Racism And Sexism

According to the expectations of societies, women and men are supposed to be attracted to one another. One’s sexual orientation is used to grasp the idea of who one is emotionally, sexually, and romantically attracted to, which typically, is towards a specific gender. Sexism has been articulated as the association of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination based on an individuals gender or gender expression (Leaper, 2018). On the other hand, heterosexism is defined as the discrimination and prejudice towards homosexuals associated with the assumption that heterosexuality is “normal” classification, or sexual orientation (Moore, 2017). In other words, heterosexism is the belief that heterosexuality is the acceptable sexual orientation, while
Racism is considered to be, the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities, and that racial differences produce superiority, leading to prejudice and discrimination (Reid, 1988). Through the definitions, one can see that there is a difference in the concepts of racism and sexism. For racism, there is an assumption of a belief system that can either support or explain the discriminatory actions and attitudes. As for sexism, there is not a system that is presented through the definition, leading to a lack of clarification for sexism. With racism, there is a connotation of negative ethnic prejudice, which is appears to be relevant to sexism. The definition of racism includes the veiled and explicit expressions, while the sexist attitudes and behaviors have the similar expressions. Evidently, the similarities between racism and sexism appear in the expressions associated with both concepts. The discrimination associate with sexual orientation is not driven by fear, but rather by disgust and hostility. In comparison, racism can be the result of fear towards racial groups, while heterosexism is a result of the feeling of disgust towards and individuals’ sexual identity. Racism can derive from hatred of the feeling of being superior, while with heterosexism, there is a hatred towards the feeling of being
There are various of subtle ways that sexism can affect the targets’ daily life. For example, it can start within a school system, at young ages, with dress codes. These school dress codes can lead to the guilt in women for the unwanted sexual attention that they might receive, depending on what they are wearing, while the perpetrator is rarely condemned for their behaviors. While this is a simple example, it also explains how women, and young girls are obligated to dress in an educational setting. Furthermore, another example would be how both men and women are more likely to interrupt a woman, rather than a man. This unconscious behavior can be acted upon due to the lack of respect that women receive. What all these examples have in common is that, while these may be implicit actions and behaviors, they can be degrading, while also lowering the targeted individuals’