Overview: In our society we have expectations. Whether you reign from North America, Europe, or Asia, society established how people should behave and how a person should act. Among these expectations are expectations of men and women. Is culture causing sexism?

Opening Statement:
In various cultures, such as the Chinese and European culture, men and women are given an established role as well as ideal occupations. Because of this, it is evident that cultural influence contributed to society's expectations of men and women differently; even to the extent of discrimination.

Argument:
As much as I hate to admit this, my own cultural background is an example of female discrimination. To the traditional Chinese culture, the male and female of the family are given different roles. The men are to support the family and expand the family (And the family name) by finding a wife to marry and have children while the female is to take care of the children and the family. Although this may appear normal to some (Or many) of you, as a result of these expectations, the Chinese commonly hoped for their unborn children to be male. In fact, there are even instances in which baby girls are abandoned soon after birth because of the fact she is a female (It is actually quite common). As you can see, it is almost as though a human must die only because of gender, because of how society views women. Also, this did not occur in just one area of China, but in many areas of China; as a result, lots of baby girls die or end up in an orphanage if she's lucky. In addition, because people prefer to have a baby boy over a baby girl, couples would actually go to a person to "predict" the gender of the baby during Ancient China. But, it is not the Chinese culture that downgrades women because it is evident in other parts of the world.

Another example of women having an established role as an inferior is the American and European culture. In both of these cultures, it is evident that women were not seen a an ideal person in the work force in the past. Commonly, women were paid lower fees than men. But, the main source of discrimination against women in these society is the ideal role of women in a "perfect family" as a housewife. I am not saying that being a housewife is necessarily bad, but the result of the concept of a woman being a housewife is that the stereotype of a caretaker is a woman; a housewife. Another perfect example would be during World War I. Only men were allowed to fight in wars for America, so the workforce greatly collapsed because of the absence of men. BUT, the workforce was saved by women because women had to take over the role of the provider and had to work. This situation shows that it is evident that many women were not working, but instead, housewives that had to work during World War I to feed their family because their husbands are at war. However, even though the fact that women are commonly housewives is insignificant, if you observe society's put downs today, they can be traced to the stereotypes of women. For example, the b-word means female dog. BUT, there are other insults that I noticed that boys commonly use, such as "wuss", "p***y", and "girl". Notice a common trend? Now add the b-word to that list. Once again, we see that the female role is being used as an insult because society deemed us as an inferior. Although we (Society) may not have intended this to happen, it is likely that culture played a big role in the cause of accidental female discrimination. Another example would be Middle-Eastern culture. It is AGAINST the law for a woman to even leave the house without being escorted by a man; another sign of women as an inferior. In fact, this can even tie into homophobia because of the insult "g ay". I can not say for other areas, but based on how my peers interact, only boys use "g ay" as an insult. But, they usually use it the same was as the b-word or the other examples I provided. Once again, the stereotypical image of a g ay man is a feminine man, which is used to put down people.

Closing Statement:
Humans come in two genders; male and female. The biological concept of having a male and a female is the ability to reproduce. Without one of the two, life can not exist. But, society establishes that one role is more important than the other. However, if one role were to vanish, the human race will cease to exist. One gender is just as important as the other, but various cultures question otherwise. As a result, we live in a sexist society that sees women as an inferior when the truth is that there is no superior or inferior; just two different kinds of humans with different reproductive organs in order to reproduce.

I answer yes. Culture is partly responsible of causing sexism, and America is no exception to this.
Why? Because of the expectations and "roles" they design depending on the gender. Which might be correct to a point (yes, mothers are women only); but not correct enough to stereotype.

This problem of sexism can be traced from the beginnings of human history, and there is more than enough proof to prove that. Did you know that the french language is misogynist? [hate or despise of women, or anything feminine].

I'm against any form of sexism, and I admit it's hard to hold at all times that point of view, due to culture and society "expecting" me to think a way that perceives women as inferior, said, of course; in an indirect way.
I believe that's one of the reasons of why fighting sexism is hard, since it has been that way for so much time.
I heard about the work force during WWI in my history class, that was one of the first steps for women to get recognized by men, and themselves.

