Feminism is becoming a stronger lifestyle everyday with more and more people standing up for women. Although feminism seems to carry a negative connotation, it implies that women should be entitled to the equal rights as men on every ground. Women, as well as men, are united together to fight for our rights in a cruel patriarchy, one demeaning slur at a time.

“We definitely live in a male-dominated society,” St. Edward’s University student, Tony Nguyen, states, “Males benefit intrinsically from the fact that they are male. We never face issues that women have to face.”

The issue is a subtlety in our society, which is the reason why some may not be aware that sexism is an ongoing conflict in the world. The snide comments or little remarks definitely go a long way, unnoticed but expected of our peers. It is typical to hear the misogynistic undertones, but is sometimes difficult to detect. There is a very fine line between joking and prejudice.

“They never outright say ‘women are less than men,’ but they let us know they think it many ways,” West Coast University student, Victoria Malone, states, “they will elect less women into government even though we make up half of the population, they will let fewer women direct and produce films, they will make every commercial with a cleaning product feature a woman, as if to say, ‘don’t forget ladies, this is where you belong whether you like it or not.'”

These put-downs have gone far overlooked. However, verbal abuse is nothing compared to sexual harassment. Because women are usually seen as “weak” or “fragile,” we are also seen as easy targets. Even walking outside alone can prove to be a formidable task for some. A few well known defense strategies for wandering the streets include calling loved ones, clenching keys between fists, or the carrying traditional pepper spray. But these procedures beg the question, why is it necessary? It’s not that men aren’t being harassed as well, but it’s the fact that women’s rights are seen as lesser than those of men.

The origin of these problems is still unclear, though theories have been tossed around to discover where the source of the issue lies.

“The childbearing,” Longhorn, Kay Pantoja (11), says, “They had a baby, they stayed home and it just stayed that way for so long that people just wanted to be traditional. And it’s comfortable to the men to see a woman in the home.”

At this point, these “traditions” are too unjustifiable to excuse, and women have more than paid their debt to society through and through.  Yet sexism has been as long withstanding as racism — and both still thrive today.

“If we get rid of the ignorance and we educate everyone out there, we can just tear the patriarchy down,” Longhorn, Brittany Lai (11), says, “I don’t think it’s something that is in human nature to exist if we just get people educated about it.”

Sexism goes hand in hand with every problem dealing with discrimination — racism, religious persecution, homophobia, etc — all of which still exist in today’s society. Those of us who are aware of these problems often ask themselves, when will this end? How can we resolve these problems?

“The only way to remedy a problem like sexism is to continue to fight,” Malone states, “While it can seem hopeless, and looking back on history it seems almost impossible, we can also look back and see how far we have come.”