“You throw like a girl.”“You're acting like a pussy.”
These are never compliments, are they? Comments like the above are seemingly the most innocuous forms of sexism but they illustrate and perpetuate the sexism rampant in our society - in fact, worldwide. Here in Canada 189 people recently purchased a men's T-shirt that proclaimed "No means have aNOther drink" before complaints to retailer Bluenotes led the company to pull it from the shelves. That's 189 people who consider the anti-sexual assault slogan "No Means No" something to joke about. It's just a T-shirt, some people have said. T-shirts don't hurt people. Words don't hurt people. But of course they do.
Domestic and sexual violence, street harassment, genital mutilation, the wage gap between genders, the lack of women in political power in most countries, the objectification of women and girls in the media - none of these occur in a vacuum. They're the result of a society that devalues women. In one of its most extreme forms, sexism robs women's lives before they've even begun. According to Amnesty International over 60 million women "are 'missing' from the world today as a result of sex-selective abortions and female infanticide." 70% of the world's 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty are women and girls. At the same time 66% of the world's working hours are worked by women and only 16% of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women. (figures from Unesco).
Even in an industrialized and developed country like Canada, women only earn an average of 77% of what men do. Recent research on Canadian university and college campuses found between 16 - 35% of women surveyed had experienced at least one physical or sexual assault by a boyfriend in the past year. Approximately 45% had been sexually abused since leaving high school. Government statistics indicate that 50% of Canadian women surveyed have survived at least one incident of sexual or physical violence in their lives. Violence against women is a global crisis.
Meanwhile media images that sexualize girls and women have a negative impact on girls' ability to develop a healthy sexual self-image and lead to eating disorders and mental health problems including depression. (American Psychological Association report on the sexualization of girls, 2007) These same images also damage boys and young men by teaching them to be violent and preventing them from forming genuine friendships with girls and women. The intense pressure to conform to media messages in music, video games, magazines and internet pornography doesn't allow children of either gender to be themselves, instead offering a script of dominance and submission through strictly defined gender roles. With these hyper-sexualized images creeping into more aspects of life than ever before it's impossible to say that children are not being affected.
We need to make a concentrated effort to fight sexism in all its forms by raising awareness and standing up against sexism wherever we encounter it, including calling people on their disparaging comments and sexist jokes. Women's rights are human rights. No means no. And women and girls are entirely capable of having a terrific pitching arm.
Gender Equality Resources
Human Rights Organizations
Stop The Traffik
Amnesty International
Unifem
Human Rights Watch
Equality Now
Feminist Majority Foundation
Domestic & Sexual Violence
Break The Cycle
Teens Against Abuse
See It And Stop It
RAINN: Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network
Rape Crisis U.K.
Rape Crisis Network Ireland
National Sexual Violence Resource Center
One in Four (Ireland)
Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres
SAFER - students active for ending rape
Children's Help Organizations
Childline U.K.
Childline Ireland
Kids Help Phone Canada
Kids Help Australia
Kids Help U.S.
Media Representation
See Jane
Object
Media Awareness Network
MediaWise
Women In Media & News
Media Education Foundation
Female Activism
Girls Speak Out
All Girl Army
Girls For Gender Equality, Inc
Shameless Magazine
National Organization For Women
Canadian Women's Foundation
Ms. Magazine
Women Against Violence Against Women
TeenVoices Online
Men Against Violence & Sexism
Men Stopping Violence
XY: Men, Masculinities, and Gender Politics
National Organization For Men Against Sexism
White Ribbon Canada
White Ribbon U.K.
Men Can Stop Rape
One in Four USA
Dads and Daughters
Sexuality
Sex etc.
Spiderbytes
Scarleteen
Sexuality and U
Feminist Women's Health Centre