I noticed a paradox in this issue of sexism. I'll quote Rie:

If it's women who take care of the children, children which will do the same as their parents did; why is it that the process repeats if women are the ones raising the children? Do they raise children with the mentality: Man, work; Woman, house? Does that mean that women acknowledge false inferiority? Why won't they raise their children to stop that discrimination? Is it because they were taught that way? WHO is going to end that trend?
Meaning yes, women are partly at fault as well.

Nevertheless, women and men have fought to stop sexism, and there's still a lot left to fight. Mary Wollstonecraft, Virgina Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir; examples of women who have fought for the women rights.

It's not just about reproducing or just keeping women for humanity to live on; women are as capable as men are, and sometimes even more capable. Sure, we are different, all humans are different and unique. But that doesn't make anyone inferior or superior than another person.
And no, equality of genders is not an utopia, it's a reality.

I'm impressed Skyler and you're a man too. (He really is, steal him before he's gone o:)

I grew up with this stereotype as well but I was always such a strange child and thought outside of the box, I would look up at the sky and wonder what's my purpose here and decided where ever life takes me, I'll do what I want as a person not as a woman (I played mostly with boys).

I did not want to be supported by a man, nor do I still do. It's funny this topic came up today, just a few minutes ago my mother was arguing with me about my relationship with my fiancé, she told me that I should stop being hard headed and follow the man and that she followed my dad where ever he went which eventually lead to a divorce because he was at work all the time while she was at home with the kids. My fiancé and I are having a long distance issue, who’s to move here or there… Right now I could really use him here because of my illness but he still pushes me to live with him for awhile in his mommy’s house where no one is home most of the time. I told him that I don’t want to be a like a puppy and wait for him to come home from work when I have nowhere to go or have friends to meet (as I have an illness); at least in my town I have my family as friends.

Another thing that we decided on is that he will change his last name to mine, we agreed upon it because simply my last name is rarer and he already has a big family to carry on the name when it’s just my sister and me. When I told everyone, they said with a gasp, “YOU CAN’T DO THAT! IT’LL COST MORE MONEY BLAH DE BLAH DE BLAH.” But how exactly does it make it harder for the man to change his last name than a woman’s. Even now, he is reluctant to change because of society and he doesn’t want to be seen as ‘whipped’ but we may just have to compromise. We also agreed that we would both do the cooking (if I am even able to do so).

I’m kind of stuck in a hard position right now because I am sick to the point there isn’t much I can do anymore although I am hoping it’s something I’ll grow out of soon, I may just end up working at home mostly or invest in a business of my own. I want our relationship to be compromised, I don’t want to be supported by a man, I want us to support each other. As of now I’ve planned to have a girl and I will make sure she is taught differently than the common tradition but also taught with choices… and no BRATZ Dolls Allowed!

Sometimes I put on this act like I’m the miss with my fan boys but in reality; you should be treated as a person, not as your gender. Although there will always be exceptions where woman prefer this and men prefer that. I like to be cute and feminine but I can also like the things that men mostly like and I think this is another reason why I grew up thinking gender discrimination should be excluded.
I’ve seen gender testing where women have observed the smaller details more than the men and women can handle multitasking at best, but like said we are all different as a person and I’ve seen a man take on the traditional housewife job just fine. (My mom is really bad at multitasking by the way xD)

If you're looking for an answer to the question in your topic, then yes, of course... kind of a pointless question.

Anyway, my take on sexism. Yes, it is obviously around no matter how much people deny it, but imo, in North America, it's not particularly that strong. It doesn't go much farther than jokes. Ladies, please don't take offense to this, but I think those feminists are really overreacting and overdramatizing the thing.

For example, what you said Rie, a gay guy is "bad" because he is feminine, so that implies it's bad being a girl, right? What about a girl being called a guy, doesn't that imply she is "brutish" or "ape-like". Females have negative views on guys too, we're uncivilized, barbaric and communicate through grunting.

Of course, I don't believe that females are incapable (then again, how many educated people in NA think that nowadays?), however, it is clear and obvious that there are more guys around that are athletic, stronger, etc. than girls. I don't think that's due to their gender, but more cause of the individual, and how society has brought them up to be. (For guys, you have to be strong, and for girls, you have to be pretty? lol. You know what I mean)

And that's what I think.

