Sexism Dead? (For Class: Not Mandatory)

I have often heard from the people I know that sexism is dead. I'll get to racism in the next post. Now, I'm going to admit that I am no feminist. But have to admit, on this issue, they are right. Sexism is all but dead. It is alive, well, and gone invisible.

By invisible, I do not mean that it is truly gone. What has happened, is that it has turned into a form that is not seen as an issue within our American culture. It has disappeared behind the curtains of the norm. It is this norm that rules our views on gender issues.

The first and most obvious, is how we view the young mothers within our country. Right now, they are viewed as examples of why sex during the teenage years is awful, and how important abstinence education is. People, especially the religious right, view these young mothers as problems.

Let's forget, for a second, that this is a tilted view. Looking back, during early times, marriage came much earlier. During the teenage years. At that time, it was the young woman's duty to have children. Now, there are all sorts of wrong things that are going on with that view. But it does point out that, biologically, both sexes are ready for sexual activities during such years. It should come as no surprise that they do have sex. With birth control, it is no longer necessary for teenagers to have kids, but when these measures fail, the community should become supportive, instead of indignant.

Now taking on the tilted nature of the view itself. It is certainly strange that people look down on the mothers, but do not even consider the fathers. In our society, it seems the common view to encourage men to have sex, and women to be abstinent. This is obviously a system built to fail. What is worse, is that the men don't seem to be held to the same responsibility as the women. Why is it not the responsibility of the fathers to supply as much support for the children? It all seems to go back to the religious view that women are the root of sin, and thus they are seen as the responsible party for such "societal evils" such as young pregnancies. Instead of building families, this view destroys lives.

Another slanted view that destroys lives is the view of prostitution. While men can be prostitutes as well, it is a common view within our society that prostitutes are mostly women. While I do not specifically condone the practice of prostitution, because the sex slavery that hides behind it, I do not believe in blaming the women. If the US government is to make policies on the subject, though I believe such things should be left to the community to decide and not a few politicians in Washington, it should be targeting the men. People will always go into undesirable jobs do to economic pressure. It is, therefore, the most logical action to target those who actually have the most choice when participating: the patrons. However, because sexism is still present, this is not the policy that we currently have, and we are wasting tax money and police force patrolling areas, looking to attack prostitutes, instead of trying to make an actual difference. This goes back to the view that women are responsible for such "evil", instead of those who patronize, and thus create, the industry.

It is important to recognize that there are many forms of racism that still exist. It is often invisible to those who do not examine their views. It is the questioning of such views that is most important, as many barriers to people's happiness could be removed through an investigation of society.