Some of the world’s most powerful and respected people are women, Elizabeth I, who single handedly ruled the country in a time of chauvinistic, egotistical men, Hilary Clinton who is now one of the most influential people in America for her outstanding knowledge of politics, and even Margaret Thatcher, who rose through the Conservative Party amongst many men to become one of the most forward thinking Prime Ministers Britain has ever seen.
Just think about it, women were not given the vote until the early twentieth century, when men’s voices had been heard for years, women have been expected to be able to cook, clean and bring up children and they are supposed to sit and look pretty whilst their men talk about ‘intellectual’ matters like politics and law! Where men are seen as powerful in society, women are seen as bossy, men as cool, women as controlling, in a society obsessed with equal opportunities, why are these differences not abundant?
A man named Richard Gilman said, “The idea of masculine superiority is programmed, institutional and rooted at the deepest level of out historical experience” For centuries men have been considered as superior to women, this, and only this, is the reason sexist remarks are not looked upon as offensive.
Is society so trapped in the past that changes cannot even be seen as ideas? Obviously,Yes. Power and authority are still the basic rights of a man; he is seen to need them without question. Women, in view of society, do not need the power of authority; they are not necessary for a woman’s capabilities.
The use of sexist vocabulary in society has been seen as normal until very recently when women have been asserting the power they all know they have and have been standing up for themselves in society. No longer can job descriptions be written using ‘he’, ‘his’ or ‘him’ but have to be gender neutral using ‘they’, ‘person’ or ‘people’.
At present sexism is inherent in our society. But it is not acceptable to diminish women and men should be made aware of this. For women who are only just beginning to experience the worlds of work and society, women should all be aware of the dangers and miss conceptions in society, especially those issued by men. Women need to be themselves, women need to show men what they are capable of and women need to be the strong minded, capable and influential women that women all know they are.
