The Sexist Divide - What society teaches us from birth

“She’s a girl. She can’t play with us.” The voice echoed in the basketball player’s mind. She slumped down in the locker room, cradling her ball to her chest. The day’s events replayed in her head, from school to the bus ride, to basketball practice. She bent her head over, small, painful tears running down her face. Her face burned when she thought about practice. Hugging the ball so tight it hurt, she wondered how she was going to face school tomorrow.

This isn’t fiction. This athlete is only one of many facing sexism in their sports. Even in a school like UWCSEA (east), the sexist divide is still evident even in today’s world. The above example is a minor one, one of many that build up and damage an adolescent’s self-esteem.

A good example of sexism in early ages is a Toys”r”Us store, or most other toy stores. Looking at one from a distance, you can tell the difference in each half of the store. Pink and purple for girls, and every other color for boys. Kids grow up with this thinking, if one thing is used by girls, it can’t be used by boys.

Studies show that 90% of “girls’ toys” are colored pink and purple, while “boys’ toys” come in every color except pink. Some companies are starting to change, such as the Nerf “Rebelle” line, but there is still a long way to go before achieving actual equality.

Another part of this sexism is the kind of toys kids play with. Girls get to play with pink colored baking kits and makeup kits, while there are robot and train building sets for boys. What does this say about women’s role in life?

“Women are still remarkably underrepresented in the U.S. Congress, in science, math, engineering and technology—in any area that could remotely be identified as “the upper echelons of power”—well, it starts in the toy aisle” says Nancy Kaffer, from The Daily Beast. Toys should be neutralized, according to experts, because girls and boys should not have to conform their interests to what society thinks is best.

Fast forward a few years, into middle school. Where kids shift from playing tag to sipping drinks around tables. Similarly to how society picks toys for kids, it sets the standards for your behavior, from your clothes to your activities.

Walking into the H&M Men’s section is strange, but acceptable for a girl. For boys though, it’s a little stranger. Boys just can’t wear dresses. Why is it we have this judgment of what girls and boys should wear?

A possible explanation for this could be that in the past, men were viewed as superior to women. A woman wearing clothes from the Men’s section is unconsciously viewed as stepping up to a man’s level. On the other hand, choosing to wear a dress is stepping down a level for a man.

“Nice shoes, but aren’t they a bit boyish?” Asked a friend of a middle school student at UWCSEA. The shoes were colored red.

“We’d made progress in erasing arbitrary gender divisions….but we stopped” says Kaffer. Once upon a time, society became close to accepting a boy playing with a kitchen set, or a girl playing rugby. Except we didn’t get there.

In class, boys are often asked to help pick up heavy items, and generally expected to be louder and more active. Girls are expected to be more creative, or intelligent, and work harder than boys.

When playing sports, 3 out of every 5 girls feel they are underestimated, according to a study done in UWC. This affects many students, as it puts pressure on their self esteem.

“It does make me feel like I will never be taken seriously,” an anonymous source from UWC says. “People don’t take my love for science seriously, and that is quite discouraging”. It becomes more clear that underestimation or just not being taken seriously can affect a student’s passion for a sport, subject, or hobby.

Why is all of this important?

The reason is, all these minor things lead to as small, but much more impactful events in the future, such as discrimination against colleagues at work, or less opportunities for girls at college. “Subtler forms of sexism that women face can be even more difficult to handle than explicit discrimination,” says Jessica Valenti, writer for The Guardian. This evidence is significant because it demonstrates how hard it is to fix small but hurtful actions.

Men and women are not able to work, play and do everything in between without society choosing the rules. The small things that we see from an early age, like the choice between pink and blue, slowly build up over time, developing into standards for behavior, sport and intelligence. “For young women, there’s added pressure. Because once they get a decent job, they still have to contend with structural workplace discrimination, overtly sexist behavior and a weight of social expectations”, says Natalie Gil, also from The Guardian. Added onto previous evidence, this portrays what young women face in today’s world.

So the next time you go shopping, be aware of the number of small, insignificant forms of sexism that takes place. All of them are why we still believe men can’t wear dresses, or women are not as athletically capable as men. They are the reason girls feel discouraged when they proclaim their passion for science, or the reason boys feel insecure about their hobby of ballet or art. Our society needs to change this, and the small stuff is the starting point.

Or you could pick up a basketball and show them how it’s done.

By Rhea Goyal

Valenti, Jessica. "Everyday Slights Are Just as Harmful to Women as More Blatant Sexism." The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media Limited, 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

Kaffer, Nancy. "Sexism Begins in the Toy Aisle." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 29 Nov. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.Gil, Natalie. "It's about to Be a Good Time for Young Working Women." The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media Limited, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.