View source for Sexism

{{short description|Prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender}}
{{hatnote group|{{redirect-multi|3|Anti-sexism|Sex discrimination|Gender discrimination|other uses|Anti-sexism (disambiguation)|discrimination based on sexuality|Sexual orientation discrimination|discrimination based on sex traits|Discrimination against intersex people|movement centered on discrimination based on gender and gender theory|Anti-gender movement}}
}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{use American English|date=June 2020}}
{{use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
[[File: Suffragette arrest, London, 1914.jpg|thumb|alt=A woman under arrest walking between two policemen |[[Suffragette]] [[Dora Thewlis]] was arrested by the [[Metropolitan Police]] in 1914 for campaigning for women's right to vote.]]
'''Sexism''' is [[prejudice]] or [[discrimination]] based on one's [[sex]] or [[gender]]. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects [[women]] and [[girl]]s.<!--NOTE: Consensus among WP: Reliable sources, assessed via WP: Due weight, is that sexism is typically against women. Before removing this text, raise the issue on the talk page first.--><ref name="Discrimination Against Women"/> It has been linked to [[gender role]]s and [[stereotype]]s,<ref name="Matsumoto 2001">{{cite book |last=Matsumoto |first=David |title=The Handbook of Culture and Psychology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-513181-9 |page=197}}</ref><ref name="Nakdimen 1984">{{cite journal |last=Nakdimen |first=K. A. |title=The Physiognomic Basis of Sexual Stereotyping |journal=[[American Journal of Psychiatry]] |year=1984 |volume=141 |issue=4 |pages=499–503 |doi=10.1176/ajp.141.4.499 |pmid=6703126}}</ref> and may include the belief that one sex or gender is intrinsically superior to another.<ref name="Schaefer 2011">{{Cite book |title=Sociology in Modules |last=Schaefer |first=Richard T. |date=2011 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-802677-5 |location=New York |page=315 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sociologyinmodul0000scha_m7y8/page/315/mode/1up?view=theater |chapter-url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive |chapter=Women: The Oppressed Majority}}</ref> Extreme sexism may foster [[sexual harassment]], [[rape]], and other forms of [[sexual violence]].<ref>Forcible Rape Institutionalized Sexism in the Criminal Justice System| Gerald D. Robin Division of Criminal Justice, [[University of New Haven]]</ref><ref name="Masequesmay 2014">{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Masequesmay |first=Gina |date=5 Jan 2024 |title=Sexism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/sexism |access-date=19 Feb 2024 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> Discrimination in this context is defined as discrimination toward people based on their [[gender identity]]<ref name="Macklem 2003"/> or their gender or sex differences.<ref name="Lenhart 2004"/> Sexism refers to violation of equal opportunities ([[Equal opportunity|formal equality]]) based on gender or refers to violation of [[equality of outcome]]s based on gender, also called [[substantive equality]].<ref name="EU">[https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229120927947 De Vos, M. (2020). The European Court of Justice and the march towards substantive equality in European Union anti-discrimination law. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 20(1), 62-87.]</ref> Sexism may arise from social or cultural customs and norms.<ref name="Macfarlane 2019">{{Cite news |last1=Macfarlane |first1=Christina |last2=Coppack |first2=Sean |last3=Masters |first3=James |date=September 12, 2019 |title=FIFA must act after death of Iran's 'Blue Girl,' says activist |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/12/football/iran-blue-girl-sahar-khodayari-spt-intl/index.html |access-date=June 20, 2020 |publisher=CNN}}</ref>

== Etymology and definitions ==
Sexism may be defined as [[discrimination]], [[prejudice]], or [[stereotyping]] based on [[gender]], most often expressed toward women and girls.<ref name="Discrimination Against Women">{{Multiref2 | {{cite book |ref=none |editor1-last=Stevenson |editor1-first=Angus |editor2-last=Lindberg |editor2-first=Christine A. |title=New Oxford American Dictionary |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-989153-5 |pages=}} Defines sexism as "prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex".{{page needed|date=February 2024}} | {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Cudd |first1=Ann E. |author1-link=Ann E. Cudd |last2=Jones |first2=Leslie E. |chapter=Sexism |editor1-last=Frey |editor1-first=R. G. |editor2-last=Wellman |editor2-first=Christopher Heath |title=A Companion to Applied Ethics |series=Blackwell Companions to Philosophy |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-7190-8 |page=104 |quote={{nowrap|[I]n}} the more accurate and more specific sense{{nbsp}}[...] 'sexism' refers to a historically and globally pervasive form of oppression against women.}} | {{cite encyclopedia |ref=none |last=Masequesmay |first=Gina |editor-last=O'Brien |editor-first=Jodi |title=Sexism |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, Volume 2 |year=2008 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif. |isbn=978-1-4522-6602-2 |pages=748–751 |quote=''Sexism'' usually refers to prejudice or discrimination based on sex or gender, especially against women and girls.}} | {{Cite encyclopedia |ref=none |last=Masequesmay |first=Gina |date=17 October 2025 |title=Sexism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/sexism |access-date=9 November 2025 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |quote=Sexism in a society is most commonly applied against women and girls. It functions to maintain patriarchy, or male domination, through ideological and material practices of individuals, collectives, and institutions that oppress women and girls on the basis of sex or gender.}} | {{cite book |ref=none |editor1-last=Jary |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Jary |editor2-first=Julia |title=Collins Dictionary of Sociology |date=2005 |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |location=Glasgow |isbn=978-0-00-718399-9 |page=551 |edition=4th |url=https://archive.org/details/collinsdictionar0000unse_t6p4/page/551/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}} Defines ''sexism'' as discrimination against either men or women on the grounds of sex, and also "any devaluation or denigration of women or men, but particularly women, which is embodied in institutions and social relationships". | {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Scruton |first1=Roger |author1-link=Roger Scruton |title=The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought |date=2007 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |edition=3rd |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hants. |isbn=978-0-230-62509-9 |page=631 |quote=Either sex may be the object of sexist attitudes{{nbsp}}[...] however, it is commonly held that, in developed societies, women have been the usual victims.}} | {{cite encyclopedia |ref=none |editor=Sears, James T. |editor-link=James T. Sears |title=Sexism |encyclopedia=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Love, Courtship, and Sexuality through History, Volume 6: The Modern World |year=2007 |pages= |isbn=978-0-3133-3646-1 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |quote=Sexism is any act, attitude, or institutional configuration that systematically subordinates or devalues women. Built upon the belief that men and women are constitutionally different, sexism takes these differences as indications that men are inherently superior to women, which then is used to justify the nearly universal dominance of men in social and familial relationships, as well as politics, religion, language, law, and economics.}}{{page needed|date=February 2024}} | {{cite encyclopedia |ref=none |last=Foster |first=Carly Hayden |editor-last=Kurian |editor-first=George Thomas |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Political Science |title=Sexism |year=2011 |publisher=CQ Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-9331-1644-0 |pages= |quote={{nowrap|[B]oth}} men and women can experience sexism, but sexism against women is more pervasive}}{{page needed|date=February 2024}} | {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Johnson |first1=Allan G. |author1-link=Allan G. Johnson |title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology: A User's Guide to Sociological Language |date=2000 |publisher=Blackwell Publishers |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-631-21681-0 |edition=2nd |pages= |quote={{nowrap|[T]he}} key test of whether something is sexist{{nbsp}}[...] lies in its consequences: if it supports male privilege, then it is by definition sexist. I specify 'male privilege' because in every known society where gender inequality exists, males are privileged over females.}}{{page needed|date=February 2024}} | {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Lorber |first1=Judith |author1-link=Judith Lorber |title=Gender Inequality: Feminist Theories and Politics |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-1953-7522-0 |page=4 |edition=4th |quote=Although we speak of {{em|gender}} inequality, it is usually women who are disadvantaged relative to similarly situated men.}} [Emphasis in original] | {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Wortman |first1=Camille B. |last2=Loftus |first2=Elizabeth F. |last3=Weaver |first3=Charles A. |author1-link=Camille B. Wortman |author2-link=Elizabeth F. Loftus |title=Psychology |date=1999 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-0707-1931-6 |page=601 |edition=5th |url=https://archive.org/details/psychology5edwort/page/601/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive |quote=Sexism, or prejudice toward one sex (almost always women), has existed throughout recorded history.}} }}</ref>
Sexism may also be defined as an [[ideology]] which holds that one sex (usually men) is superior to another (usually women).<ref name="ideology">{{Multiref2 | {{Cite book |ref=none |title=Sociology |last=Macionis |first=John J. |date=2012 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-205-18109-4 |edition=13th |location=Boston |page=330 |quote=The justification for patriarchy is sexism, the belief that one sex is innately superior to the other. |url=https://archive.org/details/sociology2010cen0000maci/page/330/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}} | {{Cite book |ref=none |title=Sociology in Modules |last=Schaefer |first=Richard T. |date=2011 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-802677-5 |location=New York |page=315 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sociologyinmodul0000scha_m7y8/page/315/mode/1up?view=theater |chapter-url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive |chapter=Women: The Oppressed Majority |quote=Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior to the other. The term is generally used to refer to male prejudice and discrimination against women.}} | {{Cite book |ref=none |title=Sociology: A Brief Introduction |last=Schaefer |first=Richard T. |date=2009 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-340426-4 |edition=8th |location=New York |pages=274–275 |oclc=243941681}} | {{cite encyclopedia |ref=none |last=Masequesmay |first=Gina |editor-last=O'Brien |editor-first=Jodi |title=Sexism |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, Volume 2 |year=2008 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif. |isbn=978-1-4522-6602-2 |pages=748–751 |quote=Sexism is an ideology or practices that maintain patriarchy or male domination.}} | {{cite book |ref=none |last=Hornsby |first=Jennifer |author1-link=Jennifer Hornsby |editor-last=Honderich |editor-first=Ted |chapter=Sexism |title=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-103747-4 |pages=}} Defines sexism as "thought or practice which may permeate language and which assumes women's inferiority to men".{{page needed|date=February 2024}} }}</ref>

According to legal scholar [[Fred R. Shapiro]], the term ''sexism'' was most likely coined on November 18, 1965, by Pauline M. Leet during a "Student-Faculty Forum" at [[Franklin and Marshall College]]. Specifically, the word ''sexism'' appears in Leet's forum contribution "Women and the Undergraduate", and she defines it by comparing it to racism, stating in part: 

{{block quotation|When you argue{{nbsp}}[...] that since fewer women write good poetry this justifies their total exclusion, you are taking a position analogous to that of the racist—I might call you, in this case, a 'sexist'{{nbsp}}[...] Both the racist and the sexist are acting as if all that has happened had never happened, and both of them are making decisions and coming to conclusions about someone's value by referring to factors which are in both cases irrelevant.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Shapiro |first=Fred R. |date=1985 |title=Historical Notes on the Vocabulary of the Women's Movement |journal=American Speech |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=3–16 |doi=10.2307/454643 |jstor=454643 |issn=0003-1283}}</ref>}}

According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', the first appearance in print of the term ''sexism'' was in [[Caroline Bird (American author)|Caroline Bird]]'s speech "On Being Born Female", delivered before the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] Executive Council in [[Greenwich, Connecticut]], and published in 1968 in ''Vital Speeches of the Day''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary, Volume 15|date=1989|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford, UK|page=112|edition=2nd|chapter=Sexism}}</ref>

[[Sociologist]]s have examined sexism at the level of the individual as well as of [[social institution]]s.<ref name="Schaefer 2009">{{Cite book |title=Sociology: A Brief Introduction |last=Schaefer |first=Richard T. |date=2009 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-340426-4 |edition=8th |location=New York |pages=274–275 |oclc=243941681}}</ref> According to Richard Schaefer, sexism is perpetuated by all major [[social institutions]].<ref name="Schaefer 2009"/> Sociologists describe parallels among other ideological systems of oppression such as [[racism]], which also operates at both the individual and institutional level.<ref name="Hughes 2009">{{Cite book |title=Sociology: The Core |last1=Hughes |first1=Michael |date=2009 |publisher=McGraw Hill/Higher Education |last2=Kroehler |first2=Carolyn J. |isbn=978-0-07-340425-7 |edition=9th |location=Boston |page=247 |url=https://archive.org/details/sociologycore0009edhugh/page/247/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Early female sociologists [[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]], [[Ida B. Wells]], and [[Harriet Martineau]] described systems of [[gender inequality]], but did not use the term ''sexism'', which was coined later. Sociologists who adopted the functionalist paradigm, e.g. [[Talcott Parsons]], understood gender inequality as the natural outcome of a dimorphic model of gender.<ref name="Witt 2017">{{Cite book |title=SOC 2018 |last=Witt |first=Jon |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-259-70272-3 |edition=5th |location=New York |page=301 |oclc=968304061}}</ref>

Psychologists Mary Crawford and [[Rhoda Unger]] define sexism as prejudice held by individuals that encompasses "negative attitudes and values about women as a group."<ref name="Crawford p9">{{Cite book |title=Women and Gender: A Feminist Psychology |last1=Crawford |first1=Mary |date=2004 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |last2=Unger |first2=Rhoda K. |isbn=978-0-07-282107-9 |edition=4th |location=Boston |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/details/womengenderfemin0000craw/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> [[Peter Glick (psychologist)|Peter Glick]] and [[Susan Fiske]] coined the term ''[[ambivalent sexism]]'' to describe how stereotypes about women can be both positive and negative, and that individuals compartmentalize the stereotypes they hold into hostile sexism or benevolent sexism.{{sfnp|Crawford|Unger|2004|pp=59–60}}

Feminist author [[bell hooks]] defines sexism as a system of oppression that results in disadvantages for women.<ref name="Hooks 2000">{{cite book |last1=Hooks |first1=Bell |title=Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center |date=2000 |publisher=South End Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-89608-614-2 |page=48 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/feministtheoryfr0002hook/page/48/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Feminist philosopher [[Marilyn Frye]] defines sexism as an "attitudinal-conceptual-cognitive-orientational complex" of [[Androcentrism|male supremacy]], [[male chauvinism]], and misogyny.<ref name="Frye 1983">{{Cite book |title=The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory |last=Frye |first=Marilyn |publisher=Crossing Press |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-89594-099-5 |edition=First |location=Trumansburg, N.Y. |page=41 |oclc=9323470 |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofrealit00frye/page/41/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Philosopher [[Kate Manne]] defines sexism as one branch of a [[patriarchy|patriarchal order]]. In her definition, sexism rationalizes and justifies patriarchal norms, in contrast with [[misogyny]], the branch which polices and enforces patriarchal norms. Manne says that sexism often attempts to make patriarchal social arrangements seem natural, good, or inevitable so that there appears to be no reason to resist them.<ref name="Manne 2019">{{cite book |last=Manne |first=Kate |author-link=Kate Manne |date=2019 |title=Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=78–79 |isbn=978-0-19-060498-1}}</ref>

== <span class="anchor" id="History of gender discrimination"></span> History ==
===Pre-agricultural world===
Evidence is lacking to support the idea that many pre-agricultural societies afforded women a higher status than women today,<ref>{{cite book |last=Eller |first=Cynthia |year=2000 |title=The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory |location=Boston |publisher=[[Beacon Press]] |isbn=978-0-8070-6793-2}}</ref> however, historians are reasonably sure that women had roughly equal social power to men in many such societies.<ref name="Lockard 2014">{{cite book |author=Craig Lockard |title=Societies, Networks, and Transitions: A Global History |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-305-17707-9 |year=2014 |pages=88–89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FLg8AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref> 

=== <span class="anchor" id="Ancient sexism"></span> Ancient civilizations ===

[[File:A Hindoo Widow Burning Herself with the Corpse of her Husband.jpg|thumb|alt=Engraving of a woman preparing to self-immolate with her husband's corpse |[[Sati (practice)|Sati]], or self-immolation by widows, was prevalent in [[Hindu]] society until the early 19th century.]]

After the adoption of agriculture and sedentary cultures, the concept that one gender was inferior to the other was established; most often this was imposed upon women and girls.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=A Brief History of the World |id=Course No. 8080 |type=audio CD |people=Peter N. Stearns (narrator) |publisher=The Teaching Company |asin=B000W595CC}}</ref>  

The status of [[women in ancient Egypt]] depended on their fathers or husbands, but they had property rights and could attend court, including as plaintiffs.<ref name="Silverman 2003">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x7p_QMIjESwC&pg=PA80 |title=Ancient Egypt |author=David P. Silverman |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-521952-4 |pages=80–84 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref> Examples of unequal treatment of women in the ancient world include written laws preventing women from participating in the political process; for instance, [[women in ancient Rome]] could not vote or hold [[Roman magistrate|political office]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Bruce W. |last1=Frier |first2=Thomas A. J. |last2=McGinn |title=A Casebook on Roman Family Law |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=American Philological Association |year=2004 |pages=31–32, 457, ''et passim'' |isbn=978-0-19-516185-4}}</ref> Another example is scholarly texts that indoctrinate children in female inferiority; [[Women in ancient and imperial China|women in ancient China]] were taught the [[Confucian]] principles that a woman should [[Three Obediences and Four Virtues|obey]] her father in childhood, husband in marriage, and son in widowhood.<ref name="Wu 2009">{{cite journal |title=周代男女角色定位及其对现代社会的影响 |trans-title=Role orientation of men and women in the Zhou Dynasty and their effects on modern society |last1=Wu 吴 |first1=Xiaohua 晓华 |language=zh |journal=Chang'An Daxue Xuebao (Shehui Kexue Ban) |date=2009 |volume=11 |issue=3 |page=87}}</ref> On the other hand, [[Anglo-Saxon women|women of the Anglo-Saxon era]] were commonly afforded equal status.<ref name="Lehmberg 2013">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXlTAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 |title=A History of the Peoples of the British Isles: From Prehistoric Times to 1688 |author=Stanford Lehmberg |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-134-41528-1 |page=35 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref>

=== Witch hunts and trials ===

{{Main|Witch hunt}}

[[File:Malleus maleficarum, Köln 1520, Titelseite.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Titlepage from the book Malleus Maleficarum |"The Hammer of Witches which destroyeth Witches and their heresy as with a two-edged sword". Title page of the seventh [[Cologne]] edition of the ''[[Malleus Maleficarum]]'', 1520, from the [[University of Sydney Library]].<ref>The English translation is from [http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/notes/n192863.html this note] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006103829/http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/notes/n192863.html |date=October 6, 2013}} to [http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/mm00c7.html Summers' 1928 introduction] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225301/http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/mm00c7.html |date=September 27, 2007}}.</ref>]]

Sexism may have been the impetus that fueled the witch trials between the 15th and 18th centuries.<ref>[[#Thu01|Thurston 2001]]. p. 01.</ref> In [[early modern Europe]], and in the European colonies in North America, claims were made that [[witch]]es were a threat to [[Christendom]]. The misogyny of that period played a role in the persecution of these women.<ref>Barstow, Anne Llewellyn (1994) ''Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts'' San Francisco: Pandora.</ref><ref>[[#Thu01|Thurston 2001]]. pp. 42–45.</ref>

In ''[[Malleus Maleficarum]]'' by [[Heinrich Kramer]], the book which played a major role in the witch hunts and trials, the author argues that women are more likely to practice witchcraft than men, and writes that:

: All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman&nbsp;... What else is a woman but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colors!<ref>Kramer and Sprenger. Malleus Maleficarum.</ref>

Witchcraft remains illegal in several countries, including [[Saudi Arabia]], where it is [[punishable by death]]. In 2011, a woman was beheaded in that country for "witchcraft and sorcery".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/13/world/meast/saudi-arabia-beheading/ |work=[[CNN]].com |title=Saudi woman beheaded for 'witchcraft and sorcery' |date=December 14, 2011}}</ref> Murders of women after being accused of witchcraft remain common in some parts of the world; for example, in [[Tanzania]], about 500 elderly women are murdered each year following such accusations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=World Health Organization |title=World Report on Violence Chapter 5 – Abuse of the elderly |url=https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/en/chap5.pdf |access-date=June 20, 2020 |website=who.int}}</ref>

When women are targeted with accusations of witchcraft and subsequent violence, it is often the case that several forms of discrimination interact – for example, discrimination based on gender with discrimination based on [[caste]], as is the case in India and Nepal, where such crimes are relatively common.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shrestha |first=Deepesh |date=February 15, 2010 |title=Witch-hunts of low-caste women in Nepal |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7241937/Witch-hunts-of-low-caste-women-in-Nepal.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7241937/Witch-hunts-of-low-caste-women-in-Nepal.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=June 20, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Iaccino |first=Ludovica |date=July 22, 2014 |title=Witch Hunting in India: Poor, Low Caste and Widows Main Targets |work=International Business Times |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/witch-hunting-india-poor-low-caste-widows-main-targets-1457809 |access-date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

=== Coverture and other marriage regulations ===

{{Main|Coverture|Marital power|Restitution of conjugal rights|Kirchberg v. Feenstra|Marriage bar}}
[[File:Say no to dowry.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=An Indian Anti-dowry poster headed Say No To Dowry |Anti-[[dowry]] poster in [[Bangalore, India]]. According to Amnesty International, "[T]he ongoing reality of dowry-related violence is an example of what can happen when women are treated as property."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women/violence-against-women-information |title=Violence Against Women Information |website=Amnesty International USA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529111202/http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women/violence-against-women-information |archive-date=May 29, 2011}}</ref>]]

