Are you sexist?

[Orrex]

Poll question: Are you sexist?

Come on--I fessed up!

[Burma Jones]

1. I use the term douchebag sometimes.......

I imagine that, somewhere, someone would call me sexist for breathing and having a penis......Otherwise, I don't think I'm sexist.

[Sweet Freedom]

5. You have a penis AND you breathe!!

You pig. :)

[Burma Jones]

6. I did have a vasectomy yesterday.......

does that help?

[Orrex]

9. I was about to say "it couldn't hurt," but now I'm not so sure

I know that they use anasthetic, but it still gives me a twinge just thinking about it...

[Burma Jones]

15. not hurting now

matter of fact, the whole thing was painless. I did follow directions to a tee.

[Nobody]

24. I'm glad it went well for you n/t

[Captain Hilts]

13. Gone from the utility model to the sportin' model, eh? nt

[Burma Jones]

16. mid-life crisis you know......

[Sweet Freedom]

17. Stop coming on to me!!!!!

you pig! :)

[OneBlueSky]

2. it's virtually impossible for a male raised in this country not to have at least some sexist . . .

attitudes in his makeup . . . what we have to do is be on the lookout for those attitudes, recognize them when they appear, and work to rid ourselves of them . . .

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. its impossible for anyone male or female to grow up in a sexist society

and not have some sexist ideas unless they have done a lot of hard work to get rid of it. (Reading feminist literature. womens studies classes. etc)

[benevolent dictator]

7. took the words out of my mouth. nt.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. thanks.

[Captain Hilts]

14. I agree. But some feminist lit IS sexist. nt

[Katherine Brengle]

21. It's not exactly sexist...

perhaps it is prejudiced in favor of women, but without power there is no sexism.

[Captain Hilts]

4. I have sexist thoughts, but I'm smart enough not to act on them. Size-ist and racsist too...

but, again, I don't act on those thoughts.

But I know I have different expectations for different groups of people. I'll admit it.

I HATE to hear anyone - espeically women - praise someone for "having balls."

I'm still surprised at how advertisers, schools, films, television...toward KIDS are still so sexist.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Toward KIDS?

What are you, ageist?

[Captain Hilts]

12. No, but studies say overweight people are the most discriminated in the workplace.

So, I think I must have some size issues with people since most people do.

But, again, I don't act on them, but they're there.

[Nobody]

25. I hate that phrase too

Ever notice how when people compare someone to pond scum, you often hear "Apologies to algae everywhere." But when someone says: He needs to grow a pair. Be a man. Cried like a little girl. And more from the sexist hit parade, they never once take back the implied insult to women. But they do with pond scum.

I'm trying to combat insults based on being female wherever I go. A success story.

I was at a hotel out of town several years ago and heard a teenage boy tell a teenage girl that she threw like a girl. This was a group of about 5 or 6 teens. Insults that imply that woman=inferior bother me and I spoke up. I said: "So she throws like a girl. I throw like a girl too, I hit what I aim at."

The girl's response: "You rock!"

As for having different expectations for different people, you should. We're all individuals and should be treated as such. What works for one person doesn't work for the next one. One girl told all her life she's never going to amount to much will give up and spend her life working minimum eage jobs, her sister who was told the same thing will work harder to prove everyone wrong. There are millions of steps between these extremes.

And then you get the kids whose parents encouraged one and not the other. Better hope the one not encouraged has a strong rebellious streak.

[damntexdem]

10. We all are.

In this racist society, all are brought up to be racist. In this sexist society, all are brought up to be sexist. What we can do is fight it.

[Nikia]

18. I admit that I am, but I am not sure if it is always wrong

For my own safety. For example, I have to know a man better than a woman who I would accept a ride from. If I am alone at night and walking down the street and see a group of teenage or young adult men, I get really nervous, but I don't get nervous if I see a group of women. I assume that a man is more likely to cause me physical harm than a woman. Am I wrong to feel this way? Should I actively try to overcome this?

[Katherine Brengle]

20. No, that's self preservation --

and I guarantee most if not all men would also be more wary of a group of men or one man than they would be of a group or women or one women.

[Captain Hilts]

27. Interesting observation! nt

[Katherine Brengle]

19. Answer not listed here:

Like someone posted in one of the racism threads, it's racism if the one exercising it has any potential power over those s/he is racist again. Therefore, it is difficult for a black person to be "racist" against whites (prejudiced, yes, but not racist). In order to actually discriminate, one needs more power than the person one is discriminating against.

In the same way, I think a woman might be prejudiced against men for any of a number of widely divergent reasons, but sexism only really exists where power is demonstrable, i.e., exercised BY men and against women. The balance of power in this country is still violently tipped toward men, even in 2007, and therefore men generally have more ability to actively practice discrimination.

[mongo]

22. Kind of a fine semantic line there

and I think it is just an excuse to behave badly and not be called "-ist".

Your definintion of sexism is much narrower than most of our dictionaries.

sex·ism
–noun
1. attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles.
2. discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex, as in restricted job opportunities; esp., such discrimination directed against women.

sex·ism (sěk'sĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.
2. Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sexism

[noamnety]

23. is refusing to get into an unknown man's car "behaving badly"?

If we don't get in the car, we're sexist. If we do get in, we're asking for it.

[mongo]

28. Getting into an unknown man's car is not very intelligent for either gender

and so is a white person walking around most of the S side of Chicago, even in broad daylight.

Does that make me a racist or a realist?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

26. I couldn't disagree more.

There are two massive mistakes here: firstly that prejudice on grounds of sex is only sexism if you have power over someone - which is simply untrue, and sophistry of the worst kind - and secondly that women never have power over men, which is utter nonsense.

Obviously, you can only sexually discriminate against someone you have some form of power over, but that's a far weaker claim.

Sexism is sexism, irregardless of who practices it. Saying "I don't have any power over you, so I can do what I want" is no excuse - would you regard it as acceptable for a man to be prejudiced against women he didn't have any power over (which is the vast majority of women)?

The majority of sexism is practiced by men against women, but by no means 100%.

[Quantess]

30. Intellectually you are correct...

But in real life, you just lost your bet. The house took your chips.

Every person's destiny in life is obviously individual. But being born a different gender, or a different skin color, people gonna treat you different. The way other people see you is a powerful thing. How fucking idiotic are you, you havent figured this out, yet?

Mr.Rankin, if you have bitterness leftover from a legal dispute, please don't blame all women. Most women are clueless idiots, as are most men. I sort of like the clueless idiots, since I am one, myself.

[Quantess]

29. What is the definition of "sexist".

People have a fairly good idea of what "racism" means, but what IS "sexism"?
It's the last frontier.
Seriously.