Response to persistence of Sexism blog of 9/12

One reason sexism persists is that social change tends to be slothfully slow just like our present Congress in action. It takes years of educating people through plodding, prodding and repetition to make the positive changes we seek. (Look at how long it is taking to create legislation to prevent a worldwide catastrophe due to global climate change. While predictions are dire, people remain nonplussed and mired in entropy.) Another problem is that sexism has become more subtle. In addition, although we see sexism as dysfunctional it still serves some functions otherwise it would vaporize. Recently, we've been told that there are now more women in the workforce than men. At some level, this may look good. But it is not a kudo for women. It could simply mean that some employers would prefer to hire women because they pay them less, are less threatened by them, etc.

Your point about people perceiving some sex roles to be intrinsic is certainly one major roadblock. People don't even think about changing something that is written in DNA.

I may be perceived as soft on the crime of sexism, but my gut feeling is that we just have to continue patiently taking small tripping steps. Sometimes monumental gains are made by a stroke of serendipity but then it's usually back to the pokey glacial grind.

Karen