Until the 20th century, U.S. and [[English law]] observed the system of [[coverture]], where "by marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law; that is the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage".<ref name="Blackstone's Commentaries">{{cite web |author=Blackstone, William |author-link=William Blackstone |title=Extracts from William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England 1765–1769 |url=http://www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/xblack.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005032946/http://www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/xblack.htm |archive-date=5 October 2008 |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> U.S. women were not legally defined as "persons" until 1875 (''[[Minor v. Happersett]]'', 88 U.S. 162).<ref name="Legacy '98 2001">{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy98.org/timeline.html |title=Legacy '98: Detailed Timeline |publisher=Legacy98.org |date=2001-09-19 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702081142/https://www.legacy98.org/timeline.html |archive-date=July 2, 2010}}</ref> A similar legal doctrine, called [[marital power]], existed under [[Roman Dutch law]] (and is still partially in force in present-day [[Eswatini]]).{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Restrictions on married women's rights were common in Western countries until a few decades ago: for instance, French married women obtained the right to work without their husband's permission in 1965,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Allwood |first=Gill |year=1999 |title=Women in France |url=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/explore/cmcf-vsi-women-in-france.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Modern and Contemporary France |volume=7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092212/http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/explore/cmcf-vsi-women-in-france.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parisvoice.com/-archives-97-86/282-frances-leading-women-show-the-way |title=France's leading women show the way |publisher=Parisvoice.com |access-date=July 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728175142/http://www.parisvoice.com/-archives-97-86/282-frances-leading-women-show-the-way |archive-date=July 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/TWR-07.html |title=Lesson – The French Civil Code (Napoleonic Code) – Teaching Women's Rights From Past to Present |website=Womeninworldhistory.com |access-date=July 20, 2013}}</ref> and in West Germany women obtained this right in 1977.<ref>{{cite news |last=Benhold |first=K. |date=2010 |title=20 years after fall of wall, women of former East Germany thrive |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 17, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/world/europe/06iht-letter.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trzcinski |first1=E. |last2=Holst |first2=E. |year=2012 |title=Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being In and Out of Management Positions |journal=[[Social Indicators Research]] |volume=107 |issue=3 |pages=449–463 |doi=10.1007/s11205-011-9857-y |citeseerx=10.1.1.621.3965 |s2cid=189873867}}</ref> During the [[Francisco Franco|Franco]] era, in Spain, a married woman required her husband's consent (called ''permiso marital'') for employment, ownership of property and traveling away from home; the ''permiso marital'' was abolished in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/spain/43.htm |title=Spain – Social Values And Attitudes |publisher=Countrystudies.us |access-date=July 20, 2013}}</ref> In Australia, until 1983, a married woman's passport application had to be authorized by her husband.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.passports.gov.au/Web/passport_history.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614171552/http://www.passports.gov.au/Web/passport_history.aspx |archive-date=June 14, 2006 |title=The History of Passports in Australia |date=June 14, 2006}}</ref>

Women in parts of the world continue to lose their legal rights in marriage. For example, [[Yemen]]i marriage regulations state that a wife must obey her husband and must not leave home without his permission.<ref>{{cite web |author=Amnesty International |date=2009 |title=Yemen's dark side: Discrimination and violence against women and girls |access-date=April 17, 2015 |url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/ngos/Yemen%27s%20darkside-discrimination_Yemen_HRC101.pdf}}</ref> In [[Iraq]], the law allows husbands to legally "punish" their wives.<ref>{{cite web |title=The law states: "The punishment of a wife by her husband, the disciplining by parents and teachers of children under their authority [is permitted] within certain limits prescribed by law or by custom" |url=http://law.case.edu/saddamtrial/documents/Iraqi_Penal_Code_1969.pdf |publisher=Law.case.edu |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021100954/http://law.case.edu/saddamtrial/documents/Iraqi_Penal_Code_1969.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2012}}</ref> In the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], the Family Code states that the husband is the head of the household; the wife owes her obedience to her husband; a wife has to live with her husband wherever he chooses to live; and wives must have their husbands' authorization to bring a case in court or initiate other legal proceedings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/drc/Congo0602-09.htm |title=The War Within the War |website=Hrw.org |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref>

Abuses and discriminatory practices against women in marriage are often rooted in financial payments such as [[dowry]], [[bride price]], and [[dower]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2012/12/unw-legislation-supplement-en%20pdf.pdf |title=Handbook for Legislation on Violence Against Women: Supplement to the "Harmful Practices" against Women |publisher=UN Women |date=2012 |location=New York |access-date=April 25, 2015 |archive-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610131259/http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2012/12/unw-legislation-supplement-en%20pdf.pdf}}</ref> These transactions often serve as legitimizing [[coercive control]] of the wife by her husband and in giving him authority over her; for instance Article 13 of the [[Code of Personal Status (Tunisia)]] states that, "The husband shall not, in default of payment of the dower, force the woman to consummate the marriage",<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=4322925 |title=The Tunisian Code of Personal Status (Majallat Al-Ahw Al Al-Shakhsiy Ah) |first=George N. |last=Sfeir |date=1 January 1957 |journal=[[Middle East Journal]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=309–318}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Code du Statut Personnel – Tunisie |url=https://www.jurisitetunisie.com/tunisie/codes/csp/Csp1015.htm |access-date=August 26, 2019 |website=www.jurisitetunisie.com |language=fr}}</ref> implying that, if the dower is paid, [[marital rape]] is permitted. In this regard, critics have questioned the alleged gains of women in [[Tunisia]], and its image as a progressive country in the region, arguing that discrimination against women remains very strong there.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 13, 2013 |title=7 raisons pour les hommes et les femmes de remettre en cause le CSP&nbsp;... ou pas |url=http://www.huffpostmaghreb.com/2013/08/13/raisons-hommes-femmes-csp_n_3747952.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702190813/http://www.huffpostmaghreb.com/2013/08/13/raisons-hommes-femmes-csp_n_3747952.html |archive-date=July 2, 2015 |access-date=June 14, 2015 |website=[[Al Huffington Post]] |url-status=usurped |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nouveaux progrès, mais il ne faut pas pour autant pavoiser |url=http://www.letemps.com.tn/article/83765/nouveaux-progr%C3%A8s-mais-il-ne-faut-pas-pour-autant-pavoiser |access-date=June 14, 2015 |website=[[Le Temps]] |language=fr |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505093933/http://www.letemps.com.tn/article/83765/nouveaux-progr%C3%A8s-mais-il-ne-faut-pas-pour-autant-pavoiser}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=FIDH |title=Les violences sexuelles en Tunisie: après le déni, un début de (...) |url=https://www.fidh.org/La-Federation-internationale-des-ligues-des-droits-de-l-homme/maghreb-moyen-orient/tunisie/15424-les-violences-sexuelles-en-tunisie-apres-le-deni-un-debut-de |access-date=June 14, 2015 |website=FIDH – Worldwide Human Rights Movement |language=fr}}</ref>

The [[World Organisation Against Torture]] (OMCT) has recognized the "independence and ability to leave an abusive husband" as crucial in stopping mistreatment of women.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/droi_090121_9omct/DROI_090121_9OMCTen.pdf |title=Combating extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the Philippines by addressing their economic, social and cultural root causes |access-date=November 18, 2019}}</ref> However, in some parts of the world, once married, women have very little chance of leaving a violent husband: obtaining a [[divorce]] is very difficult in many jurisdictions because of the need to prove [[Divorce#At-fault divorce|fault]] in court. While attempting a ''[[de facto]]'' separation (moving away from the marital home) is also impossible because of laws preventing this. For instance, in [[Afghanistan]], a wife who leaves her marital home risks being imprisoned for "running away".<ref>{{cite web |author=Human Rights Watch |date=2012 |title='I had to run away': The imprisonment of women and girls for 'moral crimes' in Afghanistan |access-date=April 17, 2015 |url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/afghanistan0312webwcover_0.pdf |website=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22614536 |title=More Afghan women jailed for 'moral crimes', says HRW—BBC News |publisher=BBC.com |date=May 21, 2013 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> In addition, many former British colonies, including [[India]], maintain the concept of [[restitution of conjugal rights]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1382895/ |title=Smt. Saroj Rani vs Sudarshan Kumar Chadha on 8 August, 1984 |publisher=Indiankanoon.org |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref> under which a wife may be ordered by court to return to her husband; if she fails to do so, she may be held in [[contempt of court]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Samta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gN1dEJuiZ0cC&q=india+if+a+woman+fails+to+return+to+her+husband+she+may+be+held+in+contempt+of+court&pg=PA205 |title=Women and Labour in Late Colonial India: The Bengal Jute Industry |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=205 |isbn=978-0-521-45363-9 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref><!--<ref>[http://www.esocialsciences.org/Download/repecDownload.aspx?qs=Uqn/rN48N8UOPcbSXUd2VF1L1gqR3i8qEifUw/RWYQS4WrMWtyLI/TA9E5klz08DFzwCoAiC8f6t7I6f0nJIyFlx6CcmXz+JQ6yidtSIGFPvVUamcPjvFryZSnf5DDLHPJyg1qcTMLOU0iDofyuYvfkJ5r4jItzZJarbB26DeQg9z8RmNAfNvHTnWIR5ZcITDFUD14lrCeNgxZ3nYAWuzg] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150402172914/http://www.esocialsciences.org/Download/repecDownload.aspx?qs=Uqn/rN48N8UOPcbSXUd2VF1L1gqR3i8qEifUw/RWYQS4WrMWtyLI/TA9E5klz08DFzwCoAiC8f6t7I6f0nJIyFlx6CcmXz+JQ6yidtSIGFPvVUamcPjvFryZSnf5DDLHPJyg1qcTMLOU0iDofyuYvfkJ5r4jItzZJarbB26DeQg9z8RmNAfNvHTnWIR5ZcITDFUD14lrCeNgxZ3nYAWuzg|date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> ---><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=797c51f7-0615-4fa8-b92e-7d7d24d03689&txtsearch=Subject:%20Family%20Law |title=Manupatra Articles |publisher=Manupatrafast.com |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092830/http://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=797c51f7-0615-4fa8-b92e-7d7d24d03689&txtsearch=Subject:%20Family%20Law |archive-date=2015-04-02}}</ref> Other problems have to do with the payment of the [[bride price]]: if the wife wants to leave, her husband may demand the return of the bride price that he had paid to the woman's family; and the woman's family often cannot or does not want to pay it back.<ref>{{cite web |author=Equality Now |date=2007 |title=Protecting the girl child: Using the law to end child, early and forced marriage and related human rights violations |access-date=April 17, 2015 |url=https://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Protecting_the_Girl_Child.pdf |archive-date=March 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329215211/https://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Protecting_the_Girl_Child.pdf }}</ref><ref>Lelieveld, M. (2011) Child protection in the Somali region of Ethiopia. A report for the Bridges project Piloting the delivery of quality education services in the developing regional states of Ethiopia. Retrieved April 17, 2015 from {{cite web |url=http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/FINALChild_Protection_in_the_Somali_Region_30511.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=March 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924095119/http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/FINALChild_Protection_in_the_Somali_Region_30511.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Stange, Mary Zeiss |editor2=Carol K. Oyster |editor3=Jane E. Sloan |entry= |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World |volume=1 |year=2011 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-1-4129-7685-5 |page=496}}</ref>

Laws, regulations, and traditions related to marriage continue to discriminate against women in many parts of the world, and to contribute to the mistreatment of women, in particular in areas related to [[sexual violence]] and to self-determination regarding [[sexuality]], the violation of the latter now being acknowledged as a violation of [[women's rights]]. In 2012, [[Navi Pillay]], then [[High Commissioner for Human Rights]], stated that:

<blockquote>Women are frequently treated as property, they are sold into marriage, into trafficking, into sexual slavery. Violence against women frequently takes the form of sexual violence. Victims of such violence are often accused of promiscuity and held responsible for their fate, while infertile women are rejected by husbands, families and communities. In many countries, married women may not refuse to have sexual relations with their husbands, and often have no say in whether they use contraception{{nbsp}}... Ensuring that women have full autonomy over their bodies is the first crucial step towards achieving substantive equality between women and men. Personal issues—such as when, how and with whom they choose to have sex, and when, how and with whom they choose to have children—are at the heart of living a life in dignity.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pillay |first=Navi |author-link=Navi Pillay |date=2012 |title=Valuing women as autonomous beings: Women's sexual reproductive health rights |website=United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner |access-date=April 18, 2015 |url=http://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/files/news/news_2012/Navi%20Pillay%20Lecture%2015%20May%202012.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313210726/http://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/files/news/news_2012/Navi%20Pillay%20Lecture%2015%20May%202012.pdf |archive-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Suffrage and politics ===

[[File:Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Two woman carry a sign reading "Votes for Women". |[[Annie Kenney]] and [[Christabel Pankhurst]]]]

Gender has been used as a tool for discrimination against women in the political sphere. [[Women's suffrage]] was not achieved until 1893, when New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote. Saudi Arabia is the most recent country, as of August 2015, to extend the right to vote to women in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Timeline of Women's Suffrage Granted, by Country |url=https://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931343.html |publisher=Infoplease |access-date=December 1, 2013}}</ref> Some Western countries allowed women the right to vote only relatively recently. [[Switzerland|Swiss]] women gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1971,<ref name="Switzerland's Long Way">{{cite web |url=http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/chronology-womens-right-vote-switzerland.html |title=The Long Way to Women's Right to Vote in Switzerland: a Chronology |publisher=History-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch |access-date=August 1, 2011}}</ref> and [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]] became the last [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]] to grant women the right to vote on local issues in 1991, when it was forced to do so by the [[Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/WOM1373.doc.htm |title=Experts in women's anti-discrimination committee raise questions concerning reports of Switzerland on compliance with convention |date=January 14, 2003 |publisher=United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women |access-date=September 2, 2011}}</ref> French women were granted the right to vote in 1944.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jean-Pierre Maury |title=Ordonnance du 21 avril 1944 relative à l'organisation des pouvoirs publics en France après la Libération |url=http://mjp.univ-perp.fr/france/co1944-2.htm |access-date=January 8, 2011 |publisher=Mjp.univ-perp.fr |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/femmes/citoyennete_politique_de-Gaulle.asp |title=La citoyenneté politique des femmes—La décision du Général de Gaulle |author=Assemblée nationale |access-date=December 19, 2007 |language=fr}}</ref> In Greece, women obtained the right to vote in 1952.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.db-decision.de/CoRe/Greece.htm |title=European Database: Women in Decision-making – y Country Report Greece |author=Kerstin Teske: teske@fczb.de |website=db-decision.de |access-date=June 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109110102/http://www.db-decision.de/CoRe/Greece.htm |archive-date=November 9, 2013}}</ref> In [[Liechtenstein]], women obtained the right to vote in 1984, through the [[Liechtenstein women's suffrage referendum, 1984|women's suffrage referendum of 1984]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1066106.stm |title=BBC News—Timeline: Liechtenstein |access-date=14 June 2015 |date=March 31, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/02/world/around-the-world-liechtenstein-women-win-right-to-vote.html |title=Liechtenstein Women Win Right to Vote |date=July 2, 1984 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

While almost every woman today has the right to vote, there is still progress to be made for women in politics. Studies have shown that in several democracies including Australia, Canada, and the United States, women are still represented using gender stereotypes in the press.<ref name="Kittilson 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Kittilson |first1=Miki Caul |last2=Fridkin |first2=Kim |title=Gender, Candidate Portrayals and Election Campaigns: A Comparative Perspective |journal=[[Politics & Gender]] |volume=4 |issue=3 |year=2008 |pages=371–392 |issn=1743-923X |doi=10.1017/S1743923X08000330 |s2cid=145574989}}</ref> Multiple authors have shown that gender differences in the media are less evident today than they used to be in the 1980s, but are still present. Certain issues (e.g., education) are likely to be linked with female candidates, while other issues (e.g., taxes) are likely to be linked with male candidates.<ref name="Kittilson 2008"/> In addition, there is more emphasis on female candidates' personal qualities, such as their appearance and their personality, as females are portrayed as emotional and dependent.<ref name="Kittilson 2008"/>

There is a widespread imbalance of lawmaking power between men and women. The ratio of women to men in legislatures is used as a measure of gender equality in the [[United Nations|United Nations']] [[Gender Empowerment Measure]] and its newer incarnation the [[Gender Inequality Index]]. Speaking about China, Lanyan Chen stated that, since men more than women serve as the gatekeepers of policy making, this may lead to women's needs not being properly represented. In this sense, the inequality in lawmaking power also causes gender discrimination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chen |first=Lanyan |title=The Gendered Reality of Migrant Workers in Globalizing China |date=2009 |publisher=The [[University of Ottawa]] |location=Ottawa |isbn=978-0-7766-0709-2 |pages=186–207}}</ref>

=== Menus ===

Until the early 1980s, some high-end restaurants had two [[menu]]s: a regular menu with the prices listed for men and a second menu for women, which did not have the prices listed (it was called the "ladies' menu"), so that the female diner would not know the prices of the items.<ref name="Frost 2018">{{cite web |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ladies-menus-no-prices-lawsuit |title=The Court Case That Killed the 'Ladies Menu' |last=Frost |first=Natasha |date=February 2, 2018 |website=www.atlasobscura.com |publisher=[[Atlas Obscura]] |access-date=February 23, 2019}}</ref> In 1980, Kathleen Bick took a male business partner out to dinner at L'Orangerie in West Hollywood. After she was given a women's menu without prices and her guest got one with prices, Bick hired lawyer [[Gloria Allred]] to file a discrimination lawsuit, on the grounds that the women's menu went against the California Civil Rights Act.<ref name="Frost 2018"/> Bick stated that getting a women's menu without prices left her feeling "humiliated and incensed". The owners of the restaurant defended the practice, saying it was done as a courtesy, like the way men would stand up when a woman enters the room. Even though the lawsuit was dropped, the restaurant ended its gender-based menu policy.<ref name="Frost 2018"/>

== Gender stereotypes ==

{{see also|Gender role#Gender stereotypes|Implicit stereotype#Gender stereotypes}}
[[File: Bettie Page driving.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=Series of photographs lampooning women drivers|[[Bettie Page]] portrays stereotypes about women [[Automobile Driving|drivers]] in 1952.]]

Gender stereotypes are widely held beliefs about the characteristics and behavior of women and men.<ref>Manstead, A. S. R.; Hewstone, Miles; et al. ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Psychology''. Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass., US: Blackwell, 1999, 1995, pp. 256–57, {{ISBN|978-0-631-22774-8}}.</ref> [[Empirical]] studies have found widely shared cultural beliefs that men are more socially valued and more competent than women in a number of activities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wagner |first1=David G. |last2=Berger |first2=Joseph |year=1997 |title=Gender and Interpersonal Task Behaviors: Status Expectation Accounts |journal=[[Sociological Perspectives]] |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=1–32 |doi=10.2307/1389491 |jstor=1389491 |s2cid=147319093}}</ref><ref>Williams, John E. and Deborah L. Best. ''Measuring Sex Stereotypes: A Multinational Study''. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-8039-3815-1}}.</ref> Dustin B. Thoman and others (2008) hypothesize that "[t]he socio-cultural salience of ability versus other components of the gender-math stereotype may impact women pursuing math". Through the experiment comparing the math outcomes of women under two various gender-math stereotype components, which are the ability of math and the effort on math respectively, Thoman and others found that women's math performance is more likely to be affected by the negative ability stereotype, which is influenced by sociocultural beliefs in the United States, rather than the effort component. As a result of this experiment and the sociocultural beliefs in the United States, Thoman and others concluded that individuals' academic outcomes can be affected by the gender-math stereotype component that is influenced by the sociocultural beliefs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thoman |first1=Dustin B. |last2=White |first2=Paul H. |last3=Yamawaki |first3=Niwako |last4=Koishi |first4=Hirofumi |year=2008 |title=Variations of Gender–math Stereotype Content Affect Women's Vulnerability to Stereotype Threat |journal=[[Sex Roles (journal)|Sex Roles]] |volume=58 |issue=9–10 |pages=702–12 |doi=10.1007/s11199-008-9390-x |s2cid=144788626}}</ref>

=== Dating ===
In case of heterosexual [[dating]], sexist [[social norm]]s are widespread, such as men asking women out on dates or men [[marriage proposal|proposing marriage]] while women avoid showing overt [[Agency (psychology)|initiate]].<ref name="d673">{{cite journal | last1=Samardzic | first1=Tanja | last2=Barata | first2=Paula C. | last3=Morton | first3=Mavis | last4=Yen | first4=Jeffery | title='It Doesn't Feel Like You Can Win': Young Women's Talk About Heterosexual Relationships | journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly | publisher=SAGE Publications | volume=47 | issue=1 | date=13 November 2022 | issn=0361-6843 | doi=10.1177/03616843221135571 | doi-access=free | pages=127–143| pmid=36742155 | pmc=9893301 }}</ref> Some women reject gender [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] dating norms, such as women asking men out on dates, due to fear of [[Social rejection#Romantic rejection|rejection]] and [[Ambivalent sexism|benevolent sexism]].<ref name="p358">{{cite journal | last=Lamont | first=Ellen | title=Negotiating Courtship | journal=Gender & Society | volume=28 | issue=2 | date=23 September 2013 | issn=0891-2432 | doi=10.1177/0891243213503899 | pages=189–211}}</ref>

== In language ==
Sexism in language exists when language devalues members of a certain gender.<ref name="Sexism in Language">{{cite web |url=https://online.santarosa.edu/presentation/page/?37061 |title=Sexism in Language |publisher=Online.santarosa.edu |date=December 23, 2014 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904020005/http://online.santarosa.edu/presentation/page/?37061 |archive-date=September 4, 2015}}</ref> Sexist language, in many instances, promotes male superiority.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.linguarama.com/ps/legal-themed-english/sexism-in-language.htm |title=Sexism In Language—Reading—Postscript |publisher=Linguarama.com |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-date=November 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121082351/http://www.linguarama.com/ps/legal-themed-english/sexism-in-language.htm}}</ref> Sexism in language affects consciousness, perceptions of reality, encoding and transmitting cultural meanings and socialization.<ref name="Sexism in Language"/> Researchers have pointed to the semantic rule in operation in language of the [[Male as norm|male-as-norm]]. This results in sexism as the male becomes the standard and those who are not male are relegated to the inferior.<ref name="Spender 1980">{{cite book |last1=Spender |first1=Dale |title=Man Made Language |date=1983 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |location=London |isbn=978-0-7100-0675-2 |pages=2–3 |url=https://archive.org/details/manmadelanguage0000spen/page/2/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Sexism in language is considered a form of indirect sexism because it is not always overt.<ref>Mills, S. (2008) Language and sexism. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved April 18, 2015 from {{cite web |url=http://www.langtoninfo.com/web_content/9780521001748_frontmatter.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207005145/https://www.langtoninfo.com/web_content/9780521001748_frontmatter.pdf |archive-date=December 7, 2013}}</ref>

Examples include:
* Using generic masculine terms to reference a group of mixed gender, such as "mankind", "man" (referring to humanity), "guys", or "officers and men"
* Using the singular masculine pronoun (he, his, him) as the default to refer to a person of unknown gender
* Terms ending in "-man" that may be performed by those of non-male genders, such as businessman, chairman, or policeman
* Using unnecessary gender markers, such as "male nurse" implying that simply a "nurse" is by default assumed to be female.<ref name="Kennison 2003">{{cite journal |last1=Kennison |first1=S. |last2=Trofe |first2=J. |title=Comprehending Pronouns: A Role for Word-Specific Gender Stereotype Information |journal=Journal of Psycholinguistic Research |volume=32 |issue=3 |year=2003 |pages=355–378 |doi=10.1023/A:1023599719948 |pmid=12845944 |s2cid=26245038}}</ref>

=== Sexist and gender-neutral language ===

{{See also|Gender-neutral language}}

Various 20th century feminist movements, from [[liberal feminism]] and [[radical feminism]] to [[standpoint feminism]], [[postmodern feminism]] and [[queer theory]], have considered language in their theorizing.<ref>Mille, Katherine Wyly and Paul McIlvenny. "Gender and Spoken Interaction: A Survey of Feminist Theories and Sociolinguistic Research in the United States and Britain." {{cite web |url=http://paul-server.hum.aau.dk/research/cv/Pubs/mille-mcilvenny.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309145105/https://paul-server.hum.aau.dk/research/cv/Pubs/mille-mcilvenny.pdf |archive-date=March 9, 2005}}</ref> Most of these theories have maintained a critical stance on language that calls for a change in the way speakers use their language.

