Sexism Rooted in Religion and in Society Today

It may be true that society has changed so much over the years and have benefitted everyone. But has it really? People have gotten discriminated against harshly in the past. Most of them women. This may be because of the gender norms and religion beliefs from the past that have over time, modified the way we see different genders. It has affected how different occupations treat women in economic and social ways, and how the media portrays women in society. Religion and gender stereotypes of the past have negatively influenced the sexist behavior (gender inequity) in society today.

Religion may be one of the root causes to gender stereotypes and profiling. In many religions, women have less of a job and men are more powerful. “The religions themselves practice overt discrimination against women within their own institutions. They are run by men for men.” (The roots of sexism in religion) For example, in Christianity, many leadership roles such as the pope, bishops, priests etc are only allowed to be run by men. This shows that already in the past, there weren’t that many women figures. In some other religions, women were just seen as objects that were used for sex or chores. Another example, in the Islamic religion, women are meant to be feminine figures and men masculine. Although this may be sometimes true in the physical sense, that doesn’t mean that all women should be seen in this way. Not everyone has the same idea on how women should be perceived. This is one of the reasons why there are stereotypes that follow this belief.

Stereotypes rooted from religious and social norms of the past have made it harder for men and women to be equal in economic and social terms today. Women have been idealised to do jobs with ‘less brain power’ and more caring, ‘easy’ jobs. Who’s to say that men can’t do them either? Even when men and women have the same job, they still get treated unfairly. “The median earnings of men with full-time, year-round jobs were $50,033 last year, [2013] compared to $39,157 for comparable women.” (The Wall Street Journal, 2013) That’s about a $10,000 difference. Referring back to the earlier point, this may be because men were/are viewed as more powerful therefore sometimes getting paid better.

Sexism has been going on for as long as we can remember. Another example of a time where sexism was a common occurrence was in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1690s. This was the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Many young women were being accused of harnessing witchcraft and many of them were hanged, even if they were innocent. “ If well-respected men observed the young accusers and reported that their fits were real, then the court would be heeding not just a girl, but an established man.” (Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials, Marc Aronson) Society chooses to see the good and bad in people. Sometimes they choose to see the good or bad in certain people. Back then, they chose to see the greatness in men and women were just in the shadows. In the quote above, it says

Men and women are being portrayed differently in the media giving society false ideas. The media’s job is to manipulate people’s brains into thinking that they want or need something. For a long time, they have been using people to sell their product or services but in different ways. “I guess the sexism kind of morphed, it didn’t go away or necessarily get better.” (Buzzfeedyellow, 2015) Women usually get exploited to get men’s attention. You may be familiar with the saying “sex sells”. The media certainly believe so and so must the viewers because now there is more of a demand for ads of this genre because companies keep producing them.



The ad to the left is from the 1950s and shows a woman serving a man. The caption reads “Show her it’s a man’s world” This is saying that men are dominating in the world and women are just servants to the men. The ad on the right shows a male and a female advertising the same shirt. The man is casually wearing the shirt but the woman is sexualising it. The object of the ad was to show that the shirt can be worn by men and women but it looks as though both ads are directed to get men’s attention. The media is using people to meet the sexual craving to sell their products and women don't deserve to be treated as an object.

People who practice religion may believe that stereotypes have many other possible roots and that there is nothing to be done about it. It’s understood that people have different opinions on the subject but because of the beliefs of religion and the stereotypes that have formed because of it, sexism is still a problem in society today. Women (and sometimes men as well) are being taken advantage of in media, in economic terms and just in general and it needs to be stopped.

Jealousy Ascending

Sometimes people get jealous and we turn into some kind of unpleasant beast when we don’t get something we want. It is a fact of life that this happens to everyone, no matter who you are or what you do. William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” and Nick Jonas’s “Jealous” have this similar theme in common. Although they are directed toward different people or ideas, it’s the same concept. In “Lord of the Flies” Jack is constantly thirsty for power and attention. He does anything to take it away from Ralph and have it for himself. In “Jealous”, Jonas talks about his jealousy toward other men interacting with his girlfriend. In both, “Lord of the Flies,” and “Jealous,” we learn that in life, people change their attitude, motives or actions because of jealousy and their fear of not having or being something.

