Calling Out the Sexists

This weekend’s New York Times brought two opportunities for ire.  There probably were many more., but there were two that really got under my skin.

The first one was a comment in the magazine section. Steve Sailer of Los Angeles wrote a response to the previous week’s article about the woman jockey, Rosie Napravnik.  His comment was titled  “Can a Woman Win the Kentucky Derby?”  Here’s what he said:

“The door has been open to female jockeys for more than 40 years. That women haven’t, on the whole, had more success lately than they had early in the feminist era suggests that racing is one of those sports in which an exceptional woman, like Lynn Hill in rock climbing or Judit Polgar in chess, can make it to very near the top, but the bell curve of talent and drive is shifted more in the men’s direction.”

There was one woman jockey, Rosie Napravnik , in the Kentucky Derby on May 4; there was one African American man, Kevin Krigger. 

If the same thing had been written about African Americans as was written by Sailer about women, I don’t think the Times would have published such racist nonsense.  But claim that women aren’t as talented or driven as men and you can earn yourself a spot in the editorial section of the New York Times magazine.  Does the Times editorial staff even recognize sexism as hateful? 

And then there was the piece in the Sunday Review section of the Times by Frank Bruni.  In this case, I agree 100% with Mr. Bruni.  The reason I got angry is that he is right on every point he makes regarding how the mainstream media makes a woman’s sexual experiences wicked and titillating while a man having had the same number or types of experiences would be treated as pedestrian at best.  He concludes his piece called “Sexism and the Single Murderess “with this:

“When we chart and lament the persistence of sexism in society, we look to the United States Congress, where women are still woefully underrepresented.  We look to corporate boardrooms, where the glass ceiling hasn’t’ really shattered.  But we needn’t look any further than how perversely censorious of women’s sex lives we remain, and how short the path from siren to slut and from angel to she-devil can be.”

I’ve been leaning in for my whole life.  I’ve been patient, I’ve been assertive, I’ve been a mentor and a mentee.  At this point, I’m really angry.  Where is the tipping point?  When does sexism stop rearing it’s ugly head? 

And let me be clear:   the “Them and Us” isn’t women and men.  The “Them and Us” are old thinkers vs. the new. 

Women are well represented as graduates of higher education, and well represented in the workforce.  Very good.  Next Challenge:  Women need to stop trying to go along to get along and to call out sexism of any kind where and when we see it.  We've already proved on multiple fronts that we're capabile--more than capable.  Now let's make sure that sexism in any form, from the most overt to the most subtle, gets called out, shown in the light of day for what it is and erradicated.

Let’s stop giving people exhibiting sexist behaviors the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s be more reactive and more vocal in our reactions to the sexism we see in our world.  Let’s try this:  If you think it’s sexist behavior, regardless of whether it’s undermining women or men, speak up.  Call it out.  Get a discussion going.  It’s pretty clear that many men and women just don’t recognize their behaviors and language as being sexist.

Recognize sexism the way you recognize racism and then do something about it.  Confront it the way we confront racism.  Sexism is real and it will take a commitment to change to abolish old thinking.  Patience and doing the right thing are not working.  “In your face” anti-sexism is my call to action.