CASUAL SEXISM:The things we say and do everyday.

How many of us are guilty of addressing everyone in the room as "guys" even though the gathering includes women ? While some women may be comfortable being addressed with what has been accepted  as a gender neutral term , it might not acceptable to everyone. While "What's up,  guys ? " Might not be considered a decadent form of sexism , it certainly as one.

CASUAL SEXISM

There is nothing casual about Casual Sexism. The concept is directly related to sex-based discrimination against women. If a woman is treated differently than how a man would be treated in the same situation, the possibility is that an underlying sexist prejudice is working there. In this post, we are going to dive a into the concept of casual sexism and understand what it is, how it affects men and women, and how a woman can deal with it on a daily basis.

What is casual sexism?

Let us start with the definition. Just like racism, sexism is a form of prejudice and stereotypical thinking against a certain group or class of society– in this case, based on their gender.

Sometimes, these prejudices can be quite obvious and intentional while other times they are subtle and quite thoughtlessly or casually tossed off in a conversation.

Take a look at some of the sexist remarks:

• "Get married now, have kids and take care of your family. What else is there in life?"
  Who cares about career, right?
• "You are already 30, it is so hard to find a good boy now!"
• “OMG! Don’t tell me that you are one of those feminists!”
  As if being a feminist is a bad thing.
• “Why are you so grumpy? Looks like it is that time of the month!”
• Insisting that “Women should be home before dark.”
  Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to insist that men should stop troubling women who go out after dark?

However there are more pressing forms of casual sexism that women daily face which strips them off there agency.  

Today is International day of elimination of violence  against women.   

According to data , a crime against a women is committed every threw minutes in India. Even during this pandemic , the graph of violence against women is increasing alongside the graph of COVID-19 . The United Nations described this worldwide increase of this domestic abuse as "SHADOW PANDEMIC"  

So instead of making fun of feminism , it's high time  for people take a stand against it and eliminate violence and this date. 

We actually need have designated date about

  "How to treat a women like human" 

" MADHAI MELA" 

Day before yesterday I came across one picture and video which made me to think is it the same country ? Where goddesses durga , lakshmi , saraswati are worshipped ...

Here I won't able to share due to some technical issues but would like to describe it with my words  

In a bizzare ritual that took place in CHHATTISGARH'S  Dhamtari district  . Here the gathering took place at Madhai mela ( Madhai fair)  in the district . It is usually held on the first Friday after Diwali and thousand of devotees come to offer there prayers to Goddess Angaarmoti.  

It is believed that ritual had been carried out from last 500 years  and that the locals   firmly believed in the power of the tradition . They  even believed that many women conceived after attending the fair.  

In videos that have gone  viral , around 200 hundred women  could be seen lying in the ground  on their stomach. Priest were  be seen  walking over there backs while chanting mantras and holding banners. 

This is so ridiculous  like if these evangelist (priest , baba ) are medicating women's so that she would conceive then What's the role of these MBBS Doctors , gynecologist are they dumb or these evangelist are trying to prove that  science doesn't exist ... See If a women won't able to conceive then may be she would have Pcod or other uterus related problem or the male sperms are also responsible sometimes and it needs proper medication. But what can be done with the people's narrow mindset they only blame women for every problem, it's a shame on society.   

This was about what my opinion on the concept of such stereotype ritual and of course you might also have your opinion . So let's come again to Casual Sexism.

Now, let me clarify here that sexism is not necessarily only and always against women. As I stated earlier, we raise our boys and girls differently so both the genders can be victims of such discrimination. For example, it is commonly believed in our society that men should not be emotional while it is completely fine to be so for women. This is a form of sexism against men. However, the types of prejudices against women are generally more atrocious and damaging than those against men.

How to deal with casual sexism

Similar to any other form of harassment against women, casual sexism is also triggered due to the mindset that presupposes that a woman is in some way inferior to her male counterpart. This mindset has developed over a long period. Although some natural differences in the physiology and psychology of a man and a woman to play an important role in the development of these prejudices, man’s ego and superiority complex have been feeding on these gender-based beliefs and prejudices. And that is the main reason why they are still present in our society even in the day and age of women empowerment.

So how do we deal with these subtle sexist attacks? 

The answer is – with courage and tactfulness. Let me explain.

Now obviously, you cannot change the mindset of your parents, relatives or co-workers overnight. You need to continuously work to change that either in a subtle way or aggressively (your choice).

However, when some of them throw a sexist remark towards you, how to respond to it is most definitely in your control.

These types of remarks are mostly made as a joke or a casual, non-serious comment. Take it like that – as a joke or a non-serious comment. Just laugh at them and say something like, “Are you serious?" or "Why do you think so?” or “How is that funny? Explain.” 

Don’t let your moral get dented by the sexist undertone in them. Always remember that it speaks more about their immature thinking and nothing about you as a woman. This way, you will be able to take away that subtle sting out of those remarks.

There are situations when your superiors pass a sexist comment unintentionally. Under those circumstances, politely asking them what they meant by the comment will make them think about it and possibly realize that what they said was more derogatory than humorous.

Whether the casual sexism is intentional or unintentional, women must take charge and stand firmly against it. Most people don’t even know they are practicing and propagating it. All it takes is to point out to the person that what they said is not funny or casual but can make someone feel like being treated differently just based on their gender. If you confront the situation gracefully, not only will you save yourself from feeling bad and disheartened by the comment but you will also force that person to reflect on his or her mindset.