Heres the chip outta my mind about sexism though i do take a neutral part in this.


from what I know due to Race and Gender the world has become corrupt with the thing it very well tries to shield others from.

MALE STERIOTYPES
1. Only wants sex
2. Wants fancy cars
3. Only thinks about boobs
4. Dogs in some cases
5. Sometimes know as a muscle-bound idiot
6. Sometimes expected to support everything with no support of their own
7. Womanizer
8. Alcholic
9. Sports fan

Trust me i have more but will only list a few to make a short post


FEMALE STERIOTYPES

1. Baby maker
2. Blond women
3. W****e/ Prostitute
4. money Grubber
5. Only cares about clothes
6. Marry a rich man to take care of them
7. Devils (decribed in may points of religion)
8. Only there for sex
9. Homebound Man Slave (housewife)
10. Entertainment ( Geishas, Dancers, Strippers, Models ect.)


My view is that on both sides men and women are equals, though there are biological diffrences between the two and Men will never understand the Pain of childbirth, nor will Women fully understand the pain of being hit in the groin. On to another issure about the housewife remark: I have seen men become stay at home fathers and take care of the house while the woman go out to work. Though as Skyler why not raise our children to avoid such a treat meant as Men: Work Women: Home, This is mostly not due to the way you raise your children the enviroment as well as the literature and televison they watch is a major part as well, from the time a child can understand what is going on in cartoons you may or may not notice that they portray women(such as in Dexter's Labrotory) as housebound and to take care of the house and children as the Men work and support the family with his income. Another instance is Family Guy Peter: Work Louis: Home.


Another thing is as Emile said "no BRATZ Dolls Allowed!" this too is another why of cultural adjustment by goverments, and Corporations to exploit things just to make a quick buck By Mocking a race or gender though you may not fully see it, it is there. Its just not a matter of raiseing you children but rather elightning them on how to treat a Man/Woman properly.

Another note is how women are used a puppets to lure men into spending money just for a sex appeal
Ex: Commeral Wrestling, Boxing (card girl) Beer Bottles( thats if you have noticed or not)

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say that women are just puppets but the exploition of the Female body is a big factor in the world as a whole. Along with Male propaganda(think i spelled it wrong but you know what i mean)


Wow this post is alot longer that it was intended to be but you now can see some of my views on this subject

o___o Good point Skyler, I never thought of it that way. Indeed, it is probably (If not, likely) that women are also a contributor to the stereotype of being a housewife because housewives could teach their children a different view from the stereotypical view on men and women, but there is the other issue of whether this can be achieved world-wide. :D Sorry for using you as an example but... Observe this quote:

(So tempted to fix the grammar in this, but that would not make it a quote :D)

Anyways... This is an example of how many people might view those who try to empower women to pursue careers and have a life beyond being a housewife. If you trace through various parts of history, "feminists" have been considered insane, overreacting, etc. But, this is evident in more than just opinions about equality. Even those who pursued careers also faced sexism in their careers. For example, Barbra McClintock is cytogeneticist from America that faced sexism among her fellow peers (Researchers/Scientists). McClintock is known for discovering the mobile genetic element" from her research on corn. Yes, she won a Nobel Prize for her discovery, but her findings were rejected because of the fact she was female. Some people even claimed that she is emotionally unstable and hallucinating because she was on menopause. If that is not sexist, then I don't know what is. And McClintock is not the only one in the field of science who faced discrimination. Others, such as Rosalind Franklin, dealt with sexism among the community of science; it is not simply an issue of teaching people to see men and women as equals, but rather the standard that is already developed. Even if there are parents (Which there are) and role models that try to teach people that men and women are equals, the concept of a "superior" and "inferior" gender is already established and it is unrealistic that all of a sudden, everyone would agree to this. And this issue is indeed a problem in North America too, and even world-wide. As Emi pointed out earlier, there are excuses of a "role model" that lots of people look up to. For example, Emi pointed out earlier that Bratz is an example of bad influence. If you haven't noticed, Bratz dolls dress rather provocative in such a way that suggests that women should dress "sexy". BUT, the issue with exploitation of the "sexy" image is that girls LEARN from these dolls. True, it is not supporting the stereotype of the housewife, but it certainly supports the stereotype of women as the b-word that serves as eye-candy for men. And while we're on the topic of "eye-candy for men", even various "music" (I'll be frank, most of the popular music in North America doesn't even fit the definition of music because it is monotone and does not have a variety to notes) artists sing about women in a shameful manner. Examples would include:

