Page 193 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

From Old-Fashioned Sexism to Modern Sexism: The Morphing of Bigotry 167

for men. She may be teased, isolated, or become the victim of male pranks
that assail her gender identity. Interestingly, it was found that prescriptive
stereotypes and not descriptive stereotypes were predictive of sexism in
males (Gill, 2004).

The history of the United States is filled with sexism or unequal treatment
of women (Morales & Sheafor, 2004; Zastrow, 2004). They were confi ned to
childrearing and home activities and not allowed to engage in outside employ-
ment, many laws openly discriminated against them, and it was not until
1920 that passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women
the right to vote. The women ’ s movement was relatively dormant until World
War II when out of necessity large numbers of women were employed out-
side the home, breaking one of the traditional gender restrictions of society.
The restrictive place of women in society was further eroded during the 1960s
when the Civil Rights movement increased equality consciousness and both
racial and sexual discrimination came under attack.
Betty Friedan ’ s book The Feminine Mystique (1963) gave renewed impetus
to the women ’ s movement and served as a rallying cry for gender - conscious
women and men and the ultimate formation of the National Organization of
Women (NOW) in 1966. This organization continues to be an infl uential force
for women in our political system. Since that time, numerous federal and
state statutes have passed that forbid sex discrimination, advocate for equal
pay for equal work, bar using marital status or gender to determine credit

worthiness, and extend affirmative action laws to include women (Zastrow,
2004).
In light of these massive changes, one could make a strong case that sexism
has been successfully checked and that our attitudes are no longer biased.
However, such a belief would be to ignore the many subtle and different man-
ifestations of sexism. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was proposed in
1972 (27th Amendment to the Constitution) and stated: “ Equality of rights
under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any

state on account of sex. ” Yet, after 10 years of attempts to ratify the ERA, it
failed to gain passage because it required ratification by three fourths of the

states. Its failure to pass could be laid at the foundations of “ modern sexism, ”
which allowed opponents to claim they were against sex discrimination but
concerned that such a well - intentioned act could actually foster greater disad-
vantage to women: fairness dictated granting maternity leaves to husbands,
women would be equally liable for alimony, they could be drafted into the
armed forces, and would lose preferential treatment in divorce proceedings.

1/20/10 2:42:10 PM
c08.indd 167
c08.indd 167 1/20/10 2:42:10 PM