William Shakespeare - (excerpted from Hamlet, Act I, scene 2) This quote made by Stanton in 1890 shows many of the feministic beliefs held by the women of today. And the quote made by Shakespeare holds many of the same thoughts shared by men. The battle of the sexes is prevalent everywhere and is applicable to anything.

From athletics to the military, men and women struggle to beat the other, but I find it to be particularly found in the workplace. Men and women are extremely competitive with occupations, and men feel superior to women. They [men] know the statistics are more favorable to them and they would like to keep it that way. If this is true, then how do women and men share the world together without war between each other? I believe that for both sides to prevent this from occurring, they ignore many of the differences. Many women choose not to see the statistics or they do not care and accept that men are more successful than women are.

The story Tales Out of Medical School, written by Adriane Fugh- Berman, which is an account about a woman that chose not to ignore the differences that faced her, shows another side to the superficial harmony. Fugh-Berman faces sexism and discrimination at Georgetown Medical School where women are the minority. She sees the various examples of sexism from her anatomy instructors to the Academic Deans. There were classes that were only offered to men, and when she tried to change that the whole course was put on hold.

This of course caused extreme tension between the men and the women of this class. "Just because you can't take this course, why do you want to ruin it for the rest of us?" was one of the comments made by one of her male classmates. Subconsciously this man does not want this woman to succeed. Her classmates that are women and are not bothered by the sexism also shock her.

In reference to this a classmate stated, "Oh, they're just of the old school." (referring to the doctors that ignored the women students) This account shows the sad truth that some women are happy to accept sexism and discrimination.

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