Blog Against Sexism Day

Sometimes in life, we all suddenly realize that some people around us are bad. Cartoons of Mohammed, cartoons of Jesus, war in Iraq, war on Terror, 9/11, Ecuadorian politics, rude people, mean people, racists, ageists, capitalist/communist, fundamentalist, ableist, sexist.

What can I say on any of these topics that others have not said already and much more eloquently? Not much. However, today, I recently discovered (3 minutes ago), is "Blog Against Sexism Day." As soon as I learned that, I thought: "I can do that."

So here it goes, my blog about sexism:

I am blogging about sexism because there's nothing I can really do about it, or any other problem, in the world. I am, essentially, powerless. Freudians might track that emotion back to my "moment of castration" but we won't get into that, it's too sexist in and of itself. I will, however, tell you that power is at the center of sexism.

When I was a kid I wanted to shoot a gun, I wanted to go fishing, I wanted to jump off of very tall things...but unfortunately I was a girl. So while my brother was in some cases encouraged to do this sort of thing, I was told to cross my legs. Sigh.

Did that stop me? No.

I've shot a gun, a big gun, and I have great aim.
I no longer want to go fishing. It's boring. But I did dissect a fish in class and did not swoon. I found it interesting. I've jumped off of many, many things. And, finally, I rarely cross my legs.

Here's my point: because we are all relatively insignificant, there's not much we can do on a global scale. Some people might say that this is a defeatist attitude, but really it's just realistic. I've been in my share of marches and, although we marchers feel better about ourselves, not much actually happens as a result. Anyhow, my point is that all we can do to relieve the yoke of the various -ists is to challenge them daily with our own lives.

Unfortunately, sexism is as deeply rooted in human society as all the other -ists, so we aren't going to see any widespread improvement any time soon. However, I propose this to you all:

Sexism, or any -ism, is spread through language. "They" tell us that hatred is learned--if this is true, it's learned through language. So I propose that all of you, who are serious about defeating sexism, do your part to remove sexist language from your vocabulary. For example, don't call a brave woman "ballsy". Using this term in this manner suggests that only manly women can be strong or brave, which essentially means that only men can be strong or brave. Instead, call a brave woman "clitsy," because, hey, our bodies are, in many ways, more powerful than men's.

By using "clitsy" you are giving power back to women, you are telling them that they too can be strong and brave without having to be men. We don't have to be ashamed of our pudendum (pun intended).

Thank you for reading my rant. And remember, "clitsy". Use it, it's catchy.

[Aside:]

I realize that men can also be discriminated against. My sisters, don't curse the male race for the acts of one scoundrel. Curse the scoundrel. You wouldn't want to be sexist, now would you?