Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Sexism is discrimination on the basis of sex and/or gender. It occurs at various levels, from the individual to the institutional, and involves practices that promote gender-based prejudice and stereotyping of social roles. Most commonly, sexism refers to inequalities that exist among men and women, particularly where women are treated as unequal or inferior to men. Like other forms of discrimination, sexism can occur through blatant or covert actions, including outright displays of hatred or disdain for an individual or group; the privileging of one gender over another; or tokenism, where, for example, a woman is hired only because she is a woman, rather than because of her skills and experience. How sexism plays out varies according to the social location of the individual or group involved, particularly in regard to racial, ethnic, class, sexual, and/or religious background. Beginning in the 1960s, sexism became a commonly used term by participants in second wave feminist movements in the US, Britain, Canada, and Europe and elsewhere. In the US, the National Organization for Women (NOW, co-founded by Betty Friedan) fought for an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which, had it passed, would have provided full equality to men and women under the law. Affirmative action policies (a type of positive discrimination) also became an important strategy for reversing historical gender inequalities. ... log in or subscribe to read full text