In the beginning of “Lord of the Flies,” Ralph gets chosen to be chief because the group was drawn to “his size, and attractive appearance”. In the book, Jack was described as - “His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.” Jack might be insecure about his appearance because Ralph is more attractive and, therefore, has a better chance of being admired in the group. It’s true that people tend to listen to people who are attractive to them. In “Jealous,” some of the lyrics “‘Cause you’re too sexy, beautiful, and everybody wants a taste, that’s why, I still get jealous” Jonas is referring to his feelings toward his girlfriend, this may be the complete opposite context to “Lord of the Flies” but they are similar in the cause for their jealousy. Because Ralph is more attractive, more people have the urge to listen to him which makes Jack jealous and a bit insecure about himself. He fears that the group won’t listen to him because of his appearance so instead he uses fear to help himself come to power.

In the middle, Jack’s jealousy grows more and he tries to get the boys under his power through fear. “Slowly the red drained from Jack’s cheeks, then came back with a painful rush. He licked his lips and turned his face at an angle so that his gaze avoided the embarrassment of linking with another's eyes.” This quote comes from when Jack decided to leave the group and is asking if anyone wants to join him. The quote states that the red from his cheeks drained, then came back. This is significant because it shows that he was afraid to voice his opinion to the thought of what the others reaction would be, after all, he’s only human. The “painful rush” came back because he realised that no one wanted to follow him. He was ashamed of himself that he proposed something and no one agreed.

Some people might argue that it was Jack’s fault for being cruel which is why no one wanted to join him. But what the author is trying to say is that maybe the people who are cruel or not nice is because they are misunderstood and want attention. It doesn’t always mean they were bad to begin with. He wasn’t always jealous, which means he wasn’t always a savage. He just feels left out. After being a bit ignored for a while, he starts to become more vicious. In “Jealous,” Nick Jonas felt as though he was getting ignored as well because all the attention was on his girlfriend. “I’m puffing my chest, I’m getting red in the face,” This shows what both Nick Jonas and Jack felt with no attention on them. They both wanted to seem like an alpha male so that people would listen to them so when Ralph is chief, Jack wants to seem more powerful and more like the ‘rightful’, tough leader that the group deserves.

In the end, Jack’s Jealousy gets out of control and he becomes a corrupt savage. Over the course of the story, he has gotten fed up with being misunderstood and the extra leader that he goes crazy and becomes barbaric. His jealousy made him so insane to a point where he is homicidal and wants Ralph dead. He went from an innocent little choir boy, wanting some attention, to a savage boy seeking revenge. Some of the lyrics in Nick Jonas’s “Jealous” - “It’s my right to be hellish, I still get jealous,” This is significant because it uses the word ‘right’. Is it really a right to be hellish? Jack was a bit under appreciated to begin with so maybe being jealous was okay. But turning that jealousy into something monstrous and hellish was a bit overdramatic. Jack wanted more and more. He wanted more attention than what he already had. Jealousy can spiral into something out of control if it is not dealt with.

In “Lord of the Flies” Jacks insecurity turns into jealousy and hatred toward Ralph throughout the book. His inability to capture everyone's attention changed him into a selfish, bloodthirsty beast. In addition, “Jealous,” also describes the narrator or singer (Nick Jonas) turning into something ‘hellish’ because of his jealousy. Both character/singer’s jealousy sprouted from their fear of not having something they desperately desired. It just proves that sometimes humans can go to extremes when they care or want something they can’t have.

Don't Listen to the Stereo

From a young age, we are introduced to a world full of stereotypes. Specifically, gender. The media, our parents, our religion and our society are just some of the aspects that influence our beliefs and in a way, have overtime created gender stereotypes. They can sometimes teach us unideal ways of living. Stereotypes categorise humans into groups that tell us what we are meant act or be like, which in result can make many feel untrue to themselves or like outcasts.

Her life has been set out for her. Finish school, get married, have kids and support the breadwinner of the family.

Noshin is terrified as she overhears her mother on the phone with her grandmother, sobbing one night, saying that her life has been ruined by the men in their family. Her grandmother’s whole life consisted of assisting men and she could hardly be her own person. She didn’t want to live like that anymore. Noshin cries to herself thinking about how unfair her grandmothers life was. “In my country, Bangladesh, women are treated more as maids” said Noshin Saiyaara, 14. “The life of a girl; clean the house, cook and take care of the kids.” This makes it clear that to this day, there are still unequal and stereotypical behaviour in society. This could be because of her religion and that they believe it's right. But is it? Should this be socially acceptable in a society where more and more cultures have grown to be more open about the decisions that women make to become more of equals and not maids?

Noshin told our journalist that she wants change. Her siblings and herself are determined to change the traditions of her family to benefit their lives for the better. “I want to change the routines of my family. I’m not going to sit around and do nothing, I want to work and contribute to my family.” Her experience has empowered her to change their ways, to be who she aspires to be in the future.

