What I Would Change About American Society

What I would like to change about the society that I live in is the increasingly noticeable presence of modern sexism and the acceptance of sexism that is apparent to me, even in people that I would normally view as enlightened individuals. It has been my view for many years that sexism against women is the oldest negative "ism" that we have, and thusly, it seems to be the form of social injustice that will be the most difficult to eradicate. What I believe to be the most irritating aspect of sexism is that it is a commonly ignored problem when you compare it to the reaction that people have against racism, and to a lesser extent, homophobia. Racism seems to be the first issue that comes to the minds of many when faced with the subject of the oppression of large groups of people. This is confusing to me, since sexism, racism, and homophobia seem to be different parts of the same ugly animal. All three forms of oppression have one trait in common: people are discriminating against others based on a trait of  that can either not be changed or would be extremely difficult to change or hide.

One simply needs to think critically while watching commercials on television to see why anti racist sentiment takes precedence over being against sexism. Take for example, the ad campaign currently being run by the Seven Up/Dr. Pepper company. A few years ago I saw a Dr.Pepper commercial that filled me with a rage so strong that I started laughing hysterically, mostly because I couldn't believe that the concept would make it past the board room that I imagine the creation of commercials takes place in. The product advertised in this commercial is for Dr.Pepper 10, a version of the popular soft drink that has only 10 calories. The commercial is narrated by a masculine figure wearing camouflage who is running around in the forest doing various "manly" things. What is so disturbing about this ad is the dialogue. In the commercial the main character addresses the women that may be watching, asking "enjoying the movie, ladies? Of course not". He implies that all women hate action and the commercial ends with him saying "you can keep your romantic comedies and your girly drinks, we're good. DR. PEPPER: IT'S NOT FOR WOMEN". "What could be more blatantly sexist than this ad?" you may be asking yourself. The answer: the fact that the company made an official facebook page for the drink...and didn't allow people that listed their gender as "female" to play the games on it. Now think for a moment about what the reaction may have been if the excluded group was a ethnic minority. Imagine the words "DR.PEPPER: IT'S NOT FOR BLACK PEOPLE" emblazoned on your television screen. I think the reaction would have been a lot different and I don't think that the commercial would still be on the air.

I'd like to mention that this commercial was also sexist towards men, since it reinforced male stereotypes that may not ring true with all males. Many commercials have sexist themes that are aimed at men, especially if the commercial is for a cleaning product or involves shopping or cooking. Women are typically viewed as being superior at domestic duties and better at saving money, while the simple minded men track dirt into the house, spend their savings on birds of prey, and stick entire avocados into blenders. I think it's safe to say that both women and men could do without these heavily enforced stereotypes. The elimination of sexism against either gender (and those genders in between male and female) would make friendships and romantic relationships a lot easier for many reasons, the most obvious being that we could stop accusing one another of taking shots at us for something as small as a difference in genitalia.