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Is racism worse than sexism? Your choice of evils
Danny Yee (danny@STAFF.CS.SU.OZ.AU)
Tue, 3 Jan 1995 16:58:22 +1000
Ruby Rohrlich wrote:
> "...sexism is as virulent a virus as racism."
James Murphy replied:
> I submit that regardless of whether we call it bullshit or cowshit
> this remains unadulterated crap. When wom-n are routinely hanged
> from lampposts or shipped to gas chambers and crematoria because of
> their gender, your exaggerated statement might have some credence.
African-Americans are no longer hung from lamp posts, and were never
shiped to gas chambers and crematoria like Jews during the Holocaust.
Does this mean that racism against African-Americans in the US is
non-existent? I think not.
I think sexism is actually more *widespread* than racism --
opportunities for the latter are only present where there is
some cultural mixing, while the former is (at least potentially)
present everywhere. (Medieval monasteries and convents are perhaps
an exception.) I'm not sure about "virulence" -- one meaning suggests
ability to spread, the other danger.
Perhaps, you feel it is more acceptable to discriminate against
someone on the basis of their sex than on the basis of their race?
Danny Yee.
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