One of the most common calls is for gender-neutral language. Many have called attention, however, to the fact that the English language is not inherently sexist in its linguistic system, but the way it is used becomes sexist and gender-neutral language could thus be employed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam034/90034404.pdf |title=Feminist literary studies: an introduction |website=catdir.loc.gov |access-date=November 18, 2019}}</ref>

=== Sexism in languages other than English ===

[[Romanic languages]] such as [[French language|French]]<ref name="Sayare 2012">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/world/europe/france-drops-mademoiselle-from-official-use.html |title=France Drops 'Mademoiselle' From Official Use |last=Sayare |first=Scott |date=February 22, 2012 |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 26, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and [[Spanish language|Spanish]]<ref name="Mexico Advisesd Workers">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-12843948 |title=Mexico advises workers on sexist language |access-date=18 Feb 2024 |work=BBC News |date=March 23, 2011}}</ref> may be seen as reinforcing sexism, in that the masculine form is the default. The word "[[wikt:mademoiselle|mademoiselle]]", meaning "[[miss]]", was declared banished from French administrative forms in 2012 by Prime Minister [[François Fillon]].<ref name="Sayare 2012"/> Current pressure calls for the use of the masculine plural pronoun as the default in a mixed-sex group to change.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=40545648 |title=Attacking a Legacy of Sexist Grammar in the French Class: A Modest Beginning |first=Culley Jane |last=Carson |date=1 January 1993 |journal=Feminist Teacher |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=34–36}}</ref> As for Spanish, Mexico's Ministry of the Interior published a guide on how to reduce the use of sexist language.<ref name="Mexico Advisesd Workers"/>

[[German language|German]] speakers have also raised questions about how sexism intersects with grammar.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nandi |first=Jacinta |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate-uk/2011/03/05/grappling-with-language-sexism/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307092229/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate-uk/2011/03/05/grappling-with-language-sexism/ |archive-date=March 7, 2011 |title=Grappling with language sexism |publisher=blogs.reuters.com |date=March 5, 2011 |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref> The German language is heavily inflected for gender, number, and case; nearly all nouns denoting the occupations or statuses of human beings are gender-differentiated. For more gender-neutral constructions, gerund nouns are sometimes used instead, as this eliminates the grammatical gender distinction in the plural, and significantly reduces it in the singular. For example, instead of ''die Studenten'' ("the men students") or ''die Studentinnen'' ("the women students"), one writes ''die Studierenden'' ("the [people who are] studying").<ref>{{cite news |last=Osel |first=Johann |date=February 18, 2015 |title=Gleichberechtigung im Studium: Studenten, äh, Studierende |language=de |newspaper=Sueddeutsche.de |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bildung/gleichberechtigung-im-studium-studenten-aeh-aeh-studierende-1.2355340}}</ref> However, this approach introduces an element of ambiguity, because gerund nouns more precisely denote one currently engaged in the activity, rather than one who routinely engages in it as their primary occupation.<ref>Osel, ibid.</ref>

In [[Chinese language|Chinese]], some writers have pointed to sexism inherent in the structure of written characters. For example, the character for man is linked to those for positive qualities like courage and effect while the character for wife is composed of a female part and a broom, considered of low worth.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=4316075 |title=Sexism in the Chinese Language |first=Dali |last=Tan |date=1 January 1990 |journal=[[NWSA Journal]] |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=635–639}}</ref>

=== Gender-specific pejorative terms ===
{{See also category|Sex- and gender-related slurs}}
Gender-specific pejorative terms intimidate or harm another person because of their gender. Sexism can be expressed in language with negative gender-oriented implications,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/media/7480/sst-guidance-quick-guide.pdf |title=Guidance for schools on preventing and responding to sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying: quick guide |date=January 1, 2009 |publisher=Great Britain Department for Children, Schools and Families |oclc=663427461 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716122907/http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/media/7480/sst-guidance-quick-guide.pdf |archive-date=July 16, 2014}}</ref> such as [[Disdain|condescension]]. For example, one may refer to a female as a "girl" rather than a "woman", implying that she is subordinate or not fully mature. Other examples include obscene language. Some words are offensive to transgender people, including "tranny", "she-male", or "he-she". Intentional [[Transphobia#Misgendering and exclusion|misgendering]] (assigning the wrong gender to someone) and the pronoun "it" are also considered pejorative.<ref name="Mills College 2013">[[Mills College at Northeastern University|Mills College]] Transgender Best Practices Taskforce & Gender Identity and Expression Sub-Committee of the Diversity and Social Justice Committee. [https://www.mills.edu/diversity/Transgender-Best-Practices-02-18-2013.pdf ''Report on Inclusion of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students Best Practices, Assessment and Recommendations''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200448/http://www.mills.edu/diversity/Transgender-Best-Practices-02-18-2013.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }} Oakland, Calif.: Mills College, February 2013, p. 9.</ref><ref name="Sandeen 2011">Anti-transgender Language [http://lgbtweekly.com/2011/02/03/anti-transgender-language/ ''Commentary: Trans Progressive'' by Autumn Sandeen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703144748/http://lgbtweekly.com/2011/02/03/anti-transgender-language/ |date=July 3, 2013 }} San Diego, Calif.: ''San Diego LGBT Weekly'', February 3, 2011.</ref>

== At work ==

{{Main|Occupational sexism|Second-generation gender bias}}
{{quote box
|border=1px
|title="Calling nurses by their first names"
|title_fnt=#555555
|halign=left
|quote= The practice of using first names for individuals from a profession that is predominantly female occurs in health care. Physicians are typically referred to using their last name, but nurses are referred to, even by physicians they do not know, by their first name. According to [[Suzanne Gordon]], a typical conversation between a physician and a nurse is: "Hello Jane. I'm Dr. Smith. Would you hand me the patient's chart?"
|fontsize=80%
|bgcolor=#F9F9F9
<!--|bordercolor=#ccc--->
|width=30%
|align=right
|quoted=
|salign=center
|style=margin–top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1.5em;padding:2.0em
|source=–''Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care''<ref>{{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Suzanne |date=2006 |title=Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=34}}</ref>
}}

Occupational sexism refers to [[discrimination|discriminatory]] practices, statements or actions, based on a person's [[sex]], occurring in the workplace. One form of occupational sexism is [[wage discrimination]]. In 2008, the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) found that while female employment rates have expanded and gender employment and wage gaps have narrowed nearly everywhere, on average women still have 20% less chance to have a job and are paid 17% less than men.<ref name="OECD 2008a"/> The report stated: <blockquote>[In] many countries, labour market discrimination—i.e. the unequal treatment of equally productive individuals only because they belong to a specific group—is still a crucial factor inflating disparities in employment and the quality of job opportunities [...] Evidence presented in this edition of the ''Employment Outlook'' suggests that about 8{{nbsp}}percent of the variation in gender employment gaps and 30 percent of the variation in gender wage gaps across OECD countries can be explained by discriminatory practices in the labor market.<ref name="OECD 2008a">[[OECD]]. [http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/19/40937574.pdf ''OECD Employment Outlook—2008 Edition Summary in English''.] OECD, Paris, 2008, p. 3–4.</ref><ref name="OECD 2008b">[[OECD]]. [http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/36/17/43244511.pdf ''OECD Employment Outlook. Chapter 3: The Price of Prejudice: Labour Market Discrimination on the Grounds of Gender and Ethnicity''.] OECD, Paris, 2008.</ref></blockquote>

It also found that although almost all OECD countries, including the U.S.,<ref>{{cite web |title=Facts About Compensation Discrimination |author=The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission |url=http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-epa.html |access-date=April 23, 2008}}</ref> have established anti-discrimination laws, these laws are difficult to enforce.<ref name="OECD 2008a"/>

Women who enter predominantly male work groups can experience the negative consequences of [[tokenism]]: performance pressures, social isolation, and role encapsulation.<ref name="Yoder 1991">{{cite journal |first=Janice D. |last=Yoder |title=Rethinking Tokenism: Looking beyond Numbers |journal=[[Gender and Society]] |volume=5 |issue=2 |year=1991 |pages=178–192 |doi=10.1177/089124391005002003 |s2cid=144717322}}</ref><!-- Split from ":0"--> Tokenism could be used to camouflage sexism, to preserve male workers' advantage in the workplace.<ref name="Yoder 1991"/><!-- Split from ":0"--> No link exists between the proportion of women working in an organization/company and the improvement of their working conditions. Ignoring sexist issues may exacerbate women's occupational problems.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Lynn |last=Zimmer |title=Tokenism and Women in the Workplace: The Limits of Gender-Neutral Theory |journal=[[Social Problems]] |volume=35 |issue=1 |year=1988 |pages=64–77 |doi=10.2307/800667 |jstor=800667 |s2cid=55946209}}</ref>

In the ''[[World Values Survey]]'' of 2005, responders were asked if they thought wage work should be restricted to men only. In Iceland, the percentage that agreed was 3.6%, whereas in Egypt it was 94.9%.<ref>[[Nicole Fortin|Fortin, Nicole]], "Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour Market Outcomes of Women Across OECD Countries", ''[[Oxford Review of Economic Policy]]'', 2005, 21, 416–438.</ref>

=== Gap in hiring ===

Research has repeatedly shown that mothers in the United States are less likely to be hired than equally qualified fathers and if hired, receive a lower salary than male applicants with children.<ref name="Folbre 2009" /><ref name="Goodman 2007" /><ref name="Correll 2007" /><ref name="Aloi 2005" />

One study found that female applicants were favored; however, its results have been met with skepticism from other researchers, since it contradicts most other studies on the issue. Joan C. Williams, a distinguished professor at the University of California's Hastings College of Law, raised issues with its methodology, pointing out that the fictional female candidates it used were unusually well-qualified. Studies using more moderately qualified graduate students have found that male students are much more likely to be hired, offered better salaries, and offered mentorship.<ref>{{cite journal |title=National hiring experiments reveal 2:1 faculty preference for women on STEM tenure track |author=Wendy M. Williams |doi=10.1073/pnas.1418878112 |pmid=25870272 |volume=112 |issue=17 |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |pages=5360–5365 |year=2015 |bibcode=2015PNAS..112.5360W |pmc=4418903 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/14/study-finds-surprisingly-that-women-are-favored-for-jobs-in-stem/ |title=Study finds, surprisingly, that women are favored for jobs in STEM |author=Sarah Kaplan |date=April 14, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

In Europe, studies based on field experiments in the labor market, provide evidence for no severe levels of discrimination based on female gender. However, unequal treatment is still measured in particular situations, for instance, when candidates apply for positions at a higher functional level in Belgium,<ref name="Baert 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Baert |first1=S. |last2=De Pauw |first2=A.-S. |last3=Deschacht |first3=N. |year=2016 |title=Do Employer Preferences Contribute to Sticky Floors? |journal=[[Industrial and Labor Relations Review]] |volume=69 |issue=3 |page=714736 |doi=10.1177/0019793915625213 |s2cid=53589814 |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/5960457 |hdl=1854/LU-5960457 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> when they apply at their fertile ages in France,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Petit |first=P. |year=2007 |title=The effects of age and family constraints on gender hiring discrimination: A field experiment in the French financial sector |journal=[[Labour Economics (journal)|Labour Economics]] |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=371–391 |doi=10.1016/j.labeco.2006.01.006}}</ref> and when they apply for male-dominated occupations in Austria.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Weichselbaumer |first=D. |year=2004 |title=Is it sex or personality? The impact of sex stereotypes on discrimination in applicant selection |journal=[[Eastern Economic Journal]] |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=159–186 |jstor=40326127}}</ref>

=== Earnings gap ===

{{Main|Gender pay gap}}
[[File: EU 27 Gender Pay Gap 2014.png|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=Bar graph showing the gender pay gap in European countries|Gender pay gap in average gross hourly earnings according to [[Eurostat]] 2014<ref name="Situation in the EU" />]]

Studies have concluded that on average women earn lower wages than men worldwide. Some people argue that this results from widespread gender discrimination in the workplace. Others argue that the wage gap results from different choices by men and women, such as women placing more value than men on having children, and men being more likely than women to choose careers in high paying fields such as business, engineering, and technology.

[[Eurostat]] found a persistent, average gender pay gap of 27.5% in the 27 [[Member state of the European Union|EU member states]] in 2008.<ref name="Situation in the EU">[[European Commission]]. [http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-pay-gap/situation-europe/index_en.htm ''The situation in the EU''.] Retrieved on August 19, 2011.</ref> Similarly, the OECD found that female full-time employees earned 27% less than their male counterparts in OECD countries in 2009.<ref name="OECD 2008a"/><ref name="OECD 2008b"/>

In the United States, the female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.77 in 2009; female full-time, year-round (FTYR) workers earned 77% as much as male FTYR workers. Women's earnings relative to men's fell from 1960 to 1980 (56.7–54.2%), rose rapidly from 1980 to 1990 (54.2–67.6%), leveled off from 1990 to 2000 (67.6–71.2%) and rose from 2000 to 2009 (71.2–77.0%).<ref name="U.S. Census Bureau 2010">U.S. Census Bureau. [https://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf ''Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009'']. Current Population Reports, P60-238, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2010, pp. 7 and 50.</ref><ref>Institute for Women's Policy Research. [http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-2009 ''The Gender Wage Gap: 2009''.] Retrieved March 31, 2011.</ref> As of the late 2010s, it has decreased back to around 1990 to 2000 levels (68.6-71.1%).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dqydj.com/2018-income-by-sex/ |title=Male Income Percentile and Female Income Percentile Calculator in 2018 |date=December 4, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dqydj.com/income-by-sex/ |title=Income by Sex: Average, Median, 1%, and Calculator – DQYDJ |date=October 2020}}</ref> When the first [[Equal Pay Act of 1963|Equal Pay Act]] was passed in 1963, female full-time workers earned 48.9% as much as male full-time workers.<ref name="U.S. Census Bureau 2010"/>

Research conducted in Czechia and Slovakia shows that, even after the governments passed anti-discrimination legislation, two thirds of the gender gap in wages remained unexplained and segregation continued to "represent a major source of the gap".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Štěpán |last=Jurajda |year=2005 |title=Gender Segregation and Wage Gap: An East-West Comparison |journal=[[Journal of the European Economic Association]] |volume=3 |issue=2–3 |pages=598–607 |doi=10.1162/jeea.2005.3.2-3.598 |s2cid=54763679}}</ref>

The gender gap can also vary across-occupation and within occupation. In Taiwan, for example, studies show how the bulk of gender wage discrepancies occur within-occupation.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Joseph E. Jr. |last1=Zveglich |first2=Yana van der Meulen |last2=Rodgers |title=Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap in a Dynamic East Asian Economy |journal=[[Southern Economic Journal]] |volume=70 |issue=4 |year=2004 |pages=850–875 |doi=10.2307/4135276 |jstor=4135276|url=https://scholarship.libraries.rutgers.edu/esploro/outputs/acceptedManuscript/Occupational-segregation-and-the-gender-wage/991031787205304646 }}</ref> In Russia, research shows that the gender wage gap is distributed unevenly across income levels, and that it mainly occurs at the lower end of income distribution.<ref name="Gerry 2004">{{cite journal |first1=Christopher J. |last1=Gerry |first2=Byung-Yeon |last2=Kim |first3=Carmen A. |last3=Li |title=The Gender Wage Gap and Wage Arrears in Russia: Evidence from the RLMS |journal=[[Journal of Population Economics]] |volume=17 |issue=2 |year=2004 |pages=267–288 |doi=10.1007/s00148-003-0160-3 |s2cid=7435706 |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/17553/1/17553.pdf}}</ref> The research also found that "wage arrears and payment in-kind attenuated wage discrimination, particularly amongst the lowest paid workers, suggesting that Russian enterprise managers assigned lowest importance to equity considerations when allocating these forms of payment".<ref name="Gerry 2004" />

The gender pay gap has been attributed to differences in personal and workplace characteristics between men and women (such as education, hours worked and occupation), innate behavioral and biological differences between men and women and discrimination in the labor market (such as gender stereotypes and customer and employer bias). Women take significantly more time off to raise children than men.<ref>The Open University: Learning Space.[http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ECON303-8.2.1.pdf "Economics Explains Discrimination in the Labour Market."] Accessed June 29, 2012</ref> In certain countries such as South Korea, it has also been a long-established practice to lay-off female employees upon marriage.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Gyeongjoon |last=Yoo |year=2003 |title=Quality of Life Across Population Groups: Women in the Workplace: Gender and Wage Differentials |journal=Social Indicators Research |volume=62 |issue=1–3 |pages=367–385 |doi=10.1023/A:1022661604653 |s2cid=153671276}}</ref> A study by Professor [[Linda C. Babcock]] in her book ''Women Don't Ask'' shows that men are eight times more likely to ask for a pay raise, suggesting that pay inequality may be partly a result of behavioral differences between the sexes.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Women Don't Ask |title=Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide |first1=Linda |last1=Babcock |first2=Sara |last2=Laschever |year=2003 |publisher=Princeton University Press |chapter-url=https://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7575.pdf}}</ref> However, studies generally find that a portion of the gender pay gap remains unexplained after accounting for factors assumed to influence earnings; the unexplained portion of the wage gap is attributed to gender discrimination.<ref>[[United States Congress Joint Economic Committee]]. [http://jec.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=9118a9ef-0771-4777-9c1f-8232fe70a45c ''Invest in Women, Invest in America: A Comprehensive Review of Women in the U.S. Economy'']. Washington, DC, December 2010, p. 80.</ref>

Estimates of the discriminatory component of the gender pay gap vary. The OECD estimated that approximately 30% of the gender pay gap across OECD countries is because of discrimination.<ref name="OECD 2008a"/> Australian research shows that discrimination accounts for approximately 60% of the wage differential between men and women.<ref name="NATSEM 2009">National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling. [http://www.actu.org.au/Images/Dynamic/attachments/6895/NATSEM_report.pdf ''The impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the economy''.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201110158/http://www.actu.org.au/Images/Dynamic/attachments/6895/NATSEM_report.pdf |date=December 1, 2010 }} Report to the Office for Women, Department of Families, Community Services, Housing and Indigenous Affairs, 2009, p. v-vi.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Ian |last=Watson |year=2010 |title=Decomposing the Gender Pay Gap in the Australian Managerial Labour Market |journal=Australian Journal of Labour Economics |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=49–79 |url=https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=150518123437760;res=IELBus}}</ref> [[Male–female income disparity in the United States#Explaining the gender pay gap|Studies examining the gender pay gap in the United States]] show that a much of the wage differential remains unexplained, after controlling for factors affecting pay. One study of college graduates found that the portion of the pay gap unexplained after all other factors are taken into account is five percent one year after graduating and 12% a decade after graduation.<ref name="Carman 2007">Carman, Diane. [http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5735341 ''Why do men earn more? Just because'']. Denver Post, April 24, 2007.</ref><ref>Arnst, Cathy. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070510085831/http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2007/04/working_women_a.html ''Women and the pay gap'']. [[Bloomberg Businessweek]], April 27, 2007.</ref><ref>American Management Association. [http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/Bridging-the-Gender-Pay-Gap.aspx ''Bridging the Gender Pay Gap'']. October 17, 2007.</ref><ref>Dey, Judy Goldberg and Catherine Hill. [http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/upload/behindPayGap.pdf ''Behind the Pay Gap'']. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706012805/http://aauw.org/learn/research/upload/behindPayGap.pdf |date=July 6, 2011 }} American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, April 2007.</ref> A study by the [[American Association of University Women]] found that women graduates in the United States are paid less than men doing the same work and majoring in the same field.<ref>{{cite web |last=Morrison |first=Megan |title=Persistent Pay Gap Affects Women Just One Year Out of College |url=https://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/graduating-to-a-pay-gap-the-earnings-of-women-and-men-one-year-after-college-graduation.pdf |access-date=February 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603004740/http://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/graduating-to-a-pay-gap-the-earnings-of-women-and-men-one-year-after-college-graduation.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2013}}</ref>
[[File:US gender pay gap, by sex, race-ethnicity-2009.png|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=Graph showing weekly earnings by various categories |Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by sex, race, and ethnicity, U.S., 2009<ref name="Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2009.pdf ''Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2009'']. Report 1025, June 2010.</ref>]]

