▪ I. † sexism1 Obs. rare—1.
[ad. OF. sixiesme (mod. sixième) sixth.]
= sixieme.
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xvi. (Roxb.) 73/2 A Sexism, is a sequence of 6 cards. |
▪ II. sexism2
(ˈsɛksɪz(ə)m)
[f. sex n. + -ism, after racism.]
The assumption that one sex is superior to the other and the resultant discrimination practised against members of the supposed inferior sex, esp. by men against women; also conformity with the traditional stereotyping of social roles on the basis of sex.
| 1968 C. Bird in Vital Speeches (U.S.) 15 Nov. 90 Sexism is judging people by their sex where sex doesn't matter. 1968 S. Vanauken Freedom for Movement Girls—Now 7 The parallels between sexism and racism are sharp and clear. Each embodies false assumption in a myth. 1971 Guardian 15 Jan. 11/4 The concept of a ‘woman's page’..perpetuates sexism by stressing the ‘special’ domestic interests supposedly adhering to women. 1971 Publishers' Weekly 22 Mar. 14 The Women's National Book Association panel during NBA Week on ‘sexism’ in children's books. 1973 Ms. Nov. 39/2 An insidious form of sexism pervades most biographies of famous women, a tendency to treat women's work as peripheral to their lives. 1981 Amer. Speech LVI. 84 Although they recognize the inherent sexism of the generic masculine, the Fowlers see no real alternative. |