Perspectives

I learn something new everyday. Today, I learned that I am a sexist. I am not denying that I am opinionated, grounded in my beliefs and quite certain of my morals and values, but a sexist? Well, it turns out, probably. And, I am not sure that is a horrible thing. When most people think about the term sexist, they probably think about men talking about women in a derogatory manner, but it is the 2000's. We are an equal-opportunity society. I tend to generalize about men often. What was brought to my attention today, is that I make "sexist" comments about men "all the time." This is the first time I have been told that I was a sexist by anyone, so I found it quite interesting. I was a little resistant to the label, but after a 30 minute discussion found out that by definition, I am a sexist.

In my own defense (but I don't think I need one) I have had years of what I would term reverse conditioning and training to lead me to where I am today. I am not a hard-core male-bashing feminist, but I do have my moments where I generalize male behavior. Furthermore, I believe that men and women both have certain behaviors that are inherent to their sexes and those behaviors are typically more prominent in one than the other. If this makes me a sexist, so be it. But, I know that I am not alone in these beliefs. These are called gender roles. Gender roles today have blurred significantly with the changes in the definitions of marriage and family, but men are still men and women are still women by some societal standard and certain characteristics will always be defined as masculine or feminine.

With that being said, this is not what defines a person. A person is a unique individual with his /her own traits, foibles, and characteristics. A person is a product of his/her environment and choices combined with his/her personality. He or she is not defined by his/her sex, but by the entire mosaic.