Wage discrimination is theorized as contradicting the economic concept of [[supply and demand]], which states that if a good or service (in this case, labor) is in demand and has value it will find its price in the market. If a worker offered equal value for less pay, supply and demand would indicate a greater demand for lower-paid workers. If a business hired lower-wage workers for the same work, it would lower its costs and enjoy a [[competitive advantage]]. According to supply and demand, if women offered equal value demand (and wages) should rise since they offer a better price (lower wages) for their service than men do.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swifteconomics.com/2009/09/21/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics-the-wage-gap/ |title=Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics: The Wage Gap |publisher=Swift Economics |date=September 21, 2009 |access-date=July 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705013033/http://www.swifteconomics.com/2009/09/21/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics-the-wage-gap |archive-date=July 5, 2013}}</ref>

Research at Cornell University and elsewhere indicates that mothers in the United States are less likely to be hired than equally qualified fathers and, if hired, receive a lower salary than male applicants with children.<ref name="Folbre 2009">Folbre, Nancy. [https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/family-responsibility-discrimination-would-ayn-like-fred/ ''The Anti-Mommy Bias'']. New York Times, March 26, 2009.</ref><ref name="Goodman 2007">[[Ellen Goodman|Goodman, Ellen]]. [https://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/05/11/a_third_gender_in_the_workplace/ ''A third gender in the workplace'']. [[The Boston Globe]], May 11, 2007.</ref><ref name="Cahn 2010">Cahn, Naomi and June Carbone. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052802268.html ''Five myths about working mothers'']. [[The Washington Post]], May 30, 2010.</ref><ref name="Young 2009">Young, Lauren. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090611183447/http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2009/06/the_motherhood.html ''The Motherhood Penalty: Working Moms Face Pay Gap Vs. Childless Peers'']. Bloomsberg Businessweek, June 05, 2009.</ref><ref name="Correll 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Correll |first1=Shelley |first2=Stephen |last2=Benard |first3=In |last3=Paik |year=2007 |title=Getting a job: Is there a motherhood penalty? |journal=[[American Journal of Sociology]] |volume=112 |issue=5 |pages=1297–1338 |doi=10.1086/511799 |citeseerx=10.1.1.709.8363 |s2cid=7816230}}</ref><ref name="Aloi 2005">{{cite web |last1=Aloi |first1=Dan |title=Mothers face disadvantages in getting hired, Cornell study says |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2005/08/mothers-face-disadvantages-getting-hired-study-shows |access-date=18 Feb 2024 |website=Cornell Chronicle |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |publisher=Cornell University |date=4 Aug 2005}}</ref> The OECD found that "a significant impact of children on women's pay is generally found in the United Kingdom and the United States".<ref name="OECD 2002">OECD (2002). [http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/58/18960381.pdf ''Employment Outlook, Chapter 2: Women at work: who are they and how are they faring?''] Paris: OECD 2002.</ref> Fathers earn $7,500 more, on average, than men without children do.<ref name="Lips 2009">{{cite web |author=Hilary M. Lips |date=September 7, 2009 |title=Blaming Women's Choices for the Gender Pay Gap |url=http://www.womensmedia.com/new/Lips-Hilary-blaming-gender-pay-gap.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523193124/http://www.womensmedia.com/money/178-blaming-womens-choices-for-the-gender-pay-gap.html |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |publisher=WomensMedia}}</ref>

There is research to suggest that the gender wage gap leads to big losses for the economy.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Output Cost of Gender Discrimination: A Model-based Macroeconomics Estimate |journal=The Economic Journal |date=February 1, 2016 |issn=1468-0297 |pages=109–134 |volume=126 |issue=590 |doi=10.1111/ecoj.12303 |language=en |first1=Tiago |last1=Cavalcanti |first2=José |last2=Tavares |s2cid=15210316 |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/267278}}</ref>

In some countries and age groups the [[Gender pay gap#Negative gender pay gap|gender pay gap has reversed]].<ref name="p218">{{cite web | title=Gender pay gap statistics | website=Eurostat | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Gender_pay_gap_statistics | access-date=30 March 2025}}</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Proposed Explanations"></span> Causes for wage discrimination ====

The non-adjusted gender pay gap (the difference without taking into account differences in working hours, occupations, education, and work experience) is not itself a measure of discrimination. Rather, it combines differences in the average pay of women and men to serve as a barometer of comparison. Differences in pay are caused by:

* occupational segregation (with more men in higher paid industries and women in lower paid industries), 
* vertical segregation (fewer women in senior, and hence better paying positions), 
* ineffective equal pay legislation, 
* women's overall paid working hours, and 
* barriers to entry into the labor market (such as education level and single parenting rate).<ref name="Leythienne 2018">{{cite book |last1=European Commission |last2=Eurostat |last3=Leythienne |first3=Denis |last4=Ronkowski |first4=Piotr |title=A decomposition of the unadjusted gender pay gap using structure of earnings survey data – 2018 edition |series=Statistical Working Papers |date=2018 |publisher=Publications Office of the European Union |location=Luxembourg |isbn=978-92-79-86877-1 |issn=2315-0807 |doi=10.2785/796328 |id=KS-TC18-003-EN-N |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3888793/8979317/KS-TC-18-003-EN-N.pdf}}</ref>

Some variables that help explain the non-adjusted gender pay gap include economic activity, working time, and job tenure.<ref name="Leythienne 2018" /> Gender-specific factors, including gender differences in qualifications and discrimination, overall wage structure, and the differences in remuneration across industry sectors all influence the gender pay gap.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blau |first1=Francine D. |last2=Kahn |first2=Lawrence M. |date=November 2000 |title=Gender Differences in Pay |journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=75–100 |doi=10.1257/jep.14.4.75 |s2cid=55685704 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Eurostat]] estimated in 2016 that after allowing for average characteristics of men and women, women still earn 11.5% less than men. Since this estimate accounts for average differences between men and women, it is an estimation of the ''unexplained'' gender pay gap (i.e., that which cannot be accounted for by factors such as differences in profession).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-05 |title=What are the causes? - European Commission |url=http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-pay-gap/causes/index_en.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305121349/http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-pay-gap/causes/index_en.htm |archive-date=2016-03-05 |access-date=2019-01-16 |website=European Commission}}</ref>

=== Glass ceiling effect ===

{{Main|Glass ceiling}}

"The popular notion of glass ceiling effects implies that gender (or other) disadvantages are stronger at the top of the hierarchy than at lower levels and that these disadvantages become worse later in a person's career."<ref>{{cite journal |first1=David A. |last1=Cotter |first2=Joan M. |last2=Hermsen |first3=Seth |last3=Ovadia |first4=Reeve |last4=Vanneman |year=2001 |title=The Glass Ceiling Effect |journal=[[Social Forces]] |volume=80 |issue=2 |pages=655–681 |doi=10.1353/sof.2001.0091 |s2cid=145245044}}</ref>

In the United States, women account for 52% of the overall labor force, but make up only three percent of corporate CEOs and top executives.<ref name="Matsa 2011">{{cite journal |first1=David A. |last1=Matsa |first2=Amalia R. |last2=Miller |year=2011 |title=Chipping away at the Glass Ceiling: Gender Spillovers in Corporate Leadership |journal=[[American Economic Review]] |series=Papers and Proceedings |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=635–639 |doi=10.1257/aer.101.3.635 |s2cid=154536609 |url=http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2011/RAND_WR842.pdf}}</ref> Some researchers see the root cause of this situation in the tacit discrimination based on gender, conducted by current top executives and corporate directors (primarily male), and "the historic absence of women in top positions", which "may lead to [[hysteresis]], preventing women from accessing powerful, male-dominated professional networks, or same-sex mentors".<ref name="Matsa 2011" /> The glass ceiling effect is noted as being especially persistent for women of color. According to a report, "women of colour perceive a 'concrete ceiling' and not simply a glass ceiling".<ref name="Matsa 2011" />

In the economics profession, it has been observed that women are more inclined than men to dedicate their time to teaching and service. Since continuous research work is crucial for promotion, "the cumulative effect of small, contemporaneous differences in research orientation could generate the observed significant gender difference in promotion".<ref>{{cite journal |first1=John M. |last1=McDowell |first2=Larry D. Jr. |last2=Singell |first3=James P. |last3=Ziliak |year=1999 |title=Cracks in the Glass Ceiling: Gender and Promotion in the Economics Profession |journal=American Economic Review |volume=89 |issue=2 |series=Papers and Proceedings |pages=392–396 |jstor=117142 |doi=10.1257/aer.89.2.392}}</ref> In the high-tech industry, research shows that, regardless of the intra-firm changes, "extra-organizational pressures will likely contribute to continued gender stratification as firms upgrade, leading to the potential masculinization of skilled high-tech work".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Steven C. |last=McKay |year=2006 |title=Hard Drives and Glass Ceilings: Gender Stratification in High-Tech Production |journal=[[Gender and Society]] |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=207–235 |doi=10.1177/0891243205285371 |s2cid=154793796}}</ref>

The United Nations asserts that "progress in bringing women into leadership and decision making positions around the world remains far too slow".<ref name="United Nations 2006">{{cite web |title=Women still struggle to break through glass ceiling in government, business, academia |publisher=United Nations |date=March 8, 2006 |url=https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw50/PressReleaseIWD8March.pdf |access-date=18 Feb 2024}}</ref>

==== Potential remedies ====

Research by David Matsa and Amalia Miller suggests that a remedy to the glass ceiling could be increasing the number of women on corporate boards, which could lead to increases in the number of women working in top management positions.<ref name="Matsa 2011"/> The same research suggests that this could also result in a "feedback cycle in which the presence of more female managers increases the qualified pool of potential female board members (for the companies they manage, as well as other companies), leading to greater female board membership and then further increases in female executives".<ref name="United Nations 2006" />

=== Weight-based sexism ===

A 2009 study found that being overweight harms women's career advancement, but presents no barrier for men. [[Overweight]] women were significantly underrepresented among company bosses, making up between five and 22% of female CEOs. However, the proportion of overweight male CEOs was between 45% and 61%, over-representing overweight men. On the other hand, approximately five percent of CEOs were obese among both genders. The author of the study stated that the results suggest that "the '[[glass ceiling]] effect' on women's advancement may reflect not only general negative stereotypes about the competencies of women but also weight bias that results in the application of stricter appearance standards to women."<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1108/02610150910937916 |volume=28 |title=Weight discrimination and the glass ceiling effect among top US CEOs |year=2009 |journal=[[Equal Opportunities International]] |pages=179–196 |last1=Roehling |first1=Patricia V. |issue=2}}.</ref><ref>Moult, Julie. [http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/gender-divide-in-career-belly/story-e6frf7l6-1225697154065 ''Women's careers more tied to weight than men—study'']. [[Herald Sun]], April 11, 2009.</ref>

=== Transgender discrimination ===

{{see also|Transgender inequality}}

Transgender people also experience significant workplace discrimination and harassment.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/discrimination/bias-in-the-workplace-consistent-evidence-of-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-discrimination/ |title=Bias in the Workplace: Consistent Evidence of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination |date=June 22, 2007 |website=[[Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy|Williams Institute]] |language=en-US |access-date=August 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826112250/https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/discrimination/bias-in-the-workplace-consistent-evidence-of-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-discrimination/ |archive-date=August 26, 2019}}</ref> Unlike sex-based discrimination, refusing to hire (or firing) a worker for their gender identity or expression is not explicitly illegal in most U.S. states.<ref name="Steinmetz 2015">{{cite magazine |url=http://fortune.com/2015/01/12/saks-transgender-fire/ |title=Does Saks have the legal right to fire a transgender employee? |publisher=Fortune |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=January 12, 2015 |access-date=April 30, 2015 |author=Steinmetz, Katy}}</ref> In June 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that federal civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender workers. Writing for the majority, Justice [[Neil Gorsuch]] wrote: "An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Supreme Court says federal law protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/politics/supreme-court-lgbtq-employment-case/index.html |access-date=June 21, 2020 |website=CNN |date=June 15, 2020}}</ref> The ruling however did not protect [[LGBT]] employees from being fired based on their sexual orientation or gender identity in businesses of 15 workers or less.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/even-ruling-workplace-still-unequal-lgbtq-workers-n1231419 |title=Even with ruling, workplace still unequal for LGBTQ workers |website=[[NBC News]] |date=June 18, 2020}}</ref>

In August 1995, Kimberly Nixon filed a complaint with the [[British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal]] against Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter. Nixon, a [[trans woman]], had been interested in volunteering as a counsellor with the shelter. When the shelter learned that she was [[transsexual]], they told Nixon that she would not be allowed to volunteer with the organization. Nixon argued that this constituted illegal discrimination under Section 41 of the British Columbia ''[[Human Rights Code (British Columbia)|Human Rights Code]]''. Vancouver Rape Relief countered that individuals are shaped by the [[socialization]] and experiences of their formative years, and that Nixon had been socialized as a male growing up, and that, therefore, Nixon would not be able to provide sufficiently effective counselling to the female born women that the shelter served. Nixon took her case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which refused to hear the case.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thetyee.ca/News/2007/02/03/Nixon/ |title=Transsexual Loses Fight with Women's Shelter |last=Rupp |first=Shannon |date=2007-02-03 |website=[[The Tyee]] |language=en |access-date=June 17, 2016}}</ref>

== Objectification ==

[[File:Menu.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Illustration of a woman splayed across a wine menu |Example of [[sexual objectification]] of women on a wine menu]]

In [[social philosophy]], [[objectification]] is the act of treating a person as an object or thing. Objectification plays a central role in feminist theory, especially [[sexual objectification]].<ref name="Papadaki 2018" >{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/feminism-objectification/ |access-date=18 Feb 2024 |last=Papadaki |first=Evangelia |date=1 Dec 2015 |title=Feminist Perspectives on Objectification |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |edition=Summer 2018}}</ref> Feminist writer and gender equality activist Joy Goh-Mah argues that by being objectified, a person is denied agency.<ref>{{cite web |last=Goh-Mah |first=Joy |title=The Objectification of Women—It Goes Much Further Than Sexy Pictures |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/joy-goh-mah/objectification-women-sexy-pictures_b_3403251.html |publisher=Huffpost Lifestyle |access-date=December 1, 2013 |date=June 9, 2013}}</ref> According to the philosopher [[Martha Nussbaum]], a person might be objectified if one or more of the following properties are applied to them:<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nussbaum |first=Martha |author-link=Martha Nusbaum |title=Objectification |journal=[[Philosophy & Public Affairs]] |year=1995 |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=249–291 |doi=10.1111/j.1088-4963.1995.tb00032.x}}</ref>
# '''Instrumentality''': treating the object as a [[tool]] for another's purposes: "The objectifier treats the object as a tool of his or her purposes."
# '''Denial of [[autonomy]]''': treating the object as lacking in autonomy or [[self-determination]]: "The objectifier treats the object as lacking in autonomy and self-determination."
# '''Inertness''': treating the object as lacking in [[Agency (philosophy)|agency]] or [[Action (philosophy)|activity]]: "The objectifier treats the object as lacking in agency, and perhaps also in activity."
# '''[[Fungibility]]''': treating the object as interchangeable with other objects: "The objectifier treats the object as interchangeable (a) with other objects of the same type, and/or (b) with objects of other types."
# '''Violability''': treating the object as lacking in boundary integrity and violable: "The objectifier treats the object as lacking in boundary integrity, as something that it is permissible to break up, smash, break into."
# '''[[Ownership]]''': treating the object as if it can be owned, bought, or sold: "The objectifier treats the object as something that is owned by another, can be bought or sold, etc."
# '''Denial of [[subjectivity]]''': treating the object as if there is no need for concern for its experiences or feelings: "The objectifier treats the object as something whose experience and feelings (if any) need not be taken into account."
[[Rae Helen Langton]], in ''Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification'', proposed three more properties to be added to Nussbaum's list:<ref name="Papadaki 2018" /><ref name="Langton 2009">{{cite book |author1=Rae Langton |author-link1=Rae Helen Langton |title=Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification, 1st Edition |date=February 15, 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-955145-3 |pages=228–229}}</ref>
# '''Reduction to body''': the treatment of a person as identified with their body, or body parts;
# '''Reduction to appearance''': the treatment of a person primarily in terms of how they look, or how they appear to the senses;
# '''Silencing''': the treatment of a person as if they are silent, lacking the capacity to speak.
According to objectification theory, objectification can have important repercussions on women, particularly young women, as it can negatively impact their psychological health and lead to the development of mental disorders, such as [[Major depressive disorder|unipolar depression]], [[sexual dysfunction]], and [[eating disorder]]s.<ref name="Fredrickson 1997">{{cite journal |last1=Fredrickson |first1=Barbara L. |last2=Roberts |first2=Tomi-Ann |title=Objectification Theory |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=21 |issue=2 |year=1997 |pages=173–206 |issn=0361-6843 |doi=10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x |s2cid=145272074}}</ref>

=== In advertising ===

[[File:Two girls examining a bulletin board posted on a fence. An advertisement painted above them asks "Are You a Woman?".jpg|thumb|right|alt=Two girls examining a bulletin board posted on a fence. An advertisement painted above them asks "Are You a Woman?".|Women examining a bulletin board posted on a fence. An advertisement painted above them asks "Are You a Woman?"]]<!-- WP:Caption "Not every image ..." -->

While advertising used to portray women and men in obviously stereotypical roles (e.g., as a housewife, breadwinner), in modern advertisements, they are no longer solely confined to their traditional roles. However, advertising today still stereotypes men and women, albeit in more subtle ways, including by sexually objectifying them.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zimmerman |first1=Amanda |last2=Dahlberg |first2=John |year=2008 |title=The sexual objectification of women in advertising: A contemporary cultural perspective |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/4682b9942712c00d48f819e9039023c9bae4ede6 |journal=[[Journal of Advertising Research]] |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=71–79 |doi=10.2501/s0021849908080094 |s2cid=30977582}}</ref> Women are most often targets of sexism in advertising.{{Citation needed|reason=Source needed|date=April 2018}} When in advertisements with men they are often shorter and put in the background of images, shown in more "feminine" poses, and generally present a higher degree of "body display".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zotos |first1=Yorgos |last2=Tsichla |first2=Eirini |date=October 2014 |title=Snapshots of Men and Women in Interaction: An Investigation of Stereotypes in Print Advertisement Relationship Portrayals |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267842958 |journal=Journal of Euromarketing |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=35–58 |via=ResearchGate |doi=10.9768/0023.03.035 |doi-broken-date=July 12, 2025}}</ref>

Today, some countries (for example [[Norway]] and [[Denmark]]) have laws against [[Sex in advertising|sexual objectification in advertising]].<ref name="Holmes 2008">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7365722.stm |work=BBC News |title=Scandinavian split on sexist ads |date=April 25, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2010 |first=Stephanie |last=Holmes}}</ref> Nudity is not banned, and nude people can be used to advertise a product if they are relevant to the product advertised. Sol Olving, head of Norway's Kreativt Forum (an association of the country's top advertising agencies) explained, "You could have a naked person advertising shower gel or a cream, but not a woman in a bikini draped across a car".<ref name="Holmes 2008"/>

Other countries continue to ban nudity (on traditional obscenity grounds), but also make explicit reference to sexual objectification, such as [[Israel]]'s ban of [[billboard]]s that "depicts sexual humiliation or abasement, or presents a human being as an object available for sexual use".<ref>{{cite book |title=Israeli Penal Law 5737–1977: Obscene publication and display |publisher=OECD |pages=70–71 |edition=6th |ref=Article 214 |url=http://www.oecd.org/investment/anti-bribery/anti-briberyconvention/43289694.pdf |access-date=February 26, 2015}} (English translation)</ref>

=== Pornography ===
{{See also|Feminist views on pornography}}

Anti-pornography feminist [[Catharine MacKinnon]] argues that [[pornography]] contributes to sexism by objectifying women and portraying them in submissive roles.<ref>MacKinnon, Catharine (1987). ''Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law''. Cambridge, MA: [[Harvard University Press]]. p. 147.</ref> MacKinnon, along with [[Andrea Dworkin]], argues that pornography reduces women to mere tools, and is a form of sex discrimination.<ref name="Papadaki 2012">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Papadaki |first=Evangelia |title=Feminist Perspectives on Objectification |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/feminism-objectification/ |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=December 1, 2013 |date=June 28, 2011 |edition=Winter 2012}}</ref> The two scholars highlight the link between objectification and pornography by stating:

<blockquote>We define pornography as the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures and words that also includes (i) women are presented dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities; or (ii) women are presented as sexual objects who enjoy humiliation or pain; or (iii) women are presented as sexual objects experiencing sexual pleasure in rape, incest or other sexual assault; or (iv) women are presented as sexual objects tied up, cut up or mutilated or bruised or physically hurt; or (v) women are presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, servility, or display; or (vi) women's body parts—including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, or buttocks—are exhibited such that women are reduced to those parts; or (vii) women are presented being penetrated by objects or animals; or (viii) women are presented in scenarios of degradation, humiliation, injury, torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual."<ref name="Dworkin 1988">{{cite book |author1=Andrea Dworkin |author-link1=Andrea Dworkin |author2=Catharine A. MacKinnon |author-link2=Catharine MacKinnon |title=Pornography and civil rights: a new day for women's equality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J69HAQAAIAAJ |date=1988 |publisher=Organizing Against Pornography |isbn=978-0-9621849-0-1 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Robin Morgan]] and Catharine MacKinnon suggest that certain types of pornography also contribute to [[violence against women]] by eroticizing scenes in which women are dominated, coerced, humiliated or [[sexually assault]]ed.<ref>Morgan, Robin. (1974). "Theory and Practice: Pornography and Rape". In: ''Going Too Far: The Personal Chronicle of a Feminist''. (1977). [[Random House]]. 333 p. {{ISBN|978-0-394-48227-9}}. (1978 ed, {{ISBN|978-0-394-72612-0}}.)</ref><ref name="Jeffries 2006">{{Cite news |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |title=Are women human? (interview with Catharine MacKinnon) |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=September 1, 2009 |date=April 12, 2006 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/12/gender.politicsphilosophyandsociety |location=London}}</ref>

Some people opposed to pornography, including MacKinnon, charge that the production of pornography entails physical, psychological, and economic [[coercion]] of the women who perform and model in it.<ref name="Shrage 2007">Shrage, Laurie. (July 13, 2007). [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-sex-markets/#Por "Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets: Pornography"]. In: ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''.</ref><ref>Mackinnon, Catherine A. (1984) "Not a moral issue." ''[[Yale Law and Policy Review]]'' 2:321-345. Reprinted in: Mackinnon (1989). ''Toward a Feminist Theory of the State'' Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-89645-1}} (1st ed), {{ISBN|978-0-674-89646-8}} (2nd ed). "Sex forced on real women so that it can be sold at a profit to be forced on other real women; women's bodies trussed and maimed and raped and made into things to be hurt and obtained and accessed, and this presented as the nature of women; the coercion that is visible and the coercion that has become invisible—this and more grounds the feminist concern with pornography"</ref><ref name="Wattenberg 1995">{{Cite episode |last=Wattenberg |first=Ben |title=A Conversation With Catherine MacKinnon (transcript) |series=[[Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg|Think Tank]] |network=PBS |access-date=18 Feb 2024 |date=1995 |url=https://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript215.html}}</ref> Opponents of pornography charge that it presents a distorted image of sexual relations and reinforces sexual myths; it shows women as continually available and willing to engage in sex at any time, with any person, on their terms, responding positively to any requests.

