Sexism- prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.
‘Typically against women’. But, here’s a truth- Men too are stereotyped, just like women are.
Here’s how-
1. Men are supposed to be tough and therefore automatically less capable to raise kids.
2. Real men don’t cry. They are expected to be emotion-less and stoic and when fail, they are often presumed to be weak, fragile. “Ladke rote nahi” Remember?
3. If women are seen as ‘sex object’, men are seen as ‘cash point’. They are expected to pay bills, in the name of being chivalrous and when they don’t, they are tagged as- ‘biwi ki kamaayi khane wala’
4. If a man slaps a women, he is an abuser. If a woman slaps a man, he must have done something wrong to her.
Recent example of Rohtak sisters confirms how many times when a women accuses someone, they are instantly regarded as offenders by media, even before the investigation is done.
Man thrashed by mob.
source
5. Death of a women is portrayed and often regarded as more tragic.
’18 people including 5 women killed in a bus crash’
source
6. ‘Crime against women’- Domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, etc. Ever heard of ‘crime against men’?
A crime is a crime, victim of the gender should not matter. Here are a few statistics-
Men make 94% of work suicides.
Every 7 minutes, a married men commits suicide.
source
7. A woman is tagged ‘slut’ if she hang outs with men, man is often regarded as ‘gay'(right, some people don’t understand what sexual orientation is) or ‘effeminate’, ‘pussy’, etc.
8. Like women are placed in Kitchens, men are suppose to be in offices. Ever heard of house husband?
9. There are drives to fill quotas for women for the high paid roles but not in the dangerous jobs dominated by men, that’s real sexism.
10. Cases like these.
Whilst searching for more cases for sexism, I could hardly find any against men. Is this a clue too?
Sexism/stereotyping or expecting a person from a particular gender to act in a particular manner is NOT JUSTIFIED and WRONG, irrespective of it’s being done on a man or a woman. This post was not done to degrade the feminist movement but, to cast some light on this type of stereotyping too.
Have you ever faced discrimination or been stereotyped? Comment and share your experience.