Are women sexist?

[SuperLuigi]

Yes.

Except for those who aren’t.

Are white Christians racist?

Never met one who was.

 

[Rhubarb]

The word man and sexist have become almost synonymous in our culture these days. Being a man has become disreputable and somehow suspect. I am wondering what the word “sexist” means and how it is used in “the culture” of today. Also, is it possible for women to be sexist?

No, they haven’t. No, it hasn’t. And yes, women can be sexist too. Women can be sexist against men. Women can be sexist against women. Men can be sexist against women. And men can be, and often are, sexist against other men.

 

[Shredderbeam]

The word man and sexist have become almost synonymous in our culture these days.

No they haven’t.

Being a man has become disreputable and somehow suspect.

No it hasn’t.

I am wondering what the word “sexist” means and how it is used in “the culture” of today. Also, is it possible for women to be sexist?

I’m sure you know that “sexist” means, and I’m sure you know it’s possible for women to be sexist.

 

[Lea101]

I’m sure you know your answer, and that you are asking this because you do feel that women are sexist…

If you view sexism as more than just prejudice…if you only look at the conflict theory, some could say women are not sexist in a number of societies because they have less institutional power and The Man is trying to keep it that way. This definition is usually used by the left (which is why they say stuff like say a woman can’t be a sexist, but she can be prejudiced) as they focus on changing institutions as opposed to just attitudes.

It’s just a different way of looking at it but I feel it makes sexist women feel better since their behavior would go unchecked, and the pendulum will keep swinging back and forth.

 

[Sarcelle]

The most misogynistic people I have met were mostly women.

Just like the most anti-Catholic people I have met were cradle Catholics.

I guess familiarity does breed contempt.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

I think the question is flawed, if you think anyone who ever said or did something “sexist” should irredeemably be branded as one, then I’m sure EVERYONE is sexist. I confess to laughing when a woman referred to her husband as “my biggest kid” and technically that is “sexist”, right?

There is also a difference between a belief that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money, and that role should be respected and appreciated because she does more to benefit society than any paid work ever can” and a belief that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money, and that role should be denigrated as requires no skills and is something anyone can do, unlike men who are meant to be movers and shakers and power-brokers in society”.

I actually don’t agree with the premise that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money” but I don’t think that belief itself is sexist. If it is used to justify denigrating women and seeing them to be not as smart or skilled as men, that I think would be sexist.

 

[DarkLight]

I think the question is flawed, if you think anyone who ever said or did something “sexist” should irredeemably be branded as one, then I’m sure EVERYONE is sexist. I confess to laughing when a woman referred to her husband as “my biggest kid” and technically that is “sexist”, right?

There is also a difference between a belief that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money, and that role should be respected and appreciated because she does more to benefit society than any paid work ever can” and a belief that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money, and that role should be denigrated as requires no skills and is something anyone can do, unlike men who are meant to be movers and shakers and power-brokers in society”.

I actually don’t agree with the premise that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money” but I don’t think that belief itself is sexist. If it is used to justify denigrating women and seeing them to be not as smart or skilled as men, that I think would be sexist.

The difficulty there is you can have sexist effects from things like the latter statement.

I grew up with something very similar. The end result for me was that I was very good at understanding theology, and very interested in it - but I wasn’t allowed to be taught it because it wasn’t in line with being a homemaker. At the schools my friends went to women weren’t even allowed to take theology classes because it was against “God’s design” for women.

 

[Lea101]

I think the question is flawed, if you think anyone who ever said or did something “sexist” should irredeemably be branded as one, then I’m sure EVERYONE is sexist. I confess to laughing when a woman referred to her husband as “my biggest kid” and technically that is “sexist”, right?

There is also a difference between a belief that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money, and that role should be respected and appreciated because she does more to benefit society than any paid work ever can” and a belief that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money, and that role should be denigrated as requires no skills and is something anyone can do, unlike men who are meant to be movers and shakers and power-brokers in society”.