MacKinnon writes:
<blockquote>Pornography affects people's belief in rape myths. So for example if a woman says "I didn't consent" and people have been viewing pornography, they believe rape myths and believe the woman did consent no matter what she said. That when she said no, she meant yes. When she said she didn't want to, that meant more beer. When she said she would prefer to go home, that means she's a lesbian who needs to be given a good corrective experience. Pornography promotes these rape myths and desensitizes people to violence against women so that you need more violence to become sexually aroused if you're a pornography consumer. This is very well documented.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/12/gender.politicsphilosophyandsociety |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Stuart |last=Jeffries |title=Stuart Jeffries talks to leading feminist Catharine MacKinnon |date=April 12, 2006}}</ref></blockquote>

Defenders of pornography and anti-censorship activists (including [[sex-positive feminists]]) argue that pornography does not seriously impact a mentally healthy individual, since the viewer can distinguish between fantasy and reality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Strossen |first=Nadine |date=1993 |title=A Feminist Critique of "the" Feminist Critique of Pornography |journal=Virginia Law Review |language=en |volume=79 |issue=5 |page=1129 |doi=10.2307/1073402 |jstor=1073402 |issn=0042-6601 |quote=By insisting that "pornography" instills misogynistic attitudes, or even behavior, in viewers-or at least male viewers-the feminist pro-censorship faction ignores the subjective, complex nature of the interactions between an individual and a text or an image. This reductionist approach denies the existence of ambiguity, subtlety, and irony. It overlooks the boundary between fantasy, imagination, and ideas, on the one hand, and behavior on the other.126 Ultimately, it denies individual autonomy, assuming that at least some viewers of "pornography" will automatically react to it in a simplistic, "monkey-see, monkey-do" fashion. In the words of Professor McCormack, pro-censorship feminists "reject the distinction between thought and deed which is both the cornerstone of liberal democracy and the foundation of a humanistic model of human nature."}}</ref> Some also contend that both men and women are objectified in pornography, particularly [[Sadomasochism|sadistic or masochistic]] pornography in which men are objectified and sexually used by women.<ref>[http://www.seejane.org/downloads/Hatton_Trautner_Sexuality_and_Culture.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123115712/http://www.seejane.org/downloads/Hatton_Trautner_Sexuality_and_Culture.pdf|date=January 23, 2013}}</ref>

=== Prostitution ===

[[Prostitution]] is the business or practice of engaging in [[human sexual activity|sexual relations]] for [[payment]].<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Prostitution—Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prostitution |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=September 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Prostitution Law & Legal Definition |url=http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/prostitution |publisher=US Legal |access-date=19 March 2013}}</ref> Among sex workers women are generally [[gender parity|overrepresented]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=Lynn |date=2022-11-15 |title=The silent majority: The typical Canadian sex worker may not be who we think |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=17 |issue=11 |article-number=e0277550 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0277550 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=9665380 |pmid=36378670 |bibcode=2022PLoSO..1777550K }}</ref> Sex workers are often objectified and are seen as existing only to serve clients, thus calling their sense of agency into question. There is a prevailing notion that because they sell sex professionally, prostitutes automatically consent to all sexual contact.<ref name="Sullivan 2007">{{cite journal |title=Rape, Prostitution and Consent |author=Sullivan, Barbara |journal=[[Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology]] |year=2007 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=127–142 |quote=In common law jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, some of the evidentiary jurisprudence clearly linked chastity with veracity. So women who were or had been sex workers, those who were 'rumoured' to be prostitutes or who were simply promiscuous and behaving 'like a prostitute' lacked credibility as complainants, which made it difficult for the prosecution to prove the sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt. Women in any of these categories were seen at law as 'commonly available' to men, as always consenting to sexual activity and thus, as not able to be raped. Men accused of sexual assault were therefore able to use evidence of prostitution to defend themselves, to undermine the credibility of rape complainants and to successfully avoid conviction. |doi=10.1375/acri.40.2.127 |s2cid=145263451}}</ref> As a result, sex workers face higher [[violence against prostitutes|rates of violence]] and sexual assault. This is often dismissed, ignored and not taken seriously by authorities.<ref name="Sullivan 2007" />

In many countries, prostitution is dominated by brothels or pimps, who often claim ownership over sex workers. This sense of ownership furthers the concept that sex workers are void of agency.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://walnet.org/csis/papers/redefining.html |title=Redefining Prostitution as Sex Work on the International Agenda |website=walnet.org}}</ref> This is literally the case in instances of [[sexual slavery]].

Various authors have argued that female prostitution is based on male sexism that condones the idea that unwanted sex with a woman is acceptable, that men's desires must be satisfied, and that women are coerced into and exist to serve men sexually.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/Prostitution.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903143328/http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/Prostitution.pdf |archive-date=September 3, 2006 |title=Readings on Prostitution}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/18/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation |title=Julie Bindel: Eradicate the oldest oppression—UK news—The Guardian |author=Julie Bindel |newspaper=the Guardian |date=January 18, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/sep/10/endingatradeinmisery |title=Ending a trade in misery |author=Julie Bindel |newspaper=the Guardian |date=September 10, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mlFgjEBYWYC |title=The Industrial Vagina |isbn=978-0-203-69830-3 |last1=Jeffreys |first1=Sheila |date=2008 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref> The [[European Women's Lobby]] condemned prostitution as "an intolerable form of male violence".<ref>{{cite web |title=European Women's Lobby: Prostitution in Europe: 60 Years of Reluctance |url=http://www.womenslobby.eu/spip.php?article472 |website=womenslobby.eu}}</ref>

[[Carole Pateman]] writes that:<blockquote>
Prostitution is the use of a woman's body by a man for his own satisfaction. There is no desire or satisfaction on the part of the prostitute. Prostitution is not mutual, pleasurable exchange of the use of bodies, but the unilateral use of a woman's body by a man in exchange for money.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jH2KPvZF1L0C |title=The Sexual Contract |url-access=limited |via=Google Books |isbn=978-0-8047-1477-8 |last1=Pateman |first1=Carole |author-link=Carole Pateman |year=1988 |publisher=Stanford University Press}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Media portrayals ===

{{see also|Media and gender}}

Some scholars believe that media portrayals of demographic groups can both maintain and disrupt attitudes and behaviors toward those groups.<ref>Cole, E., & Henderson Daniel, J. (Eds.). (2005). ''Featuring females: Feminist analyses of media''. Washington, DC: [[American Psychological Association]]. {{doi|10.1037/11213-000}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2013}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Halliwell |first1=E. |last2=Malson |first2=H. |last3=Tischner |first3=I. |year=2011 |title=Are contemporary media images which seem to display women as sexually empowering actually harmful to women? |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=35 |pages=34–45 |doi=10.1177/0361684310385217 |s2cid=143146656 |issn=0361-6843}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Entman |first1=R. |last2=Rojecki |first2=A. |year=2000 |title=The Black image in the White mind: Media and race in America |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-21075-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/blackimageinwh00entm/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2013}} According to Susan Douglas: "Since the early 1990s, much of the media have come to overrepresent women as having made it-completely-in the professions, as having gained sexual equality with men, and having achieved a level of financial success and comfort enjoyed primarily by Tiffany's-encrusted doyennes of Laguna Beach."<ref>{{cite book |last=Douglas |first=Susan J. |year=2010 |title=The Rise of Enlightened Sexism |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-67392-5}}</ref> These images may be harmful, particularly to women and racial and ethnic minority groups. For example, a study of African American women found they feel that media portrayals of themselves often reinforce stereotypes of this group as overly sexual and idealize images of lighter-skinned, thinner African American women (images African American women describe as objectifying).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=L. B. |last2=Robinson |first2=D. |last3=Dispenza |first3=F. |last4=Nazari |first4=N. |year=2012 |title=African American women's sexual objectification experiences: A qualitative study |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=227–239 |doi=10.1177/0361684312454724 |s2cid=144040468 |issn=0361-6843}}</ref> In a recent analysis of images of Haitian women in the Associated Press photo archive from 1994 to 2009, several themes emerged emphasizing the "otherness" of Haitian women and characterizing them as victims in need of rescue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rendon |first1=M. J. |last2=Nicolas |first2=G. |year=2012 |title=Deconstructing the portrayals of Haitian women in the media: A thematic analysis of images in the Associated Press Photo Archive |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=227–239 |doi=10.1177/0361684311429110 |s2cid=144253671 |issn=0361-6843}}</ref>

In an attempt to study the effect of [[media consumption]] on males, Samantha and Bridges found an effect on body shame, though not through self-objectification as it was found in comparable studies of women. The authors conclude that the current measures of objectification were designed for women and do not measure men accurately.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Daniel |first1=Samantha |last2=Bridges |first2=Sara K. |year=2010 |title=The drive for muscularity in men: Media influences and objectification theory |journal=[[Body Image (journal)|Body Image]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=32–38 |doi=10.1016/j.bodyim.2009.08.003 |pmid=19815476}}</ref> Another study found a negative effect on eating attitudes and body satisfaction of consumption of beauty and fitness magazines for women and men respectively but again with different mechanisms, namely self-objectification for women and internalization for men.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Magazine exposure: Internalization, self-objectification, eating attitudes, and body satisfaction in male and female university students |last1=Morry |first1=Marian M. |last2=Staska |first2=Sandra L. |journal=[[Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science]] |volume=33 |issue=4 |year=2001 |pages=269–279 |doi=10.1037/h0087148}}</ref>

=== Sexist jokes ===

Frederick Attenborough argues that sexist jokes can be a form of sexual objectification, which reduce the butt of the joke to an object. They not only objectify women, but can also condone violence or prejudice against women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Attenborough |first1=Frederick T. |author-link1=Frederick T. Attenborough |title=Jokes, pranks, blondes and banter: recontextualising sexism in the British print press |journal=[[Journal of Gender Studies]] |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=137–154 |doi=10.1080/09589236.2013.774269 |date=2014 |s2cid=144338846}}</ref> "Sexist humor—the denigration of women through humor—for instance, trivializes sex discrimination under the veil of benign amusement, thus precluding challenges or opposition that nonhumorous sexist communication would likely incur."<ref name="Ford 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Ford |first1=Thomas E. |last2=Boxer |first2=Christie F. |last3=Armstrong |first3=Jacob |last4=Edel |first4=Jessica R. |year=2007 |title=More Than "Just a Joke": The Prejudice Releasing Function of Sexist Humor |journal=[[Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin]] |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=159–170 |doi=10.1177/0146167207310022 |pmid=18056796 |s2cid=26438425}}</ref> A study of 73 male undergraduate students by Ford found that "sexist humor can promote the behavioral expression of prejudice against women amongst sexist men".<ref name="Ford 2007" /> According to the study, when sexism is presented in a humorous manner it is viewed as tolerable and socially acceptable: "Disparagement of women through humor 'freed' sexist participants from having to conform to the more general and more restrictive norms regarding discrimination against women."<ref name="Ford 2007" />

== Gender identity discrimination ==

Gender discrimination is discrimination based on actual or perceived [[gender identity]].<ref name="Feder 2013"/>{{Page needed|date=December 2021}} Gender identity is "the gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth".<ref name="Feder 2013">{{cite web |author1=Feder, Jody |author2=Cynthia Brougher |name-list-style=amp |title=Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination in Employment: A Legal Analysis of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) |date=July 15, 2013 |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40934.pdf |publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]] |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2021}} Gender discrimination is theoretically different from sexism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kimmel |first=Michael S. |year=2004 |title=The Gendered Society |edition=2nd |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514975-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/genderedsociety00kimm_0/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2021}} Whereas sexism is prejudice based on gender, gender discrimination specifically addresses discrimination towards gender identities, including [[third gender]], [[genderqueer]], and other [[Non-binary gender|non-binary]] identified people.<ref name="Macklem 2003">{{cite book |last=Macklem |first=Tony |year=2003 |title=Beyond Comparison: Sex and Discrimination |location=New York |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-82682-2}}{{Page needed|date=December 2021}}</ref> It is especially attributed to how people are treated in the workplace,<ref name="Lenhart 2004">{{cite book |title=Clinical Aspects of Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination: Psychological Consequences and Treatment Interventions |author=Sharyn Ann Lenhart |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-135-94131-4 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rt2SAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |quote=Gender or Sex Discrimination: This term refers to the types of gender bias that have a negative impact. The term has legal, as well as theoretical and psychological, definitions. Psychological consequences can be more readily inferred from the latter, but both definitions are of significance. Theoretically, gender discrimination has been described as (1) the unequal rewards that men and women receive in the workplace or academic environment because of their gender or sex difference (DiThomaso, 1989); (2) a process occurring in work or educational settings in which an individual is overtly or covertly limited access to an opportunity or a resource because of a sex or is given the opportunity or the resource reluctantly and may face harassment for picking it (Roeske & Pleck, 1983); or (3) both. |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}{{Page needed|date=December 2021}}</ref> and banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression has emerged as a subject of contention in the American legal system.<ref name="Human Rights Campaign 2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrc.org/laws-and-legislation/federal-legislation/employment-non-discrimination-act |title=Employment Non-Discrimination Act |website=Human Rights Campaign |date=March 9, 2015 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520071809/http://www.hrc.org/laws-and-legislation/federal-legislation/employment-non-discrimination-act |archive-date=May 20, 2014}}</ref>

According to a recent report by the [[Congressional Research Service]], "although the majority of federal courts to consider the issue have concluded that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is not sex discrimination, there have been several courts that have reached the opposite conclusion".<ref name="Feder 2013"/> Hurst states that "[c]ourts often confuse sex, gender and sexual orientation, and confuse them in a way that results in denying the rights not only of gays and lesbians, but also of those who do not present themselves or act in a manner traditionally expected of their sex".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hurst |first=C. |title=Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences |edition=Sixth |location=Boston |publisher=Allyn and Bacon |year=2007 |pages=131, 139–142 |isbn=978-0-205-48436-2}}</ref>

=== Oppositional sexism ===

Oppositional sexism is a term coined by [[Transfeminism|transfeminist]] author [[Julia Serano]], who defined oppositional sexism as "the belief that male and female are rigid, mutually exclusive categories".<ref name="Serano 2007">{{Cite book |title=Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity |last=Serano |first=Julia |author-link=Julia Serano |publisher=[[Seal Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-786-74791-7 |location=Emeryville, Calif.}}</ref> Oppositional sexism plays a vital role in a number of [[social norm]]s, such as [[cisnormativity]] and [[heteronormativity]].

Oppositional sexism normalizes masculine expression in males and feminine expression in females while simultaneously demonizing femininity in males and masculinity in females. This concept plays a crucial role in supporting [[cissexism]], the social norm that views cisgender people as both natural and privileged as opposed to transgender people.<ref name="Pedersen 2015">{{Cite book |title=Counseling Across Cultures |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4522-1752-9 |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif. |edition=7th |editor2-first=Walter |editor-last=Pedersen |editor-first=Paul |editor2-last=Lonner |editor3-last=Draguns |editor3-first=Juris |editor4-last=Trimble |editor4-first=Joseph |editor5-last=Scharrón-del Río |editor5-first=María}}</ref>

The idea of having two, opposite genders is tied to sexuality through what [[Gender studies|gender theorist]] [[Judith Butler]] calls a "compulsory practice of heterosexuality".<ref name="Pedersen 2015" /> Because oppositional sexism is tied to heteronormativity in this way, non-heterosexuals are seen as breaking gender norms.<ref name="Pedersen 2015" />

The concept of opposite genders sets a "dangerous precedent", according to Serano, where "if men are big then women must be small; and if men are strong then women must be weak".<ref name="Serano 2007" /> The [[gender binary]] and oppositional norms work together to support "traditional sexism", the belief that femininity is inferior to and serves masculinity.<ref name="Pedersen 2015" />

Serano states that oppositional sexism works in tandem with "traditional sexism". This ensures that "those who are masculine have power over those who are feminine, and that only those that are born male will be seen as authentically masculine."<ref name="Serano 2007" />

=== Transgender discrimination ===

{{See also|Transphobia|Healthcare and the LGBT community}}

Transgender discrimination is discrimination towards peoples whose gender identity differs from the social expectations of the biological sex they were born with.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://campusclimate.berkeley.edu/students/ejce/geneq |title=Gender Equity Resource Center |website=University of California Berkeley |access-date=August 26, 2019}}</ref> Forms of discrimination include but are not limited to identity documents not reflecting one's gender, sex-segregated public restrooms and other facilities, dress codes according to binary gender codes, and lack of access to and existence of appropriate health care services.<ref name="Grossman 2012">{{Cite web |url=https://verdict.justia.com/2012/05/01/the-eeoc-rules-that-transgender-discrimination-is-sex-discrimination |title=The EEOC Rules That Transgender Discrimination Is Sex Discrimination: The Reasoning Behind That Decision |last=Grossman |first=Joanna L. |website=verdict.justia.com |date=May 2012 |language=en |access-date=August 26, 2019}}</ref> In a recent adjudication, the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] (EEOC) concluded that discrimination against a transgender person is sex discrimination.<ref name="Grossman 2012"/>

The 2008–09 National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS)—a U.S. study by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in collaboration with the National Black Justice Coalition that was, at its time, the most extensive survey of transgender discrimination—showed that Black [[transgender people in the United States]] suffer "the combination of anti-transgender bias and persistent, structural and individual racism" and that "black transgender people live in extreme poverty that is more than twice the rate for transgender people of all races (15%), four times the general Black population rate (9%) and over eight times the general US population rate (4%)".<ref>{{cite web |title=Injustice at every turn: A look at Black respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey |url=http://nbjc.org/sites/default/files/trans-adjustment-web.pdf |website=[[National Black Justice Coalition]] |access-date=20 January 2018 |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220101059/http://nbjc.org/sites/default/files/trans-adjustment-web.pdf}}</ref> Further discrimination is faced by gender nonconforming individuals, whether transitioning or not, because of displacement from societally acceptable gender binaries and visible stigmatization. According to the NTDS, transgender gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals face between eight percent and 15% higher rates of self and social discrimination and violence than binary transgender individuals. Lisa R. Miller and Eric Anthony Grollman found in their 2015 study that "gender nonconformity may heighten trans people's exposure to discrimination and health-harming behaviors. Gender nonconforming trans adults reported more events of major and everyday transphobic discrimination than their gender conforming counterparts."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Lisa R. |last2=Grollman |first2=Eric Anthony |year=2015 |title=The Social Costs of Gender Nonconformity for Transgender Adults: Implications for Discrimination and Health |journal=[[Sociological Forum]] |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=809–831 |doi=10.1111/socf.12193 |pmid=27708501 |pmc=5044929}}</ref>

In another study conducted in collaboration with the League of United Latin American Citizens, Latino/a transgender people who were non-citizens were most vulnerable to harassment, abuse and violence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://endtransdiscrimination.org/report.html |title=the Survey |publisher=End Trans Discrimination |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref>

An updated version of the NTDS survey, called the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, was published in December 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=2015 U.S. Transgender Survey |url=https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Executive-Summary-Dec17.pdf |website=National Center for Transgender Equality |access-date=January 20, 2018}}</ref>