"Move, b-word, get out the way, get out the way b-word, get out the way."
"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard"
“I have a bunch of money – you will be having sex with me tonight."
(And the list can go on, but I don't listen to such music and had to research these lyrics >___>)

Also, many music videos use "sexy" women to sell the music video with their figures. True, these women chose to be in the video, BUT the very fact that they're on the video to be "touched" in an non-modest manner shows that women are even reduced to a role of "eye-candy" and "pleasure" for men; If anything, I'll quote from a rough song translation that shows how I feel about this:



Thus, it is indeed a huge issue in the United States; in fact, it is a world wide issue. Once again, this can all be tied to how most people are raised to believe; which is from our parents who is raised by generations before them. These generations trace back to one fundamental concept; the cultural beliefs.

You're picking the extremes in NA for your examples (about the scientists). And by overreacting, I mean things such as the example which you did not respond to in my previous post.

"Omg, he called that boy girly, this clearly shows what guys think of girls."

One thing that really annoys me about you guys is that you are extremely aggressive. You take the slightest thing as a sign of offense. For example, that little quote with me complaining how you feminists overreact seem to tick you off.

Nowai. >_o She's not overreacting; neither any of us is.
Let's not take into consideration your sudden personal attack against Rie, shall we? :D (Whom only stated facts and an assertive opinion o_o)

I have to say those jokes that you mentioned shouldn't be taken lightly.
Alright.. That's your opinion. =/

Sexism is not just about women treated as prostitutes or eye-candie, or about women being forced to work as housewife, without having a say. It's about leading a lifestyle with a particular way of thinking: that women are inferior and men superior. x: (It could be the opposite though. o_O)
Nope. I'm not exaggerating at all. I can tell because of experience.

I have a dysfunctional family and I have analyzed several times the root of the problem. I got to the conclusion that one of the reasons for it was because of the male chauvinism and sexist way of thinking in which my father was raised, imposed to hold. o_o
My father believes that, as "head" of the family, his word is final, and everything he says or thinks is undoubtedly correct; in spite of what the rest of my family says. (I'm not going to explain with examples, just the general thing).
His father (in other words, my grandfather), was waaaay worse than he is. Oh but guess what? We are not allowed to judge them or say that they wrong. Because "it's how they are". e___e;

It was (or is.. no idea o_o) considered "normal" that the man was allowed to cheat on her wife, and have as many lovers as he wished! But if it was the woman doing it .... Noooooo! Impossible! How could that ever be? Unthinkable! Preposterous? XD (Yah, I'm not saying that it's okay to do that but look at the reactions coming from the society. =/)

There are WORSE cases than mine, and heey guess what? Mexico is part of north america. ~__~

I know what Rie means. XD Most trendy music from my city (and country o_O) are songs with themes with lines similar to what she posted lol. I find them disgusting. >>;

Anyway... needauser, I'm trying to stay as impersonal as possible from your comments but I'll just warn you... Be careful with what you say. ^^;

xD I guess I forgot to add that part in my argument. The reason why I mentioned these kinds of insults is that it shows how double standard society has become as a result of culture. An example of double standard is compliments. Although I find it rather stupid, I hear people commonly refer someone that is brave to have "balls"; a reference to the male reproductive organ, testes. But, compliments rarely, if ever, uses feminism as a compliment; the only one I've heard of being "You go girl!". References to the male gender being a compliment, on the other hand, is much more frequent. Examples include:

1) You're the man! (Which is an equivalent to You go girl!, I guess o_o)
2) You have "balls".
3) "Alpha Male"