From a variety of people that took part in a survey on their thoughts about where stereotypes originated, the most commonly agreed opinion, with more than 50% of the surveyed people, is that stereotypes have been an ongoing tradition for a very long time. For instance, during medieval times there were little to no women as knights and it was the men's job to be chivalrous towards the women. Women were thought to be more delicate so their jobs were often to do housework and cook and maintain the family.

In modern day, we have come to a point where stereotypes have been advertised so much, that they have started to infect more and more of the human species into thinking that they might be true. Isabella Duncan, a student from an 8th grade english class thinks that “Overtime, stereotypes have been reinforced by people with fixed mindsets.” In many ways this is true. Through the people in the media and our society, the message that women and men are different and not equals is very clear statement. You may not realise it, but everyday the commercials you see can have traces of gender stereotypically and it’s hard to realise it because they’re just so common.

Many ideas are reinforced through television to a specific audience. To do this, commercials have to make it relatable to the audience hence, showing things a girl and/or boy would do. In the case study “GENDER STEREOTYPES IN MASS MEDIA” by Malgorzata Wolska, she states “More and more commercials are directed to children. They indicate ‘the proper place’ in the society for girls and boys. Girls are shown as babysitters nursing dolls or cleaning house with a pink cleaning kit, whereas boys do sports or play computer games.” It mentions that most commercials main target audience is children, so the concept of gender stereotypically is already being engraved into their heads. In the future, when they understand how it impacts their identity, they will have a ‘template’ to follow.

Everyone can be affected because of gender stereotypes in many ways. Having to be a certain way and being surrounded by people who support gender stereotypes, can sometimes result in peer pressure and bullying. Life as a middle schooler can be hard, considering that there are lots of pressures with fitting in with others. A middle school student who wished to remain anonymous, tells their story “I am a dancer and a singer and that's what I want to do when I'm older. Ever since I was young, I've been bullied for doing what I like to do. I started hanging out with girls because some of them had the same interests in dance as me or they just understood. I think boys are more disturbed with the stereotype issue and they find it harder to welcome misfits, than girls do.” What is revealed here is that sometimes, people can get peer pressured if they don’t follow a stereotype because it's unfamiliar to others, so the action and person is slightly alienated.

What's strange, is that it's harder for a boy to enjoy something that usually a girl would like, than the other way around, because they usually get picked on by other boys who are more manly. Rhea Goyal’s theory for this is that “In the past, boys have generally been viewed as stronger, smarter etc. while girls were viewed as inferior to boys, so now society says it’s okay for a girl to move up to a boy’s standard, but not okay for boys to move down to a girl’s standard.” It suggests that by being a boy and doing things a girl would do, it would make you less of a man, and that you are admitting to being weak.

Lately there has been less discrimination towards people that happen to go against the grain of a stereotype, but it still happens. If you are someone that is in this situation, know that you are not alone and that there are always going to be people to help and are going through something similar. Its great to be yourself, to be unique. Don’t let stereotypes and hateful comments from others hold back what you desire to be or do. “There shouldn't be any barriers or force, because people's choices are their own,” said Noshin Saiyaara.

Let's imagine that all these concepts have been compiled and put into a stereo. Some of the music could be great, and you like to listen to it, but sometimes there is going to be bad music. People might have different tastes to you, but you don’t need to change your taste to please others.

Cellphone Zombification

Are cellphones hypnotising the human race? On Monday the 5th of October, 4 round square delegates from the round square conference visited the class 8SMD but just end up on their phones, bored, for majority of the time. Sydney, one of the delegates was constantly engrossed with the contents of her phone, instead of participating in the activities planned by the students.

Every now and again the other 3 would take a glance at their phones as well, but it was mostly Sydney. At one point she said “this is so weird!” to the other delegates before a game of musical statues, then went back to texting on her phone. Her facial expression mostly looked like she was unfocused and bored. Rhea, one of the students from 8SMD said “I thought it was a bit rude because we were supposed to be bonding but she was just ignoring the activities we were doing”

But Sydney isn’t the only one. People everywhere are attached to their phones. On the MRT, almost everyone on there is on their phone playing games, listening to music, calling someone, texting and more. One woman, most probably a helper, with a local child about 3 years old were aboard the MRT. The woman was concentrating on a game on her phone, not keeping an eye out for the child. Afterall he is her responsibility and she was hardly paying attention. It just shows how immersed we are in technology these days, are we becoming programmed into becoming phone zombies?

By Isabella G