== Child and forced marriage ==

{{Main|Child marriage|Forced marriage}}
{{Further|Dowry|Bride price}}
[[File:Girl Summit - 22nd July in London (14498368279).jpg|thumb|alt=Poster against child and forced marriage| Poster against child and forced marriage]]

A child marriage is a marriage where one or both spouses are under 18, a practice that disproportionately affects women.<ref name="UNICEF 2014">{{cite web |date=October 22, 2014 |title=Child marriage |url=http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907061839/https://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html |archive-date=September 7, 2018 |access-date=September 24, 2013 |website=UNICEF}}</ref><ref name="HRW 2013">{{cite web |date=June 14, 2013 |title=Q & A: Child Marriage and Violations of Girls' Rights—Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/06/14/q-child-marriage-and-violations-girls-rights |access-date=March 31, 2015 |website=Hrw.org}}</ref> Child marriages are most common in South Asia, the [[Middle East]] and [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], but occur in other parts of the world, too. The practice of marrying young girls is rooted in patriarchal ideologies of control of female behavior and is also sustained by traditional practices such as dowry and bride price.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dowry and abuse still a problem in India |url=http://www.port.ac.uk/uopnews/2013/11/19/dowry-and-abuse-still-a-problem-in-india/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222181509/http://www.port.ac.uk/uopnews/2013/11/19/dowry-and-abuse-still-a-problem-in-india/ |archive-date=February 22, 2015 |access-date=February 22, 2015}}</ref> Child marriage is strongly connected with protecting female [[virginity]].<ref name="Forced Early Marriage">{{cite web |date=n.d. |title=Article 16: Right to marriage and family and to equal rights of men and women during and after marriage {{!}} Case Study: Forced Early Marriage |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art16.shtml |access-date=18 February 2024 |website=BBC World Service}}</ref> UNICEF states that:<ref name="UNICEF 2014" />
<blockquote>Marrying girls under 18 years old is rooted in [[gender discrimination]], encouraging premature and continuous child bearing and giving preference to boys' education. Child marriage is also a strategy for economic survival as families marry off their daughters at an early age to reduce their economic burden.</blockquote>

Consequences of child marriage include restricted education and employment prospects, increased risk of domestic violence, [[child sexual abuse]], pregnancy and birth complications, and [[social isolation]].<ref name="HRW 2013" /><ref name="Forced Early Marriage" /> Early and forced marriage are defined as forms of modern-day slavery by the [[International Labour Organization]].<ref>{{cite news |date=September 9, 2013 |title=Nigeria's child brides: 'I thought being in labour would never end' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/02/nigeria-child-brides-religion |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In some cases, a woman or girl who has been raped may be forced to marry her rapist to restore the honor of her family;<ref name="whqlibdoc.who.int" /><ref>{{cite news |date=2012-03-15 |title=BBC News—Morocco protest after raped Amina Filali kills herself |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17379721 |access-date=2015-03-31}}</ref> [[marriage by abduction]], a practice in which a man abducts the woman or girl whom he wishes to marry and rapes her to force the marriage is common in [[Ethiopia]].<ref>{{cite news |date=June 18, 1999 |title=Ethiopia: Revenge of the abducted bride |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/371944.stm |access-date=March 31, 2015 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=February 23, 2007 |title=IRIN Africa—Ethiopia: Surviving forced marriage—Ethiopia—Children—Gender Issues |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/69993/ethiopia-surviving-forced-marriage |website=IRINnews}}</ref><ref>Pathfinder International/Ethiopia (2006) Report on causes and consequences of early marriage in Amhara region. Retrieved April 18, 2015 from {{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.pathfinder.org/publications-tools/pdfs/Causes-and-Consequesnces-of-Early-Marriage-in-the-Amhara-Region-of-Ethiopia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323124732/http://www.pathfinder.org/publications-tools/pdfs/Causes-and-Consequesnces-of-Early-Marriage-in-the-Amhara-Region-of-Ethiopia.pdf |archive-date=March 23, 2013 |access-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref>

== Clothing ==

{{See also|Foot binding|Burqa}}
{{Further|Gendered associations of pink and blue}}
[[File:Gobert - Louis XV as child, Fundación Jakober.jpg|thumb|upright|alt= Louis XV as a boy wearing a pink dress. |[[Louis XV]] in 1712, a boy wearing a pink dress]]
[[File:A HIGH CASTE LADYS DAINTY LILY FEET.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A Chinese woman shows the effects of foot binding on her feet. |Chinese woman shows the effect of [[foot binding]].]]

Feminists argue that clothing and footwear fashion have been oppressive to women, restricting their movements, increasing their vulnerability, and endangering their health.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeffreys |first1=Sheila |url=http://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Jeffreys_Beauty_and_Misogyny_Harmful_Cultural_Practices_in_the_West__Women_and_Psychology_1.pdf |title=Beauty and Misogyny:Harmful cultural practices in the west |publisher=Taylor & Francis e-Library |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-203-69856-3 |location=East Sussex |access-date=March 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606103815/http://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Jeffreys_Beauty_and_Misogyny_Harmful_Cultural_Practices_in_the_West__Women_and_Psychology_1.pdf |archive-date=June 6, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Using thin models in the fashion industry has encouraged the development of [[bulimia]] and [[anorexia nervosa]], as well as locking female consumers into false feminine identities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hollows |first=Joanne |url=https://archive.org/details/feminismfeminini0000holl/page/139/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Feminism, Femininity and Popular Culture |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7190-4394-9 |location=Manchester, UK |page=139 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The assignment of gender-specific baby clothes can instill in children a belief in negative gender stereotypes.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bindel |first=Julie |date=January 24, 2012 |title=Julie Bindel: Boys aren't born wanting to wear blue |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/julie-bindel-boys-arent-born-wanting-to-wear-blue-6293688.html |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref> One example is the assignment in some countries of the color pink to girls and blue to boys. The fashion is recent one. At the beginning of the 20th century the trend was the opposite: blue for girls and pink for boys.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Maglaty, Jeanne |date=April 7, 2011 |title=When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/ |access-date=March 16, 2015 |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref> In the early 1900s, ''The Women's Journal'' wrote that "pink being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl". ''DressMaker'' magazine also explained that "[t]he preferred colour to dress young boys in is pink. Blue is reserved for girls as it is considered paler, and the more dainty of the two colours, and pink is thought to be stronger (akin to red)".<ref>{{cite news |date=January 8, 2009 |title=Should we not dress girls in pink? |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7817496.stm |access-date=March 31, 2015 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Today, in many countries, it is considered inappropriate for boys to wear dresses and skirts, but this is also a relatively recent view. From the mid-16th century<ref>Melanie Scheussler suggests a date of post-1540 for England, France, and the Low Countries; see Scheussler, {{"'}}She Hath Over Grown All that She Ever Hath': Children's Clothing in the Lisle Letters, 1533–40", in Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, ''Medieval Clothing and Textiles'', Volume 3, p. 185. Before roughly this date various styles of long robes were in any case commonly worn by adult males of various sorts, so boys wearing them could probably not be said to form a distinct phenomenon.</ref> until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the [[Western world]] were [[breeching (boys)|unbreeched]] and wore [[gown]]s or dresses until an age that varied between two and eight.<ref>Baumgarten, Linda: ''What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America'', p. 166</ref>

Laws that dictate how women must dress are seen by many international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, as gender discrimination.<ref name="Amnesty International 2010">{{cite web |date=10 November 2010 |title=Women's right to choose their dress, free of coercion |url=https://doc.es.amnesty.org/cgi-bin/ai/BRSCGI/WOMENS%20RIGHT%20TO%20CHOOSE%20THEIR%20DRESS%20FREE%20OF%20COERCION?CMD=VEROBJ&MLKOB=29309215959 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927134431/https://doc.es.amnesty.org/cgi-bin/ai/BRSCGI/WOMENS%20RIGHT%20TO%20CHOOSE%20THEIR%20DRESS%20FREE%20OF%20COERCION?CMD=VEROBJ&MLKOB=29309215959 |archive-date=2013-09-27 |archive-format=PDF |publisher=Amnesty International |page=1 |format=PDF |id=IOR 40/022/2010}}</ref> In many countries, women face violence for failing to adhere to certain dress codes, whether by the authorities (such as the [[Islamic religious police|religious police]]), family members, or the community.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 15, 2007 |title=Iran to intensify dress crackdown |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6900111.stm |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=March 15, 2002 |title=Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1874471.stm |access-date=2015-03-31 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Amnesty International states:

<blockquote>Interpretations of religion, culture, or tradition cannot justify imposing rules about dress on those who choose to dress differently. States should take measures to protect individuals from being coerced to dress in specific ways by family members, community or religious groups or leaders.<ref name="Amnesty International 2010" /></blockquote>

The production process also faces criticism for sexist practices. In the garment industry, approximately 80 percent of workers are female.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davelaar |first=Geertjan |title=Gender: Women workers mistreated—Clean Clothes Campaign |url=https://cleanclothes.org/issues/gender |access-date=November 6, 2016 |website=cleanclothes.org |language=en}}</ref> Much garment production is located in Asia because of low labor costs. Women who work in these factories are sexually harassed by managers and male workers, paid low wages, and [[Pregnancy discrimination|discriminated against when pregnant]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 11, 2015 |title=Work Faster or Get Out |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/03/11/work-faster-or-get-out/labor-rights-abuses-cambodias-garment-industry |access-date=November 6, 2016 |newspaper=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>

== Conscription ==
{{Further|Conscription and sexism|Women in the military}}
[[File:Women in military - Obligation 2024.svg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Conscription and sexism]] by country
{{Legend|#80e5ff|Sexist conscription for men, women can volunteer}}
{{Legend|#87cdde|Sexist selective conscription for men, women can volunteer}}
{{Legend|#55ff55|Gender equal conscription}}
{{Legend|#5fd38d|Gender equal selective conscription}}
{{Legend|#ff9955|Gender equal voluntary service}}
]]
[[Conscription]] of only men in some countries has been criticized as [[discrimination against men]].<ref name="Benatar 2012">{{Cite book |last=Benatar |first=David |author-link=David Benatar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdIrkGLHLPsC |title=The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-67451-2 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{Rp|102}}<!-- Split from ":0"--><ref>{{Cite web |last=Berlatsky |first=Noah |date=May 29, 2013 |title=When Men Experience Sexism |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/when-men-experience-sexism/276355/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105151244/http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/when-men-experience-sexism/276355/ |archive-date=January 5, 2015 |access-date=April 26, 2015 |website=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref> During the Modern era, prior to the late 20th century, mostly men were subjected to conscription,
although there were several instances of conscription of women in [[Ancient history|Antiquity]] and the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="Gagova 2015">{{cite book |last1=Gagova |first1=Krasimira |title=Power. Ideologies. Rituals., p. 47 "despite their exclusion from the sphere of power, women were sometimes subjected to conscription not only in the Byzantine Empire, but in any other parts of Europe too"; p. 66: "After that in 811 Krum mobilized thousands of armed women in the battle against the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I" |date=2015 |publisher=Polis |isbn=978-954-8624-45-9}}</ref><ref name="Matanov 2014">{{cite book |last1=Matanov |first1=Hristo |title=В търсене на средновековното време. Неравният път на българите (VII–XV в.)(in Bulgarian), pp. 91 "Furthermore Khan Krum subjected to conscription thousand of women and Avars in the Battle of Pliska" |date=2014 |publisher=IK Gutenberg |isbn=978-619-176-018-3}}</ref><ref name="Benatar 2012" />{{Rp|255}}<!-- Split from ":0"--><ref>{{cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Joshua S. |date=2003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUAsskBg8ywC&pg=PA108 |chapter=War and Gender: Men's War Roles—Boyhood and Coming of Age |editor1=Ember, Carol R. |editor2=Ember, Melvin |title=Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures, Volume 1. |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |page=108 |isbn=978-0-306-47770-6 |chapter-url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kronsell |first=Anica |date=2006 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVcV-JBhoVUC&pg=PA113 |chapter=Methods for studying silence: The 'silence' of Swedish conscription |editor1=Ackerly, Brooke A. |editor2=Stern, Maria |editor3-link=Jacqui True |editor3=True, Jacqui |title=Feminist Methodologies for International Relations |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=113 |isbn=978-1-139-45873-3 |chapter-url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Selmeski |first=Brian R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nv8_omV87vkC&pg=PA149 |title=Multicultural Citizens, Monocultural Men: Indigineity, Masculinity, and Conscription in Ecuador |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-549-40315-9 |location=Syracuse University |page=149 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Joenniemi |first=Pertti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwaa7jKmE_IC&pg=PA149 |title=The Changing Face of European Conscription |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-754-64410-1 |pages=142–149 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref> Today most countries still require only men to serve in the military.

In his book ''The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys'' (2012), philosopher [[David Benatar]] states that "[t]he prevailing assumption is that where conscription is necessary, it is only men who should be conscripted and, similarly, that only males should be forced into combat". This, he believes, "is a sexist assumption".<ref name="Benatar 2012" />{{Rp|102}}<!-- Split from ":0"--> Anthropologist Ayse Gül Altinay has commented that "given equal suffrage rights, there is no other citizenship practice that differentiates as radically between men and women as compulsory male conscription".<ref name="Altinay 2004">{{Cite book |last=Altinay |first=Ayse Gül |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=keLIAAAAQBAJ |title=The Myth of the Military-Nation: Militarism, Gender, and Education in Turkey |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-403-97936-0 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{Rp|34}}

Only nine countries conscript women into their armed forces: China, Eritrea, Israel, Libya, Malaysia, North Korea, Norway, Peru, and Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 30, 2006 |title=Indepth: Femsle Soldiers—Women in the military—international |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/military-international/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404041241/http://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/military-international/ |archive-date=April 4, 2015 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |publisher=[[CBC News]]}}</ref><ref name="Koranyi 2014">{{Cite news |last1=Koranyi |first1=Balazs |last2=Fouche |first2=Gwladys |date=June 14, 2014 |editor-last=Char |editor-first=Pravin |title=Norway becomes first NATO country to draft women into military |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-women-conscription-idUSBRE95D0NB20130614 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128132614/https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/14/us-norway-women-conscription-idUSBRE95D0NB20130614 |archive-date=January 28, 2015 |access-date=April 26, 2015 |publisher=Reuters |location=Oslo}}</ref> Other countries—such as [[Conscription in Finland|Finland]], [[Conscription in Turkey|Turkey]], and [[Conscription in Singapore|Singapore]]—still use a system of conscription which requires military service from men only, although women may serve voluntarily. In 2014, Norway became the first [[NATO]] country to introduce obligatory military service for women as an act of gender equality<ref name="Koranyi 2014" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2014 |title=Women in the Armed Forces |url=http://mil.no/organisation/personnel/women/Pages/default.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502082510/http://mil.no/organisation/personnel/women/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=May 2, 2015 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |publisher=[[Norwegian Armed Forces]]}}</ref> and in 2015, the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] government started preparing a gender-neutral draft law.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 2, 2016 |title=Kaderwet dienstplicht wordt aangepast voor vrouwen |url=https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2016/02/02/kaderwet-dienstplicht-wordt-aangepast-voor-vrouwen |publisher=Rijksoverheid |language=nl}}</ref> The gender selective draft has been challenged in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Angelluci |first=Marc E. |date=April 13, 2013 |title=National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System |url=http://ncfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/130404-NCFM-Selective-Service-lawsuit-complaint.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321214722/http://ncfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/130404-NCFM-Selective-Service-lawsuit-complaint.pdf |archive-date=March 21, 2015 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |website=[[National Coalition for Men]] |publisher=[[United States Government]]}}</ref>

Conditions in the military have been described as "sexually abusive" and the "sexual persecution" of women.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hynes |first=H. Patricia |date=2012-01-26 |title=Military Sexual Abuse: A Greater Menace Than Combat |url=https://truthout.org/articles/military-sexual-abuse-a-greater-menace-than-combat/ |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=Truthout |language=en-US}}</ref> Relentless sexist ridicule, hostility, and sexual harassment has been frequently reported.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elsesser |first=Kim |title=Women In Army Special Ops Face 'Blatant Sexism' And Must Wear Equipment That Doesn't Fit, According To Study |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2023/08/24/women-in-army-special-ops-face-blatant-sexism-and-must-wear-equipment-that-doesnt-fit-according-to-study/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-21 |title=Female soldiers in Army special operations face rampant sexism and harassment, military report says |url=https://apnews.com/article/army-special-operations-gender-bias-female-sexism-1c904cba739b8ba3720827bd9e77f5f4 |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> Women in the military are more likely to be raped by a male fellow soldier than killed by the enemy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=E. B. Knoer |first=Kelsey |date=2017 |title=The Catch-22 of Females Reporting Sexual Assault in the Military: A Cause for Holistic International Intervention |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3048&context=nlr |journal=Nebraska Law Review}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schmid |first=Megan N. |title=Combating a Different Enemy: Proposals to Change the Culture of Sexual Assault in the Military |url=https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=vlr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Benedict |first=Helen |title=Why Soldiers Rape |date=August 13, 2008 |url=https://inthesetimes.com/article/why-soldiers-rape}}</ref> Prosecution of the reported crimes fails to move forward, as the Pentagon claimed it would undermine the leadership of the commanders.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moyer |first=Melinda Wenner |date=2021-08-03 |title='A Poison in the System': The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/magazine/military-sexual-assault.html |access-date=2023-11-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | last1=Walsh | first1=Steve |title=U.S. Army report shows women serving in the special forces face intense sexism |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/09/07/1198066527/u-s-army-report-shows-women-serving-in-the-special-forces-face-intense-sexism#:~:text=A%20recent%20report%20from%20the,Pentagon%20to%20address%20their%20conditions. |website=[[NPR]] | date=September 7, 2023 }}</ref>

== Education ==

{{Main|Sex differences in education|Sexism in academia}}

Women have traditionally had limited access to higher education.<ref>{{cite book |last=Solomon |first=Barbara Miller |url=https://archive.org/details/incompanyofeduca00solo/mode/1up?view=theater |title=In the Company of Educated Women |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-300-03314-4 |location=New Haven, Conn. |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=April 2018}} In the past, when women were admitted to higher education, they were encouraged to major in less-scientific subjects; the study of [[English literature]] in American and British colleges and universities was instituted as a field considered suitable to women's "lesser intellects".<ref>{{cite book |last=Eagleton |first=Terry |url=https://archive.org/details/literarytheoryin00eagl/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Literary Theory |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-8166-1241-3 |location=Minneapolis |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=April 2018}}

Educational specialties in higher education produce and perpetuate inequality between men and women.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ecklund |first1=Elaine Howard |last2=Lincoln |first2=Anne E. |last3=Tansey |first3=Cassandra |year=2012 |title=Gender Segregation in Elite Academic Science |url=https://www.nsf.gov/career-life-balance/Gender%20Segregation%20in%20Elite%20Academic%20Science_Sage%20Pub_2012.pdf |journal=Gender & Society |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=693–717 |doi=10.1177/0891243212451904 |s2cid=146588435}}</ref> Disparity persists particularly in computer and [[information science]], where in the US women received only 21% of the undergraduate degrees, and in engineering, where women obtained only 19% of the degrees in 2008.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fox |first1=M. |last2=Sonnert |first2=G. |last3=Nikiforova |first3=I. |year=2011 |title=Programs for Undergraduate Women in Science and Engineering: Issues, Problems, and Solutions |journal=Gender and Society |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=589–615 [p. 590] |doi=10.1177/0891243211416809 |s2cid=145693091}}</ref> Only one out of five of physics doctorates in the US are awarded to women, and only about half those women are American.<ref name="Pollack 2013">{{cite news |last=Pollack |first=E. |date=2013 |title=Why are there still so few women in science? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html |access-date=April 18, 2015 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Of all the physics professors in the country, only 14% are women.<ref name="Pollack 2013" /> As of 2019, women account for just 27% of all workers in [[STEM]] fields, and on average earn almost 20% less than men in the same industries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem/|title=Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (Quick Take)|date=November 13, 2024 }}</ref>

World [[literacy#Gender disparities|literacy]] is lower for females than for males. Data from ''[[The World Factbook]]'' shows that 79.7% of women are literate, compared to 88.6% of men (aged 15 and over).<ref>{{cite web |date=November 10, 2021 |title=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/ |website=cia.gov}}</ref> In some parts of the world, girls continue to be excluded from proper public or private education. In parts of Afghanistan, girls who go to school face serious violence from some local community members and religious groups.<ref name="Torgan 2012">{{cite news |last=Torgan |first=Allie |date=August 2, 2012 |title=Acid attacks, poison: What Afghan girls risk by going to school |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/meast/cnnheroes-jan-afghan-school/index.html |access-date=18 Feb 2024 |work=CNN}}</ref> According to 2010 UN estimates, only Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen had less than 90 girls per 100 boys at school.<ref>{{cite news |date=2013 |title=Making Room for Girls |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/11/gender-inequality}}</ref> Jayachandran and [[Adriana Lleras-Muney|Lleras-Muney's]] study of Sri Lankan economic development has suggested that increases in the life expectancy for women encourages educational investment because a longer time horizon increases the value of investments that pay out over time.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jayachandran |first1=Seema |last2=Lleras-Muney |first2=Adriana |author2-link=Adriana Lleras-Muney |year=2009 |title=Life Expectancy and Human Capital Investments: Evidence from Maternal Mortality Declines |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w13947.pdf |journal=[[Quarterly Journal of Economics]] |volume=124 |issue=1 |pages=349–397 |doi=10.1162/qjec.2009.124.1.349 |s2cid=13244502}}</ref>

