Kira
Schiavone pics up where she left off with Racism and moves on to Sexism and Age-ism...
Cries of the Vintage Warrior
"Sexism and Age-ism"
- Opinion by Kira Schiavone-
July 1st, 2005
Okay, maybe we should just classify my column as
“human interest” or “prejudice related” and have done with it instead
of trying to figure out when I’ll stop discussing various types of
prejudice. Then again, that would mean I couldn’t write about anything
other than prejudice. Well, today it’s sexism, everyone.
Sexism is a big problem in life. Of course, there
are the sarcastic, mocking remarks you will hear from young boys about
how whoever they’re talking to throws/hits/fights/whatevers like a
girl. I think this is how sexism starts, since I have heard children as
young as five or six saying this, and believing it to be true. Later in
life, they continue to believe that women are inferior.
Adult sexism manifests itself in several ways. The
most obvious and commonplace is the concept that developed with the
building of suburbia. The idea that developed with the suburbs places
the husband in the position of the breadwinner, and the wife as someone
who stays at home and keeps house. She isn’t supposed to work. From
this concept, the “male chauvinist pigs,” as it is often put,
developed. For some reason, most sexism seems directed at females,
although there is some directed by males at other males. These seem to
consist mostly of scorn for a man who baby-sits or admits defeat. I
have admitted to being a sexist in the past, but only because it got to
the point where it was easier to admit it than keep explaining why I
wasn’t.
Age-ism is a related prejudice, and involves the
prejudice against someone due to their age. This also includes the
phenomenon of adults seeming to ignore children. A prime example of
this actually takes place on a forum, where I am frequently addressed
as “kid” rather than “Chive” or “Kira,” which makes very little sense,
seeing as the rest of the posters (who are older than I am) are
addressed by their names. Another example of this was told to me by a
friend. His brother was talking to a woman, and the brother told the
woman that my friend was his younger brother. The woman responded with
“He’s small for his age.” Now, if this were said in front of someone
older than ten, it would be considered very rude, so why don’t young
people count? The answer lies in the adult mindset.
Adults tend to think of themselves as superior to
children. Now, before you all rush to deny it, I’ll tell you that it’s
not conscious with most of them. Most adults simply don’t seem to
acknowledge children as their equals. I’ve also been judged on my looks
by adults, and treated like I’m some kind of punk. True, that only
happened once, but I can’t help but think that my hair being blue that
day wasn’t a coincidence. (It was a one-time experiment.) To relate
back to my previous columns on racism, African-American teens are often
assumed to be punk rappers of some sort, or drug addicts.
I wish this would stop, but I know it won’t. Not
soon, anyway. I hope to make an impact by my column. If only one person
changes their attitude from this, I can justify writing it, but one
won’t have much of an impact on the greater world… well, I’ll go on
doing what I can. I challenge you to stop treating children this way,
and treat the genders as utterly equal.
Kira Schiavone is a high school student who's working on becoming a
professional writer, and enjoys reading and writing rants for the
Fedora Chronicles.
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