Now, as for the "double-edged sword" dilemma:
True, some girls may use terms that suggests masculinity as an insult, BUT if you observe general society, this is uncommon. If it were common, then the b-word would NOT be the common first response among idiots being insulted or as a first word used to insult someone. In addition, the b-word is used towards BOTH genders, which also suggests that females even see their own gender as an inferior in a technical manner. (Thus, it is not just males that use the female gender as an insult, which is what I believe you are trying to imply) Yet, we do not see any insults suggesting masculinity that would offend males and females. A logical explanation is, once again, the development of the ideal concept of a superior and inferior gender. I apologize if my style of debating and supporting my argument appears aggressive, my intentions is not to attack you or your beliefs. But what did tick me off though is the fact that my examples are considered "useless" because of the fact they are "extremes". The reason why these "extremes" are chosen is to relate to well-known figures. (Or at least I think people should know them because Franklin is the actual founder of the DNA Double Helix pattern and McClintock is a nobel prize winner.) But, there is even sexism among "normal" people. For example, let's use the Maury Povich show. Commonly, there are men who are brought to the show because they abuse their wives and girlfriends. Yet, statistically speaking, MEN are more common to face domestic violence, not women, but the general public gets the impression that women face this issue more common. Then why do they specifically talk about men beating up wives? Because that's the enforced stereotype. Also, keep in mind that this is not an extreme because domestic violence, as much as I hate to say it, occurs every 15 seconds, not an extreme. Yes, I acknowledge the fact that males are also discriminated, but at the same time though, they are commonly discriminated BECAUSE of the developed standard of a male to be a "superior" figure; this is how female and male discrimination differ. Female discrimination is commonly due to the result of family/cultural background teaching how a male and female have to act. Discrimination against a male, on the other hand, is usually caused by family/cultural background's expectations of a male to live up to the status of what the common beliefs of a male's job; a family provider, the financial support, the one with a career. But, sexism isn't merely seen by occupation; it is how society views the gender. Whether it is intentional or not does not change the fact it is sexism because t reflects how we are raised, what we are taught to believe, and what is right and wrong. Through evidence, I have approached this question to support my beliefs, which is why my opinions are like this regarding the topic. This is why I believe that statements that were revamped to something like as a way of claiming an analysis as overreacting a hypocrisy because there is no evidence support to suggest WHY it is invalid.

To clear things up, I do agree with your points but I will continue to go against them just to keep discussion up. (Although I have nothing to say atm)

And one minor request, could everyone please try to condense your posts?

I would prefer if the length of our posts stayed the same.
That's what I would like but everyone is free to type as much as they want to.
If you want discuss about that, we will have to create another thread!

There are fundamental differences between male and females and for this reason they will always be treated in a slightly different manner regardless of culture. Ignoring the obvious differences in sexual organs women are weaker (physically) than men. It is this reason why women are often treated in an inferior manner and this sort of attitude is displayed across the globe.

The traditional roles of man and women is such that men are often the bread winners for the family while the woman is the housekeeper/child bearer and carer for the children. And while this may not be sexist (having different roles does not necessarily mean inequality) the next point does lead to gender inequality. In many cultures it is the men who will carry on the family name so this automatically gives the man a greater significance. This is particularly true in places like China/India and Japan where the family name and heritage carries a greater significance. As a result women are almost treated like second class citizens and there are often stories (in the past) of baby girls being abandoned on the streets in China and India. To this day there are significant discrepancies between men and women and it is not uncommon to have regions where men outnumber women i.e. for every 100 women there is 120 men. A sure sign that some women are simply abandoned.

Then again that's not to say European countries are exempt from sexism either. When a woman married she changed her surname to that of her husband. In doing so she was no longer part of her family (while the man was). As a result of this she had to remain faithful to her husband as he was the sole provider for her and it was not possible for her to earn income as job opportunities for married women were almost non-existent. As a result she was entirely dependant on her husband providing for her, which ultimately leads to a unequal relationship. Obviously things have improved in the past century but still, it is not equal. No country in the world, at least none of the main industrialised countries can claim women get paid equally for the same job. In every country women get paid less. Furthermore there is often a glass ceiling that prevents women from obtaining the top positions in society e.g. there are very few female presidents, prime minsters etc. And while this glass ceiling is slowly diminishing it is still there and we have a some way to go before we can honestly say women are equal to men.