The Effects Of Sexism In Society

“Sexism is an oppression that is hard to avoid, as it is difficult to rid ourselves of the social institutions of gender that we have been taught at a very young age (“Sexism in Society”).”

The discrimination of a person based on their sex has always been prevalent in society, and even though both genders can be affected by sexism, it is typically associated with females. Throughout history, women have been expected to avoid competing with men in regards to education, employment, politics, and the media. In the past, higher education was not recognized as important for women since men thought that intelligence was not necessary for tasks like child-bearing and housework. “The (male) president of all-female Radcliffe celebrated the beginning of every school year by telling the freshmen that their college education would 'prepare them to be splendid wives and mothers and their reward might be to marry Harvard men ' (Collins 57).” If a woman were to

The best way to have a career in politics was to obtain a law degree, but only one woman had a law degree by the middle of the nineteenth century. Of the few women who actually were involved in politics, most of them had married a man in a position of power and eventually succeeded them after their husband 's death. Men did not want these women to have a place in the government because they thought females were too emotional and unable to make decisions. Therefore, females were not included in choosing who came into power for a long time. Even when women did gain the right to vote, men believed that that they would vote in favor of changes involving child care and education instead of voting based on class and ethnicity like men did. Many women rarely voted for their own gender because they assumed family obligations would restrict their ability to focus, and since power was portrayed as masculine, men controlling the government was