Sexism vs Racism

[ls317]

Which bothers you more one or both!

[Bright Eyes]

1. Both.

[LostinVA]

2. Both bother me

Bigotry is bigotry.

[ensho]

3. sexism. because sexism is world wide and racism is local

both are ugly

[Ordr]

4. Racism.

n/t

[LostinVA]

5. I'm not surprised

[Ordr]

6. Shrug.

Had to choose one.

[LostinVA]

11. Not really

[question everything]

7. Both. Especially when it comes to women miority (nt)

[Warpy]

8. Sexism is of longer standing, much more deeply ingrained,

more pervasive, and crosses all lines of class and culture.

I've noticed my sisters of color see racism when all women are being treated equally badly. It's really hard to point this out to them because they've been taught to be blind to the sexism in their own cultures, just as we were to it in ours.

Men are equally blind to their own entitlements until those entitlements are threatened in any way by civil rights legislation that extends them to all.

I'd have to say sexism is worse.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

9. Patriarchy

A hierarchal social order wherein wealthy old white men are at the top and enforce their position via oppressing everyone else and pitting them against each other. Men being over women is the basic building block of it, which is why sexism will always be more firmly entrenched than racism, but to say that one is "worse" than the other misses the point. White women have been complicit with white men in oppressing people of color, just as men of color have colluded with white men to oppress women. Meanwhile the rich old white dudes at the top of the food chain laugh and count their money as they watch us battle each other over a few scraps. Electing Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will do nothing to dismantle the Patriarchy.

[bryant69]

10. Both of them are fine with me

Unless they are in existence.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[TahitiNut]

12. Merely two flavors of the objectification of human beings.

When we treat human beings as a means to an end rather than an end in themselves, we participate in the enslavement and oppression of humanity for the sake of power and profit.

[kwenu]

13. IT'S NOT A CONTEST BETWEEN THE TWO. BOTH ARE WRONG. PERIOD.

[horseshoecrab]

14. Both

Both sexism and racism bother me equally. Until we triumph over the two of them, this country is doomed to a future of mediocrity.

horseshoecrab

[NOLALady]

15. Both.

But, racism has hurt me more than sexism.

[VotesForWomen]

16. why do we need to 'rank' these things? they are both wrong and need to be ended. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. Racism. Unequivocally.

The genders, by virtue of our equal numbers continually seek equilibrium. Misogyny is fought with misandry. This battle is self-destructive, but it's not one sided.

The above presumes that "sexism" is all about gender, and not about the oppression faced by GLBT folks - actual sexual minorities.

Racial minorities are powerless to create equality in the face of systemic bias. I would put homophobia in this category.

[antigone382]

20. Logically, sexism does include sexual minorities.

Their marginalization is a direct result of strictly enforced gender stereotypes.

Further, while it's true that there are roughly equal numbers of men and women worldwide, one's proportion of the population does not necessarily translate to one's access to power. Look at India under British rule, South Africa under apartheid, even the Americas as Europeans took power over and proceeded to systematically annihilate native peoples. Oppression is contingent on access to power and resources, not numbers. The battle of the sexes is far from an equal fight.

Worldwide, billions of women are subject to the demands of the men in their societies who control property and other resources, have legal rights and access to social networks that enforce their dominance, and all of this in addition to being (generally) physically stronger than women and not burdened by the strain of pregnancy and childbirth. Women's sexuality is strictly controlled, and punishment for perceived deviation from societal expectation (often even when the victim of sex crimes) is severe, often resulting in death. Also strictly controlled or outright prohibited are their access to education, the political system, and ownership of property or any means of making an independent living.

The oppression in the United States is not the same, but there are still very important limitations for women that must not be discounted if we are to solve many of the tremendous problems facing this nation. Sexism in the modern United States is less tangible than the more severe forms in other countries, and thus more difficult to quantify. In the first place, we are unequally saddled with the monetary burdens of childcare at the same time that we earn less for comparable work and have fewer opportunities for career advancement than men. Women who are victims of sexual harassment or assault or physical abuse are frequently blamed and shamed for what happens to them, if they are indeed believed at all. We are routinely objectified and ridiculed on a huge scale. Our reproductive and economic independence are challenged and vilified by many who still believe a woman's place is in the home, bearing and raising children, and who have significant enough access to the legal avenues that would apply those beliefs to all of us to pose a real threat to our future. With all of our efforts to bring about gender equality in this country, and all of our success, men are still unquestionably dominant

None of this diminishes the horror of racism, homophobia or any other form of bigotry. In fact I'm opposed to the idea of rating bigotries from best to worse like some sort of contest. I'm merely making the case that racism is not unequivocally worse than sexism. I would recommend watching the movie "Osama," if you haven't seen it. Apart from the political associations the film has and a certain amount of use as propaganda in the United States to encourage the idea that our invasion of Afghanistan was noble and just, consider that the fate of the girl in this story is the fate of almost every single woman ever born for the duration of recorded history.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. My ability to influence other societies is small.

Thus my energies are directed toward the injustices I see as most harmful in this one. Racism and homophobia.

I'm disinclined to debate the issues in your third paragraph, other than to say that reasonable people can see it differently. I doubt the OP wants his simple question threadjacked into what experience has shown me can result in nothing but a flame war. I see the patriarchy as a double edged sword.

I will say that my avatar and it's meaning imply that comparisons between sexism in this society and apartheid are overstated.

[antigone382]

23. I'm not really a flame-war kind of person...

I'll make my point and stand by it, but I don't feel compelled to attack or demean others who for whatever reason disagree with me. I can't stand the juvenile keyboard shouting matches that some seem to mistake for productive discourse. I'd like to know more about what you mean by seeing patriarchy as a double-edged sword out of my own curiosity. If you don't want to respond here you're welcome to PM me.

I wouldn't say I was equating American sexism with apartheid so much as giving one of several examples of a statistical minority oppressing the majority.

[slackmaster]

18. I hold both on a par with sexual orientationism and ageism

All unacceptable.

[uppityperson]

19. Both. And ageism, and all the other "isms"

[leftofthedial]

21. Ageism, by far

because it affects EVERYONE (who survives past 40).

[Thepricebreaker]

24. Men will vote for sexism because they want to seem nice, so they can get laid. Both suck.

[ensho]

25. ain't that the truth. the things they will say and do to get some.

nt

[susankh4]

26. They are equally demaining and disempowering