A report on prejudice and discrimination towards sexism

Authors Avatar

1. What is Prejudice?

When a person is described as being ‘prejudice’ it means they hold a certain set of attitudes, assumptions or mental set towards some target, that their views have become fixed in such a way that the person is reluctant to change them (Hayes, 1994).  Prejudice literally means ‘pre-judgement’ (Hogg & Vaugham, 1995).   A prejudice is developed on the basis of a pre-judgement of a person or a situation, where a person has already made assumptions or beliefs on an issue and is generally not interested in any other possibilities or explanations.  Prejudice can be both positive and negative.  When the prejudice is positive, it may be that a person is favoured and therefore everything that the person does is interpreted as being good.  In general when the term prejudice is used, it is usually in the negative form.  Prejudice often refers to a negative affective or emotional response to a particular group of people resulting from intolerant, unfair or unfavourable attitudes towards that certain group (Brewer & Kramer, 1985).

2. DISCRIMINATION

Discrimination refers to specific behaviours toward members of a group that are unfair in comparison with behaviour towards members of another group (Hopkins 1996).

3. SEXISM

Sexism refers to prejudice and discrimination against a person because of their gender (Deaux, Dane & Wrightsman (1993).   Sexism incorporates attitudes and actions that treat one group as subordinate to the other.  In general sexism is more prominent by males with prejudices towards women.  In the past there has been a widespread belief that men are more competent and independent than women, whilst women are often seen as warmer and more expressive compared to men.  Certain occupations often become labelled as ‘women’s work’ and as a result are valued less.  Secretaries, nurses and childcare workers are all examples of female dominated occupations.  Women are underrepresented in nearly all professional and prestige occupations.  Once employed women also face many obstacles for promotion.  Many women also face work environments that impede their advancements in the form of sexual harassment, ranging from outright sexual advances to sexually suggestive calendars displayed in the workplace (Cecil & Wiggins, 1991).  Many beliefs about women’s opportunities are linked to general values and ideologies (Kluegel & Smith, 1986).  It is thought that gender role traditionalism plays a major part, together with the dominant ideology that links effort and reward (Eagly 1987).    

Join now!

4. Sex Discrimination Act

In 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act were implemented.  The aim was to remove educational, employment and inequality differences between the sexes.  Equal opportunities were guaranteed for all.  Since the Equal pay Act was implemented, the full-time pay gap has closed considerably.  However a women currently working full-time is currently paid, on average, eighty seven percent of men’s hourly pay (Office National Statistics, 2004).

THEORIES OF SEXISM 

5. Stereotypes

Gender based discrimination can begin very early on in a persons life (Lytton & Romney, 1991).  From an early ...

This is a preview of the whole essay