Sexism has been around since the beginning of time. In ancient Greece women were thought to be lesser humans and some may say that things really haven’t changed. It is relatively recent that women were given the right to vote and receive a proper education, but they still struggle to be treated fairly and respectfully today. In this article I will explore how our globalized world is using its ability to communicate and share information to encourage sexism and strip power and confidence away from women.

Social media, TV and the entertainment industry are the main culprits for the exploitation of women. The music industry, in particular uses half naked women in many music videos to sell more discs. For example the song Work from home by Fifth Harmony and Bad Intentions by Niykee Heaton feat Migos, both depict women in very sexually provocative situations. However, Work from home also objectifies men as well showing buff men in construction clothing. It is incredible how far artists go to make their music video more attractive to consumers. Niykee Heaton who is the main singer is objectified in her own music video. She wears a provocative bathing-suit while everyone else wears a ski mask and is fully dressed.

Luckily not all artists are the same, because Little Mix helps women feel more confident and uses women’s bodies less to sell their art. There are even cases where men are the ones to be objectified, like in Fifth Harmony’s song, girls aren’t sexualized but men are the ones who are put in uncomfortable situations.

Social media can also take a lot of responsibility for the objectification of women. There are countless sexists tweets from Donald Trump and many other athletes, artists and celebrities. Unfortunately people that have more followers have a greater impact, so if they post something sexist (even if it is a joke) all they are doing only causes young men to think that it is acceptable. Matt Bowman is a famous baseball player and he is responsible for posting sexist ‘jokes’ on his twitter account. The problem is that even if he thinks they are just jokes, his many fans might think that if their hero is sexist its ok for them to be sexist too. Famous people who have many followers must be responsible and thoughtful of what they post on their social media, because millions of people see their posts. Social media and the entertainment industry is making it acceptable for young men to be sexist and to disrespect women, because it is saturated by older men who condone sexist behavior, as often demonstrated by President Donald Trump.

Trump called former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault-Newman a “dog” on Twitter:

However, sexism isn’t just reserved for women, because men can be discriminated against as well. There is a growing community of feminist women who generalize and attack all men, this isn’t any better than what happens in the pop culture mentioned. The ‘men are trash’ post is something that women use regularly on social media. However it isn’t right for women to empty all of their anger and frustration on all men, generalizing won’t solve the issue. Sexism for men isn’t such a problem or priority compared to the objectification of women, but we shouldn’t forget that it does happen.

I hope I was able to make you all more aware of sexism and how it is around us at all times. Sexism isn’t good, towards men or women and it really should not be condoned by anyone, least of all people we look up to.

From now on there will be a section on our site allocated to the school’s Feminist Society. It will be updated regularly with new material for you all to enjoy.