Educational opportunities and outcomes for women have greatly improved in the West. Since 1991, the proportion of women enrolled in college in the United States has exceeded the enrollment rate for men, and the gap has widened over time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Postsecondary Participation Rates by Sex and Race/Ethnicity: 1974–2003 |url=http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005028.pdf |access-date=December 4, 2019 |website=nces.ed.gov}}</ref> {{as of|2007}}, women made up the majority—54%—of the 10.8&nbsp;million college students enrolled in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Crossover in Female-Male College Enrollment Rates |url=http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/CrossoverinFemaleMaleCollegeEnrollmentRates.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527135418/http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/CrossoverinFemaleMaleCollegeEnrollmentRates.aspx |archive-date=May 27, 2013 |access-date=July 20, 2013 |publisher=Prb.org}}</ref> However, research by Diane Halpern has indicated that boys receive more attention, praise, blame and punishment in the grammar-school classroom,<ref>Halpern, Diane F. ''Sex differences in cognitive abilities''. Laurence Erlbaum Associates, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-8058-2792-7}}. Page 259.</ref> and "this pattern of more active teacher attention directed at male students continues at the postsecondary level".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sadker |first1=Myra |title=Gender in the Classroom: Power and Pedagogy |last2=Sadker |first2=David |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-252-06110-3 |editor-last=Gabriel |editor-first=Susan L. |location=Urbana |page=177 |chapter=Confronting Sexism in the College Classroom |editor2-last=Smithson |editor2-first=Isaiah |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/genderinclassroo00ffer/page/177/mode/1up?view=theater |chapter-url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Over time, female students speak less in a classroom setting.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sadker |first1=Myra |title=Mapping the social landscape: readings in sociology |last2=Sadker |first2=David |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7674-0616-1 |editor-last=Ferguson |editor-first=Sandra J. |page=350 |chapter=Failing at Fairness: Hidden Lessons |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/mappingsociallan00susa_2/page/350/mode/1up?view=theater |chapter-url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Teachers also tend to spend more time supporting the academic achievements of girls.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Younger |first1=Michael |last2=Warrington |first2=Molly |last3=Williams |first3=Jacquetta |date=1999 |title=The Gender Gap and Classroom Interactions: Reality and rhetoric? |journal=British Journal of Sociology of Education |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=325–341 |doi=10.1080/01425699995290}}</ref>

Boys are frequently diagnosed with [[ADHD]], which some see as a result of school systems being more likely to apply these labels to males.<ref>{{cite news |last=Abraham |first=Carolyn |date=August 23, 2012 |title=Part 3: Are we medicating a disorder or treating boyhood as a disease? |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/failing-boys/part-3-are-we-medicating-a-disorder-or-treating-boyhood-as-a-disease/article1762859/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513222447/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/failing-boys/part-3-are-we-medicating-a-disorder-or-treating-boyhood-as-a-disease/article1762859/ |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |access-date=July 20, 2013 |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto}}</ref> A recent study by the OECD in over 60 countries found that teachers give boys lower grades for the same work. The researchers attribute this to stereotypical ideas about boys and recommend teachers to be aware of this gender bias.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coughlan |first1=Sean |date=March 5, 2015 |title=Teachers 'give higher marks to girls' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/education-31751672 |access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref> One study found that students give female professors worse evaluation scores than male professors, even though the students appear to do as well under female professors as male professors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boring |first=Anne |year=2017 |title=Gender Biases in Student Evaluations of Teaching |url=https://pure.eur.nl/en/publications/a37339e4-7b42-4e5f-8333-bbb2f9fdcce5 |journal=[[Journal of Public Economics]] |volume=145 |pages=27–41 |doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.11.006|hdl=1765/108140 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Gender bias and gender-based discrimination still permeate the education process in many settings. For example, in the teaching and learning process, including differential engagement, expectations and interactions by teachers with their male and female students, as well as gender stereotypes in [[textbook]]s and learning materials. There has been a lack in adequate resources and infrastructure to ensure safe and enabling [[learning environment]]s, and insufficient policy, legal and planning frameworks, that respect, protect and fulfil the [[right to education]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=UNESCO |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000369000?posInSet=1&queryId=1d7dd56b-7298-433b-a194-50d378d393e6 |title=From access to empowerment: UNESCO strategy for gender equality in and through education 2019-2025 |publisher=UNESCO |year=2019 |isbn=978-92-3-100330-1}}</ref>

A [[discrimination against men]] in grading was found by the [[OECD]] in 2015.<ref name="Coughlan 2015">{{cite web |last=Coughlan |first=Sean |title=Teachers 'give higher marks to girls' |website=BBC News |date=5 March 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/education-31751672 |access-date=9 October 2024}}</ref>

== Female genital mutilation ==

{{Main|Female genital mutilation}}
[[File:Campaign road sign against female genital mutilation (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|alt=Campaign sign against female genital mutilation that reads:Stop Female Circumcision It is Dangerous to Women's Health |Campaign against [[female genital mutilation]] in [[Uganda]]]]

Female genital mutilation is defined by the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons". The WHO further states, "The practice has no health benefits for girls and women and [can] cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths."<ref name="WHO Female Genital Mutilation">{{cite web |date=5 February 2024 |title=Female genital mutilation |url=https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation |access-date=18 February 2024 |website=Newsroom |publisher=World Health Organization}}</ref> It "is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women" and "constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women".<ref name="WHO Female Genital Mutilation" /> The [[European Parliament]] stated in a 2014 resolution that the practice "clearly goes against the European founding value of equality between women and men and maintains traditional values according to which women are seen as the objects and properties of men".<ref name="European Parliament 2014">{{cite web |title=Texts adopted - Elimination of female genital mutilation - Thursday, 6 February 2014 |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-7-2014-0105_EN.html |access-date=18 February 2024 |publisher=European Parliament}}</ref>

== Legal ==

[[File:Taliban beating woman in public RAWA.jpg|thumb|alt=A Taliban religious policeman beating a woman because she removed her burqa in public.| Member of the Taliban's [[Islamic religious police|religious police]] beating an Afghan woman in [[Kabul]] on August 26, 2001. [[Political violence|State violence]] against women is a form of discrimination.]]

In several [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] (OIC) countries the legal testimony of a woman is worth legally half of that of a man (see [[Status of women's testimony in Islam]]). Such countries include: Algeria (in criminal cases), Bahrain (in [[Sharia]] courts), Egypt (in family courts), Iran (in most cases), Iraq (in some cases), Jordan (in Sharia courts), Kuwait (in family courts), Libya (in some cases), Morocco (in family cases), Palestine (in cases related to marriage, divorce and child custody), Qatar (in family law matters), Syria (in Sharia courts), United Arab Emirates (in some civil matters), Yemen (not allowed to testify at all in cases of adultery and retribution), and Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gender equality profiles from the Middle East and North Africa Region |url=http://www.unicef.org/gender/gender_62215.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326010714/http://www.unicef.org/gender/gender_62215.html |archive-date=March 26, 2015 |access-date=2015-03-31 |website=UNICEF}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Article 7: Right to equal protection by the law |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art07.shtml |access-date=March 31, 2015 |work=BBC World Service |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Such laws have been criticized by [[Human Rights Watch]] and Equality Now as being discriminatory towards women.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 7, 2012 |title=Codifying Repression |url=https://www.hrw.org/zh-hans/node/109622/section/11 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |website=Human Rights Watch |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402132636/http://www.hrw.org/zh-hans/node/109622/section/11 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=February 6, 2015 |title=The Islamic Penal Code of 2013, Books I, II and V |url=http://www.equalitynow.org/law/the_islamic_penal_code_of_2013_books_i_ii_and_v |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163041/http://www.equalitynow.org/law/the_islamic_penal_code_of_2013_books_i_ii_and_v |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |website=Equality Now}}</ref>

Some countries use [[stoning]] as a form of capital punishment. According to Amnesty International, the majority of those stoned are women and women are disproportionately affected by stoning because of sexism in the legal system.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 15, 2008 |title=Amnesty International—Iran: Death by stoning, a grotesque and unacceptable penalty |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-death-stoning-grotesque-and-unacceptable-penalty-20080115 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020184028/http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-death-stoning-grotesque-and-unacceptable-penalty-20080115 |archive-date=October 20, 2013 |website=amnesty.org}}</ref>

The criminal justice system in many [[common law countries]] has also been accused of discriminating against women. [[Provocation (legal)|Provocation]] is, in many common law countries, a partial defense to [[murder]], which converts what would have been murder into [[manslaughter]]. It is meant to be applied when a person kills in the "heat of passion" upon being "provoked" by the behavior of the victim. This defense has been criticized as being gendered, favoring men, because of it being used disproportionately in cases of [[adultery]], and other domestic disputes when women are killed by their partners. As a result of the defense exhibiting a strong gender bias, and being a form of legitimization of male violence against women and minimization of the harm caused by violence against women, it has been abolished or restricted in several jurisdictions.<ref>[http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/F2BA1BFEED2D87EECA257A4800001BD7/$File/briefing%20paper.provocation%20and%20self-defence.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623052433/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/F2BA1BFEED2D87EECA257A4800001BD7/%24File/briefing%20paper.provocation%20and%20self-defence.pdf|date=June 23, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Kate Fitz-Gibbon |date=August 1, 2012 |title=Provocation in New South Wales: The need for abolition |journal=Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=194–213 |doi=10.1177/0004865812443681 |s2cid=144833987}}</ref>

The traditional leniency towards [[crimes of passion]] in Latin American countries has been deemed to have its origin in the view that women are property.<ref name="Mayell 2002">{{cite web |last=Mayell |first=Hillary |date=February 12, 2002 |title=Thousands of Women Killed for Family 'Honor' |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020215152919/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html |archive-date=February 15, 2002 |website=National Geographic News}}</ref> In 2002, Widney Brown, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, stated that, "[S]o-called crimes of passion have a similar dynamic [to honor killings] in that the women are killed by male family members and the crimes are perceived as excusable or understandable."<ref name="Mayell 2002" /> The [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] (OHCHR) has called for "the elimination of discriminatory provisions in the legislation, including mitigating factors for 'crimes of passion{{'}}."<ref>{{cite web |date=August 2013 |title=Gender-Related Killings of Women and Girls |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/OnePagers/Gender_motivated_killings.pdf |publisher=[[Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights]]}}</ref>

Transgender people face widespread discrimination while incarcerated. They are generally housed according to their legal birth sex, rather than their gender identity. Studies have shown that transgender people are at an increased risk for harassment and sexual assault in this environment. They may also be denied access to medical procedures related to their reassignment.<ref>"Unlike race and ethnic discrimination, however, the evidence is more consistent that part of this gap is due to different treatment of offenders based on their gender."{{cite web |date=July 25, 2013 |title=Real life Sophia Bursets Transgender Women face a nightmare in Men's Prisons |url=http://www.autostraddle.com/real-life-sophia-bursets-transgender-women-face-a-nightmare-in-mens-prisons-186876/ |access-date=October 18, 2013}}</ref>

===Sentencing disparity===
{{Main|Sentencing disparity}}
In the United States, some studies have shown that for identical crimes, men are given harsher sentences than women. Controlling for arrest offense, criminal history, and other pre-charge variables, sentences are over 60% heavier for men. Women are more likely to avoid charges entirely, and to avoid imprisonment if convicted.<ref name="McCormack 2012">{{cite news |last=McCormack |first=Simon |date=September 11, 2012 |title=Men Sentenced To Longer Prison Terms Than Women For Same Crimes, Study Says |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/men-women-prison-sentence-length-gender-gap_n_1874742.html |access-date=July 20, 2013 |work=Huffington Post}}</ref><ref name="University of Michigan 2012">{{cite web |date=Nov 16, 2012 |title=Prof. Starr's research shows large unexplained gender disparities in federal criminal cases |url=http://www.law.umich.edu/newsandinfo/features/Pages/starr_gender_disparities.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005022637/http://www.law.umich.edu/newsandinfo/features/Pages/starr_gender_disparities.aspx |archive-date=Oct 5, 2013 |publisher=The University of Michigan Law School}}</ref> The gender disparity varies according to the nature of the case. For example, the gender gap is less pronounced in fraud cases than in drug trafficking and firearms. This disparity occurs in US federal courts, despite guidelines designed to avoid differential sentencing.<ref name="Doerner 2009">{{Cite thesis |last=Doerner |first=Jill Kathleen |title=Explaining the Gender Gap in Sentencing Outcomes: An Investigation of Differential Treatment in U.S. Federal Courts |date=2009 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=Bowling Green State University |url=http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=bgsu1237482038 |via=OhioLINK ETD Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630184354/http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=bgsu1237482038 |archive-date=2013-06-30}}</ref> The death penalty may also suffer from gender bias. According to Shatz and Shatz, "[t]he present study confirms what earlier studies have shown: that the death penalty is imposed on women relatively infrequently and that it is disproportionately imposed for the killing of women".<ref>{{cite web |date=Feb 28, 2011 |title=Studies: Gender Bias in Death Sentencing |url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/studies-gender-bias-death-sentencing |access-date=March 31, 2015 |website=Death Penalty Information Center}}</ref>

There have been several reasons postulated for the gender criminal justice disparity in the United States. One of the most common is the expectation that women are predominantly care-givers.<ref name="McCormack 2012" /><ref name="University of Michigan 2012" /><ref name="Doerner 2009" /> Other possible reasons include the "girlfriend theory" (whereby women are seen as tools of their boyfriends),<ref name="University of Michigan 2012" /> the theory that female defendants are more likely to cooperate with authorities,<ref name="University of Michigan 2012" /> and that women are often successful at turning their violent crime into victimhood by citing defenses such as [[postpartum depression]] or [[battered wife syndrome]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearson |first=Patricia |url=https://archive.org/details/whenshewasbadhow00pear/page/236/mode/1up?view=theater |title=When She Was Bad: How and Why Women Get Away With Murder |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-14-024388-8 |location=New York |pages=236–239 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> However, none of these theories account for the total disparity,<ref name="University of Michigan 2012" /> and sexism has also been suggested as an underlying cause.<ref>"Unlike race and ethnic discrimination, however, the evidence is more consistent that part of this gap is due to different treatment of offenders based on their gender."{{cite web |title=Chapter Four: Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities In Federal Sentencing Today |url=http://www.ussc.gov/Research_and_Statistics/Research_Projects/Miscellaneous/15_Year_Study/chap4.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823204828/http://www.ussc.gov/Research_and_Statistics/Research_Projects/Miscellaneous/15_Year_Study/chap4.pdf |archive-date=August 23, 2013 |access-date=August 30, 2013 |publisher=Ussc.gov}}</ref>

Gender discrimination also helps explain the differences between trial outcomes in which some female defendants are sentenced to death and other female defendants are sentenced to lesser punishments. [[Phillip Barron]] argues that female defendants are more likely to be sentenced to death for crimes that violate gender norms, such as killing children or killing strangers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barron |first1=Phillip |date=2000 |title=Gender Discrimination in the U.S. Death Penalty System |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/BARGDI |journal=[[Radical Philosophy Review]] |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=89–96 |doi=10.5840/radphilrev20003110}}</ref>

One study found that: <blockquote>[O]n average, women receive lighter sentences in comparison with men{{nbsp}}... roughly 30% of the gender differences in incarceration cannot be explained by the observed criminal characteristics of offense and offender. We also find evidence of considerable heterogeneity across judges in their treatment of female and male offenders. There is little evidence, however, that tastes for gender discrimination are driving the mean gender disparity or the variance in treatment between judges.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Butcher |first1=Kristin F. |last2=Park |first2=Kyung H. |last3=Morrison Piehl |first3=Anne |year=2017 |title=Comparing Apples to Oranges: Differences in Women's and Men's Incarceration and Sentencing Outcomes |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w23079.pdf |journal=[[Journal of Labor Economics]] |volume=35 |issue=S1 |pages=S201–S234 |doi=10.1086/691276 |s2cid=149991197}}</ref></blockquote>

A 2017 study by Knepper found that "female plaintiffs filing workplace sex discrimination claims are substantially more likely to settle and win compensation whenever a female judge is assigned to the case. Additionally, female judges are 15 percentage points less likely than male judges to grant motions filed by defendants, which suggests that final negotiations are shaped by the emergence of the bias."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knepper |first=Matthew |date=2017 |title=When the Shadow is the Substance: Judge Gender and the Outcomes of Workplace Sex Discrimination Cases |journal=Journal of Labor Economics |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=623–664 |doi=10.1086/696150 |s2cid=157714160}}</ref>

== Reproduction ==

{{Main|Reproductive rights}}

The [[United Nations Population Fund]] writes that, "Family planning is central to gender equality and women's empowerment".<ref name="UNFPA">{{cite web |title=Family planning—UNFPA—United Nations Population Fund |url=http://www.unfpa.org/family-planning |access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref> Women in many countries around the world are denied medical and informational services related to [[reproductive health]], including access to pregnancy care, family planning, and contraception.<ref name="UNFPA" /><ref>{{cite web |author=Paul Hunt |author2=Judith Bueno de Mesquita |title=Reducing Maternal Mortality |url=http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/reducing_mm.pdf}}</ref> In countries with very strict abortion laws (particularly in [[Latin America]]) women who suffer [[miscarriages]] are often investigated by the police under suspicion of having deliberately provoked the miscarriage and are sometimes jailed,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lakhani |first1=Nina |date=October 18, 2013 |title=El Salvador: Where women may be jailed for miscarrying |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24532694 |access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref> a practice which Amnesty International called a "ruthless campaign against women's rights".<ref>{{cite web |date=January 15, 2015 |title=El Salvador must release women imprisoned after pregnancy related complications |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/01/el-salvador-must-release-women-imprisoned-after-pregnancy-related-complications/}}</ref> Doctors may be reluctant to treat pregnant women who are very ill, because they are afraid the treatment may result in fetal loss.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nicaragua abortion ban 'cruel and inhuman disgrace' |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/28/nicaragua.abortion.ban/ |access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref> According to [[Amnesty International]], "Discriminatory attitudes towards women and girls also means access to sex education and contraceptives are near impossible [in El Salvador]".<ref>{{cite web |title=El Salvador: Total ban on abortion is killing women and girls and condemning others to decades behind bars |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/el-salvador-total-ban-on-abortion-is-killing-women-and-girls-and-condemning-others-to-decades-behind |access-date=June 14, 2015 |website=Amnesty International USA}}</ref> The organization has also criticized laws and policies which require the husband's consent for a woman to use reproductive health services as being discriminatory and dangerous to [[women's health]] and life: "[F]or the woman who needs her husband's consent to get contraception, the consequences of discrimination can be serious—even fatal".<ref>{{cite web |title=Women's Lives, Women's Rights Campaigning for Maternal Health and Sexual and Reproductive Rights |url=http://www.amnesty.ca/sites/amnesty/files/womens_lives_womens_rights_campaigning.pdf |publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref>

=== Gendercide and forced sterilization ===

[[File:2012 Birth Sex Ratio World Map.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|alt= World map showing birth sex ratios |World map of birth sex ratios, 2012]]
[[File:Something you wouldn't see in America (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Sign in an Indian clinic reading "Prenatal disclosure of sex of foetues is prohibited under law" in English and Hindi.]]<!-- WP:Caption "Not every image ..." -->
[[File:G106-Dajipu-to-Daye-hills-0068.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|alt= Roadside graffiti reading:"Crack down on medically unnecessary fetus sex identification and pregnancy termination practices." |"Crack down on medically unnecessary fetus sex identification and pregnancy termination practices."]]

