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Within It Sexism has been a problem since the existence of man and woman. It brings on the controversial issue of men and women, and how they are not considered equal in society. There are many different perspectives on sexism and whether or not it still exists. Feminist writers such as Daly, Frye, and Millett all stress the way In which women have been subject to the power of men and how the female self Is ‘Invaded’ by patriarchal conditioning. Frye, in particular, has a strong opinion on the issue.
As ean Grimshaw states in her article, Autonomy and Identity in Feminist Thinking, “Frye sees women as simply ‘broken’ and then ‘remade’ in the way that suits their masters. ” Frye argues that If It were ‘left to themselves,’ women would not want to serve men. She goes Into depth about how the persons of two sexes are treated differently, or behave differently, but nothing in the real differences between females and males justifies or explains the difference of treatment or behavior. In Frye’s article Sexism, she gives a prime example of how ones sex Is relevant In certain situations.
If a company hires a man, In preference to a more experienced and knowledgeable women, can we explain our objection to the decision by saying it involved distinguishing on the basis of sex when sex is irrelevant to the ability to do the Job? ” The answer is no. This brings us to virtue ethics which focuses on the role of ones character and what his or her virtues entail. Aristotle, a famous philosopher, studied virtue ethics. He considers the virtuous person to both know what the good thing to do is, and also be emotionally attached to it.
He says that the virtuous person shall exhibit the Joint excellence of reason and of character. He believes that woman’s rational capacity Is not on an equal par with that of man, It lacks full legitimacy or authority. He viewed women as subject to men, but higher than slaves. He most definitely saw men as much more powerful than women and subject to more than woman as well. His view on how men and women are much different than Frye’s but they can both relate to the discrimination, entitlement, and power among sexes. If a couple is to enter a restaurant, the headwaiter or hostess addresses the man and does not address the woman. Frye 408) This does not happen because of certain rules or laws, it is almost just instinct to go to the man first, since after all, he is the more dominant one, and holds greater power than the woman, right? Nobody is entitled to be approached by the hostess, the hostess could be unconsciously discriminating against a woman purely because that is what society is teaching people. Men are seen as more powerful than women, but that does not always mean hat they are entitled to more or have more control and power over certain situations.
Roles In the household used to be based off the gender of a person; the duties of the person residing there would depend on his or her gender. For example, a man will go do the dirty work- make money, provide for the family, and a woman is to clean the house, take care of the children, and overall, cater to her spouse. This can be seen as discriminating towards a woman; now a day, It Is possible for a woman to make all of the woman and for the man to stay at home- do household chores and take care of OF2 in the evening in a town or city. Frye 412) The risk is less for males and greater for females because females are less likely to defend themselves. “The term ‘sexist’ characterizes cultural and economic structures which create and enforce the elaborate and rigid patterns of sex-marking and sex-announcing which divide the species, along lines of sex, into dominator and subordinates. ” (Frye 413) Sexism seems to be inevitable; there will always be certain aspects, which separate men and women. Physical characteristics could be a big part of this.
Men will always be taller and more built than women, they typically have short hair, and dress more masculine. Women will always have breasts, longer hair, higher voices, and dress more feminine. So who is to blame? Dowe blame ourselves for the issue of sexism? After all, we are the ones who categorize ourselves based off of physical appearance. The answer is unknown, and society will always try to put a stop to it but sexism does not seem like it is going anywhere as long as there are two distinct sexes living.