I actually don’t agree with the premise that “God designed women to be wives and mothers, not to work for money” but I don’t think that belief itself is sexist. If it is used to justify denigrating women and seeing them to be not as smart or skilled as men, that I think would be sexist.

dang, i should have read this first. I just made a thread discussing the same sentiment (there is a difference, technically, according to academia. it’s benevolent vs hostile. was curious to see if people even believe in that)

anyway imo i feel like the former statement is still sexist because first of all, that person is trying to speak for God, and that statement implies that’s the only option for women (you can be a mom and work, and you don’t even have to be married in the first place).

The latter statement also implies rather rigid roles. There are awesome men who are SAHDs. i could pick this apart all day but yeah, it’s not really on topic, I apologize.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

The difficulty there is you can have sexist effects from things like the latter statement.

I grew up with something very similar. The end result for me was that I was very good at understanding theology, and very interested in it - but I wasn’t allowed to be taught it because it wasn’t in line with being a homemaker. At the schools my friends went to women weren’t even allowed to take theology classes because it was against “God’s design” for women.

I think this belief will result in sexist consequences much, even most of the time, but that doesn’t make the belief itself sexist. As many who believe this will state, “So do you think it’s sexist that God didn’t give men the gift of bearing children?”

However, I do recall asking a strict “complementarian” once, that if women working for pay was against “God’s design” then why are many women capable of having successful careers, and asked if they thought the Devil had granted women those capabilities, as a way to denigrate God’s creation.

Of course my question was dismissed as “ridiculous”.

There’s also the belief that women are not meant to be sexual beings at all, but only to serve the sexual needs of men. Sadly, I do think that the veneration given to the Virgin Mary does predispose some (though certainly not all) Catholics to assume this is the case.

This of course results in sexual double standards being justified because men who commit sexual sin are only guilty of abusing “their God given nature” and their sins are assumed to be sins of passion that can be easily forgiven.

But if a woman commits sexual sin, are not only guilty of abusing “their God given nature” but of actively going against their “God given nature”, so the sin is essentially just as bad as someone going against their “God given nature” to commit homosexual acts.

And since women are not actually sexual beings, then their sins are assumed to be sins of premeditation, of cold calculation to corrupt the men around them.

Then of course there are the “pragmatic reasons” for women being chaste that supposedly don’t apply to men. I recall an Arthur De Moss pro-abstinence commercial in the 1990s that featured a teenage single mother cautioning others to “not make the same mistake I did” because she wound up being abandoned by the father, dropping out of school, etc.

I recall many teenage girls asking incredulously, "What about the boy who got her pregnant and left her? It’s okay that he did that? Why isn’t she suing for child support? " And asking why there were no pro-abstinence commercials aimed at boys.

 

[Lea101]

The difficulty there is you can have sexist effects from things like the latter statement.

I grew up with something very similar. The end result for me was that I was very good at understanding theology, and very interested in it - but I wasn’t allowed to be taught it because it wasn’t in line with being a homemaker. At the schools my friends went to women weren’t even allowed to take theology classes because it was against “God’s design” for women.

Yikes I’m thankful to be in an environment where girls have no excuse to not be intelligent The Asian mindset overpowers the weird sexism they tend to have sometimes.

We are expected to ‘have it all’, or at least from my experience with the people around me. My family do not care for my vocation, thankfully.

 

[Sarcelle]

Yikes I’m thankful to be in an environment where girls have no excuse to not be intelligent The Asian mindset overpowers the weird sexism they tend to have sometimes.

We are expected to ‘have it all’, or at least from my experience with the people around me. My family do not care for my vocation, thankfully.

As a fellow Asian, I also noticed that Asians, unlike Westerners, have no problem with women studying STEM fields although they believe that women in general are lesser in value than men.

This not only applies to East and South Asians but Middle Eastern Asians as well.

 

[Ontheway]

As a fellow Asian, I also noticed that Asians, unlike Westerners, have no problem with women studying STEM fields although they believe that women in general are lesser in value than men.

This not only applies to East and South Asians but Middle Eastern Asians as well.

It is not clear who is opposed to women studying STEM fields. Being in the general are of education, I see a great push to promote STEM fields to women. There are special programs, promotional campaigns, scholarships, summer camps, just to get women interested in these fields. I am not sure where the resistance to this idea resides.