[[Female infanticide]] is the killing of newborn female children, while female [[sex-selective abortion|selective abortion]] is the terminating of a pregnancy based upon the female sex of the fetus. [[Gendercide]] is the systematic killing of members of a specific gender and it is an extreme form of gender-based violence.<ref name="EIGE">{{cite web |url=http://eige.europa.eu/content/what-is-gender-based-violence |title=What is gender-based violence? |website=EIGE |access-date=September 24, 2013 |archive-date=May 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509145046/http://eige.europa.eu/content/what-is-gender-based-violence}}</ref><ref name="BBC Ethics Guide">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/medical/infanticide_1.shtml |title=Ethics—Abortion: Female infanticide |website=BBC |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240116171112/https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/medical/infanticide_1.shtml |archive-date= Jan 16, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gsdrc.org/go/topic-guides/gender/gender-based-violence |title=Gender-based violence |publisher=GSDRC  |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414235651/http://www.gsdrc.org/go/topic-guides/gender/gender-based-violence |archive-date= Apr 14, 2015 }}</ref> Female infanticide is more common than male infanticide, and is especially prevalent in [[South Asia]], in countries such as [[Female infanticide in China|China]], [[Female infanticide in India|India]] and [[Female infanticide in Pakistan|Pakistan]].<ref name="BBC Ethics Guide" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6934540.stm |work=BBC News |first=Nick |last=Bryant |title=Girls at risk amid India's prosperity |date=August 18, 2007 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101131250/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6934540.stm |archive-date= Jan 1, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.domesticviolenceservices.com/female-infanticide.html |title=Female Infanticide in India and China |access-date=September 24, 2013}}</ref> Recent studies suggest that over 90&nbsp;million [[Missing women of Asia|women and girls are missing]] in China and India as a result of infanticide.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/24/opinion/24iht-edswami.html?_r=0 Missing: 50 million Indian girls]". The New York Times. November 25, 2005</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://iussp2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=51345 |title=Estimation of the Number of Missing Females in China: 1900-2000 |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420051451/http://iussp2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=51345 |archive-date=April 20, 2012}}</ref>

Sex-selective abortion involves terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the baby. The abortion of female fetuses is most common in areas where a culture values male children over females,<ref name="Goodkind 1999" /> such as parts of [[East Asia]] and South Asia (China, India, Korea), the [[Caucasus]] (Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia), and [[Western Balkans]] (Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo).<ref name="Goodkind 1999">{{cite journal |year=1999 |title=Should Prenatal Sex Selection be Restricted?: Ethical Questions and Their Implications for Research and Policy |journal=Population Studies |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=49–61 |doi=10.1080/00324720308069 |jstor=2584811 |author=Goodkind, Daniel}}</ref><ref name="Gettis 2004">{{cite book |first1=A. |last1=Gettis |first2=J. |last2=Getis |first3=J. D. |last3=Fellmann |year=2004 |title=Introduction to Geography |edition=Ninth |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |page=200 |isbn=978-0-07-252183-2}}</ref> One reason for this preference is that males are seen as generating more income than females. The trend has grown steadily over the previous decade, and may result in a future shortage of women.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314132244.htm |title=The impact of sex selection and abortion in China, India and South Korea |website=ScienceDaily |language=en |access-date=August 26, 2019}}</ref>

[[Forced sterilization]] and [[forced abortion]] are also forms of gender-based violence.<ref name="EIGE" /> Forced sterilization was practiced during the first half of the 20th century by many Western countries and there are reports of this practice being currently employed in some countries, such as [[Uzbekistan]] and China.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17612550 |work=BBC News |title=Uzbekistan's policy of secretly sterilising women |date=April 12, 2012 |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fjx63 |title=BBC Radio 4—Crossing Continents, Forced Sterilisation in Uzbekistan |website=BBC |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/130409/china-mother-dies-after-forced-sterilization-one-child-policy |title=China 'one-child' policy: Mother of 2 dies after forced sterilization—GlobalPost |website=[[GlobalPost]]|date=April 9, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/thousands-risk-forced-sterilization-china-2010-04-22 |title=Everything you need to know about human rights |website=Amnesty International |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-date=May 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529125647/https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/thousands-risk-forced-sterilization-china-2010-04-22}}</ref>

In China, the [[one child policy]] interacting with the low status of women has been deemed responsible for many abuses, such as female infanticide, sex-selective abortion, abandonment of baby girls, forced abortion, and forced sterilization.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34667551 |title=Explainer: What was China's one-child policy? |date=29 October 2015 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/06/chinas-barbaric-one-child-policy |title=China's barbaric one-child policy |first=Ma |last=Jian |date=May 6, 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

In India, the custom of dowry is strongly related to female infanticide, sex-selective abortion, abandonment and mistreatment of girls.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kirti Singh |date=August 2013 |title=Laws and Son Preference in India: A Reality Check |url=http://india.unfpa.org/drive/LawsandSonPreferenceinIndia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313094849/http://india.unfpa.org/drive/LawsandSonPreferenceinIndia.pdf |archive-date=March 13, 2014 |publisher=United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)—India}}</ref> Such practices are especially present in the northwestern part of the country: [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Haryana]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Uttarakhand]] and [[Delhi]]. (See [[Female foeticide in India]] and [[Female infanticide in India]]).

== Sexual violence ==

{{Main|Sexual assault|Post-assault treatment of sexual assault victims}}

[[File:Bangalore protests following Delhi gang-rape (photo - Jim Ankan Deka).jpg|thumb|alt=People carrying a banner marching in a protest against gang rape|People in [[Bangalore]], India, demanding justice for a student [[2012 Delhi gang rape case|gang-raped in Delhi]] in 2012]]

Research by Lisak and Roth into factors motivating perpetrators of sexual assault, including rape, against women revealed a pattern of hatred towards women and pleasure in inflicting psychological and physical trauma, rather than sexual interest.<ref name="Lisak 1988">{{cite journal |author=Lisak, D. |author-link=David Lisak |author2=Roth, S. |year=1988 |title=Motivational factors in nonincarcerated sexually aggressive men |journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] |volume=55 |issue=5 |pages=795–802 |pmid=3210146 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.55.5.795}}</ref> Mary Odem and Peggy Reeves Sanday posit that rape is the result not of pathology but of systems of male dominance, cultural practices and beliefs.<ref name="Sanday 1981">{{cite journal |title=The Socio-Cultural Context of Rape: A Cross-Cultural Study |author=Sanday, Peggy Reeves |journal=[[Journal of Social Issues]] |year=1981 |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=5–27 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-4560.1981.tb01068.x}}</ref>

Odem, Jody Clay-Warner, and [[Susan Brownmiller]] argue that sexist attitudes are propagated by a series of myths about rape and rapists.<ref name="Odem 1998" />{{rp|130–140}}<ref name="Brownmiller 1975">{{Cite book |author=Brownmiller, Susan |author-link=Susan Brownmiller |title=Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape |year=1975 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-013986-0 |page=480}}</ref> They state that in contrast to those myths, rapists often plan a rape before they choose a victim<ref name="Odem 1998" /> and [[acquaintance rape]] (not assault by a stranger) is the most common form of rape.<ref name="Odem 1998" />{{rp|xiv}}<ref name="Bohmer 1991">{{Cite book |editor1=Parrot, Andrea |editor2=Bechhofer, Laurie |author=Bohmer, Carol |chapter=Acquaintance rape and the law |title=Acquaintance rape: the hidden crime |year=1991 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-471-51023-9 |pages=317–333}}</ref> Odem also asserts that these rape myths propagate sexist attitudes about men, by perpetuating the belief that men cannot control their sexuality.<ref name="Odem 1998">{{Cite book |author=Odem, Mary E. |author2=Clay-Warner, Jody |title=Confronting rape and sexual assault |year=1998 |publisher=Scholarly Resources |location=Wilmington, Del. |isbn=978-0-8420-2599-7 |page=135 |url=https://archive.org/details/confrontingrapes00odem/page/135/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Sexism can promote the stigmatization of women and girls who have been raped and inhibit recovery.<ref name="whqlibdoc.who.int">{{Cite web |url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2002/9241545615_chap6_eng.pdf?ua=1 |title=World report on violence and health |website=whqlibdoc.who.int |access-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref> In many parts of the world, women who have been raped are [[Social rejection|ostracized]], rejected by their families, subjected to violence, and—in extreme cases—may become victims of honor killings because they are deemed to have brought shame upon their families.<ref name="whqlibdoc.who.int" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13760895 |work=BBC News |title=Libya rape victims 'face honour killings' |date=June 14, 2011 |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref>

The criminalization of marital rape is very recent, having occurred during the past few decades; in many countries it is still legal. Several countries in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia made spousal rape illegal before 1970; other European countries and some English-speaking countries outside Europe outlawed it later, mostly in the 1980s and 1990s;<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWttAAAAQBAJ&q=The+Routledge+Handbook+of+European+Criminology&pg=PR1 |title=The Routledge Handbook of European Criminology |isbn=978-1-136-18549-6 |last1=Body-Gendrot |author1-link=Sophie Body-Gendrot |first1=Sophie |last2=Hough |first2=Mike |last3=Kerezsi |first3=Klara |last4=Lévy |first4=René |last5=Snacken |first5=Sonja |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref> some countries outlawed it in the 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6225872.stm |title=Thailand passes marital rape bill |date=21 June 2007 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The WHO wrote that: "Marriage is often used to legitimize a range of forms of sexual violence against women. The custom of marrying off young children, particularly girls, is found in many parts of the world. This practice—legal in many countries—is a form of sexual violence, since the children involved are unable to give or withhold their consent".<ref name="whqlibdoc.who.int" />

In countries where [[fornication]] or [[adultery]] are illegal, victims of rape can be charged criminally.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21595814 |title=BBC News—Maldives girl to get 100 lashes for pre-marital sex |access-date=March 31, 2015 |date=February 26, 2013 |last1=Lang |first1=Olivia}}</ref>

=== War rape ===

{{Main|War rape}}

[[File:DRC raped women.jpg|thumb|alt=Female rape victims stand in front of a "peace hut". |Meeting of victims of [[sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]]]

Sexism is manifested by the crime of rape targeting women civilians and soldiers, committed by soldiers, combatants or civilians during armed conflict, war or military occupation. This arises from the long tradition of women being seen as sexual booty and from the misogynistic culture of military training.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103844570 |title=The Nation: The Plight of Women Soldiers |date=May 6, 2009 |website=[[NPR]] |access-date=March 31, 2015 |last1=Benedict |first1=Helen}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3848/ |title=Why Soldiers Rape |journal=[[In These Times (publication)|In These Times]] |access-date=March 31, 2015 |date=August 13, 2008 |archive-date=May 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518145847/http://inthesetimes.com/article/3848/}}</ref>

== Violence ==
{{See also|Violence against women|Violence against men|Sex differences in crime|Homicide statistics by gender}}

=== Domestic violence ===
{{Further|Honor killing|Acid throwing|Dowry death}}
[[File:Acid attack victim.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=Portrait of a female acid attack victim showing facial injuries | Acid attack victim in [[Cambodia]]]]

Although the exact rates are widely disputed, there is a large body of cross-cultural evidence that [[domestic violence]] is mostly committed by men against women.<ref name="Dobash 1992">{{cite journal |last1=Dobash |first1=R. P. |last2=Dobash |first2=R. E. |last3=Wilson |first3=M. |last4=Daly |first4=M. |title=The Myth of Sexual Symmetry in Marital Violence |journal=[[Social Problems]] |volume=39 |pages=71–91 |year=1992 |doi=10.1525/sp.1992.39.1.03x0064l}}</ref><ref name="Compton 2010">{{cite book |last=Compton |first=Michael T. |title=Clinical Manual of Prevention in Mental Health |year=2010 |publisher=American Psychiatric Publishing |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-58562-347-1 |page=245 |edition=1st |quote=Women are more often the victims of domestic violence than men and are more likely to suffer injuries and health consequences{{nbsp}}...}}</ref><ref name="Brinkerhoff 2008">{{cite book |last=Brinkerhoff |first=David B. |author2=Lynn K. White |author3=Suzanne T. Ortega |author4=Rose Weitz |title=Essentials of Sociology |year=2008 |publisher=[[Thomson/Wadsworth]] |isbn=978-0-495-09636-8 |page=13 |edition=7th |quote=A conflict analysis of domestic violence, for example, would begin by noting that women are battered far more often and far more severely than are men{{nbsp}}...}}</ref> In addition, there is a broad consensus that women are more often subjected to severe forms of abuse and are more likely to be injured by an abusive partner.<ref name="Compton 2010" /><ref name="Brinkerhoff 2008" /> The United Nations recognizes domestic violence as a form of [[gender-based violence]], which it describes as a [[human rights]] violation, and the result of sexism.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm |date=20 December 1993 |title=A/RES/48/104. Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women |publisher=United Nations General Assembly |access-date=March 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404072416/https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm |archive-date=Apr 4, 2015}}</ref>

Domestic violence is tolerated and even legally accepted in many parts of the world. For instance, in 2010, the [[United Arab Emirates]] (UAE)'s Supreme Court ruled that a man has the right to discipline his wife and children physically if he does not leave visible marks.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-19/world/uae.court.ruling_1_islamic-law-sharia-law-ruling?_s=PM:WORLD |title=Court in UAE says beating wife, child OK if no marks are left |work=CNN |access-date=July 20, 2013 |date=October 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325143850/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-19/world/uae.court.ruling_1_islamic-law-sharia-law-ruling?_s=PM%3AWORLD |archive-date=March 25, 2012}}</ref> In 2015, [[Equality Now]] drew attention to a section of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria, titled ''Correction of Child, Pupil, Servant or Wife'' which reads: "(1) Nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any persons which is done:&nbsp;(...) (d) by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife, such husband and wife being subject to any native law or custom in which such correction is recognized as lawful."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.equalitynow.org/law/the_penal_code_of_northern_nigeria |title=The Penal Code of Northern Nigeria |publisher=Equalitynow.org |date=February 6, 2015 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123608/http://www.equalitynow.org/law/the_penal_code_of_northern_nigeria |archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref>

[[Honor killings]] are another form of domestic violence practiced in several parts of the world, and their victims are predominantly women.<ref name="Maris 2001">{{cite journal |last=Maris |first=Cees |author2=Sawitri Saharso |title=Honour Killing: A Case for Cultural Defense? |journal=Pluralism and Law: Proceedings of the 20th IVR World Congress, Amsterdam, 2001 |year=2001 |volume=3 |page=108}}</ref> Honor killings can occur because of refusal to enter into an arranged marriage, maintaining a relationship relatives disapprove of, extramarital sex, becoming the victim of rape, dress seen as inappropriate, or homosexuality.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/crimesofhonour_1.shtml#h3 |title=Ethics—Honour crimes |website=BBC |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223212110/https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/crimesofhonour_1.shtml#h3 |archive-date= Feb 23, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/13/world/europe/turkey-gay-killing |work=CNN |title=Shocking gay honor killing inspires movie |first1=Ivan |last1=Watson |date=January 13, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=  https://web.archive.org/web/20230604210723/https://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/13/world/europe/turkey-gay-killing/ |archive-date= Jun 4, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/23/arizona.iraqi.father/index.html |work=CNN |title=Iraqi immigrant convicted in Arizona 'honor killing' awaits sentence |date=February 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922084250/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/23/arizona.iraqi.father/index.html |archive-date= Sep 22, 2022 }}</ref> The [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]] states that, "[h]onour crimes, including killing, are one of history's oldest forms of gender-based violence".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/hb_eff_police_responses.pdf |title=Handbook on Effective police responses to violence against women |date=2010 |website=UNODC |access-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref>

According to a report of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the 58th session of the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] concerning cultural practices in the family that reflect violence against women:
<blockquote>The Special Rapporteur indicated that there had been contradictory decisions with regard to the honor defense in [[Brazil]], and that legislative provisions allowing for partial or complete defense in that context could be found in the penal codes of Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Peru, Syria, Venezuela, and the [[Palestinian National Authority]].<ref name="UN Secretary-General 2002">''Working towards the elimination of crimes against women committed in the name of honour: Report of the Secretary-General''. July 2, 2002. United Nations General Assembly.</ref></blockquote>

Practices such as honor killings and stoning continue to be supported by mainstream politicians and other officials in some countries. In Pakistan, after the 2008 [[Honour killing in Pakistan|Balochistan honor killings]] in which five women were killed by tribesmen of the [[Umrani|Umrani Tribe]] of [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]], Pakistani federal minister for Postal Services [[Israr Ullah Zehri]] defended the practice:<ref name="Hussain 2008">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4678530.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110430103927/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4678530.ece |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |title=Three teenagers buried alive in 'honour killings' |access-date=September 5, 2008 |work=Times Online |location=London |first=Zahid |last=Hussain |date=September 5, 2008}}{{subscription required}}</ref> "These are centuries-old traditions, and I will continue to defend them. Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."<ref name="Telegraph 2008">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/2660881/Pakistani-women-buried-alive-for-choosing-husbands.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/2660881/Pakistani-women-buried-alive-for-choosing-husbands.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Pakistani women buried alive 'for choosing husbands' |access-date=September 1, 2008 |work=Telegraph |location=London |date=September 1, 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Following the 2006 case of [[Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani]] (which has placed Iran under international pressure for its stoning sentences), [[Mohammad-Javad Larijani]], a senior envoy and chief of Iran's Human Rights Council, defended the practice of stoning; he claimed it was a "lesser punishment" than [[Capital punishment|execution]], because it allowed those convicted a chance at survival.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/outrage-iran-human-rights-officials-defense-stoning/story?id=12193085#.UE4Qi64Zh0I |title=Outrage Over Iran Human Rights Official's Defense of Stoning |publisher=ABC News |date=November 19, 2010 |access-date=July 20, 2013}}</ref>

[[Dowry deaths]] result from the killing of women who are unable to pay the high dowry price for their marriage. According to [[Amnesty International]], "the ongoing reality of dowry-related violence is an example of what can happen when women are treated as property".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women/violence-against-women-information |title=Violence Against Women Information |website=Amnesty International USA}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Ambivalent sexism]]
* [[Antifeminism]]
* [[Androcide]]
* [[Femicide]]
* [[Feminism]]
* [[Feminist movement]]
* [[Gender apartheid]]
* [[Gender bias on Wikipedia]]
* [[Gender disparities in health]]
** [[Gender differences in suicide]]
** [[Life expectancy#Sex differences|Sex differences in life expectancy]]
* [[Gendered racism]]
* [[Gender egalitarianism]]
* [[Gender neutrality]]
* [[Gender polarization]]
* [[Heterosexism]]
* [[Hipster sexism]]
* [[Internalized sexism]]
* [[Male privilege]]
* [[Masculism]]
* [[Matriarchy]]
* [[Men and feminism]]
* [[Men's movement]]
* [[Misandry]]
* [[Misogyny]]
* [[National Organization for Men Against Sexism]]
* [[Pink-collar worker]]
* [[Patriarchy]]
* [[Reverse sexism]]
* [[Sex differences in humans]]
* [[Sexism and video games]]
* [[Sexism in the technology industry]]
* [[Sex segregation]]
* [[Women-are-wonderful effect]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==

* {{Free-content attribution
| title = From access to empowerment: UNESCO strategy for gender equality in and through education 2019-2025
| author = UNESCO
| publisher = UNESCO
| page numbers = 
| source = UNESCO
| documentURL = https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000369000?posInSet=1&queryId=1d7dd56b-7298-433b-a194-50d378d393e6
| license statement URL = 
| license = CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
}}

== Bibliography ==

* Atwell, Mary Welek. 2002. 'Equal Protection of the Law?: Gender and Justice in the United States'. New York: P. Lang. {{ISBN|978-0-8204-5502-0}}
* Benatar, David. ''The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men And Boys''. 2012. [[John Wiley & Sons]] Inc., West Sussex, UK; {{ISBN|978-0-470-67446-8}}
* {{cite journal |last=Bojarska |first=Katarzyna |year=2012 |title=Responding to lexical stimuli with gender associations: A Cognitive–Cultural Model |journal=[[Journal of Language and Social Psychology]] |doi=10.1177/0261927X12463008 |volume=32 |pages=46–61 |s2cid=145006661}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cudd |first1=Ann E. |last2=Andreasen |first2=Robin O. |author-link1=Ann Cudd |title=Feminist theory: a philosophical anthology |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Oxford, UK |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-4051-1661-9}} Part II What is Sexism? pp.&nbsp;69–114.
* {{citation |last1=Cudd |first1=Ann E. |last2=Jones |first2=Leslie E. |author-link1=Ann Cudd |contribution=Sexism |editor1-last=Frey |editor1-first=R.G. |editor2-last=Heath Wellman |editor2-first=Christopher |title=A companion to applied ethics |pages=102–117 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |series=Blackwell Companions to Philosophy |location=Oxford, UK |year=2005 |doi=10.1002/9780470996621.ch8 |isbn=978-1-4051-3345-6 |postscript=. |url=https://archive.org/details/companiontoappli0000unse/page/102/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* "Discrimination against Transgender People." ACLU. Available (online) : [https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/discrimination-against-transgender-people"Discrimination ] against Transgender People." ACLU. Available (online) : [https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/discrimination-against-transgender-people Transgender Rights]
* "Employment Non-Discrimination Act". Human Rights Campaign. Available (online): [https://web.archive.org/web/20140520071809/http://www.hrc.org/laws-and-legislation/federal-legislation/employment-non-discrimination-act Employment Non-Discrimination Act |&nbsp;Human Rights Campaign]
* Feder, Jody and Cynthia Brougher. ''Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination in Employment: A Legal Analysis of the Employment'' {{ISBN?}}
* Haberfeld, Yitchak. ''Employment Discrimination: An Organizational Model'' {{ISBN?}}
* Hurst, C. ''Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences''. Sixth Edition. 2007. 131, 139–142 {{ISBN?}}
* Macklem, Tony. 2004. Beyond Comparison: Sex and Discrimination. New York: [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN?}}
* Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)." July 15, 2013. Available (online): www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40934.pdf
* [[Leila Schneps]] and [[Coralie Colmez]], ''[[Math on Trial|Math on trial. How numbers get used and abused in the courtroom]]'', [[Basic Books]], 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-465-03292-1}}. (Sixth chapter: "Math error number 6: Simpson's paradox. The Berkeley sex bias case: discrimination detection").
* "Transgender." UC Berkekely Online. Available (online): [http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resources_definiton_of_terms#transgender GenEq | Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement] ↑ ↑ "Discrimination against Transgender People." ACLU. Available (online) : [https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/discrimination-against-transgender-people Transgender Rights]
* ''Management Journal'' 35.1 (1992): 161–180. Business Source Complete.
* Kail, R., & Cavanaugh, J. (2010). ''Human Growth and Development'' (5 ed.). Belmont, Ca: [[Cengage|Wadsworth Learning]] {{ISBN?}}

== External links ==

{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Sexism}}
* {{Wiktionary inline}}
* [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/sexism-in-the-workplace/ Sexism in the Workplace]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/jul/30/10-sexist-scenarios-women-deal-work-ignored-maternity-risk-everyday-sexism 10 sexist scenarios that women face at work]
* [http://www.fastcompany.com/3031101/the-future-of-work/the-new-subtle-sexism-toward-women-in-the-workplace The New Subtle Sexism Toward Women in the Workplace]
* [http://www.linguarama.com/ps/legal-themed-english/sexism-in-language.htm Sexism in Language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121082351/http://www.linguarama.com/ps/legal-themed-english/sexism-in-language.htm |date=November 21, 2019 }}
* [http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/sexist-language.html Sexist Language]

{{Discrimination}}
{{Sexual identities}}
{{Feminism}}
{{Portal bar|Society|Feminism}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sexism| ]]
[[Category:Chauvinism]]
[[Category:Prejudice and discrimination by type]]
[[Category:Sexuality-related prejudices]]
[[Category:Gender equality]]
[[Category:Feminist terminology]]
[[Category:Sexual harassment]]