Weakness is Not in My Nature!

           Specifically for the chapter this week I wanted to write on hostile and benevolent sexism. As a reminder, benevolent sexism centers on limiting the constitution of women through belittling their capabilities portraying one's sex as a defining characteristic of one's vulnerable and weak nature. This defense is used as a means for placing one on a pedestal believing women to be too sensitive and enslaved to their nature to protect and care for themselves. However, hostile sexism maintains sexual domination and exploitation of women by men. Although, these two types of sexism in form may seem to diverge on the continuum, as extremes on either end, one thing is certain each takes for granted the supposed "weak"nature of women and reacts in a way indicative of this weakness. Benevolent sexism, takes a very protective means of sexism due to this weakness, while hostile sexism merely takes advantage. Yet, both forms of sexism makes a faulty judgment that women somehow are flawed in their inherent design and are predisposed to be in some way weak or fragile because of their nature. This becomes a problem when we take these misguided beliefs into work and partner relationships, in which women are viewed as incapable of making decisions concerning the well-being of companies, corporations, and other forms of business creating institutional sexism that becomes ingrained within certain institutions of employment. Women, due to these practices, become concentrated in "pink collar" employment opportunities, in which they are paid less than men who also are within these fields, which continues to fuel these negative stereotypes of women and their contributions in the workplace. Also, concerning partner violence, in which men are disproportionately the offender, hostile sexism takes place in and outside the home in which a concentration of male power leads to beliefs that women should be controlled and exploited because their sex is weaker in comparison to men. Undoubtedly, this yet again misguided belief has led to many cases of intimate partner violence, in which women continue to be the victims and men the perpetrators. However, it has also led to numerous accounts of rape and sexual abuse experienced by women overall. When it is all said and done these beliefs and practices, which are not believed by all men nor practiced by all men, have been instilled in us from the day we were able to learn and model behaviors of our society. Its perplexing, who would have thought that one's genitalia, or the mere presence of a "Y"or extra "X" chromosome could make such a major difference in privilege and treatment in our culture.