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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Maine chapter.

As a female in today’s society, chances are you’ve experienced sexism. Whether it was directed at you or it was something you witnessed, whatever. Chances are, you’ve experienced sexism. Usually when people think sexism, they think of blatant examples; the wage gap, catcalling, double standards, or even violence against women. But there are so many more subtly sexist things women experience every day. Here are some that I have personally experienced:

 

Using “he” to denote any general human

Have you ever read an article, and the author references some hypothetical third person by using “he”? Who says it’s a male? Especially if that hypothetical third person is an authority figure. Why can’t they be female? Why can’t the neutral “they” just be used and all of this can be avoided?

 

Phrases like “guys and girls” or using “guys” to address a group of multiple sexes

I get it. Saying “guys” is easier, and it is so common, but I’m not a guy. And the phrase “guys” sounds like you are addressing a group of adult males and “girls”  sounds like female children. It’s patronizing.

 

Manspreading

Dude, seriously. You don’t need that much space, and while I may be physically smaller, that doesn’t give you the right to take over my space, because I want to spread out, too.

 

Females being considered “weird” for not liking traditionally “girly” things or for liking traditionally “masculine” things, but males liking traditionally “feminine” things and being “in touch”

Not much else to say about this one.

 

Passing a male on a sidewalk or in a narrow hallway

Ever noticed that is almost always the female that moves out of the way? I have. A fun thing I’ve started doing is bracing my shoulder and bumping into them as I pass. If they don’t move why should I? If I pass another female, usually both of us move to make room for both of us.

 

Being interrupted

Having a uterus does not make my opinion any less valuable. I don’t interrupt you when you speak, so please return the courtesy. If I am saying something, I genuinely believe it will positively contribute to the conversation.

 

Going to Home Depot (or any hardware store) and having multiple employees ask if you need help

But when you go with a guy they might not ask at all. I grew up using power tools and helping fix things around the house. I usually know what I’m doing. I used to go to Home Depot with my dad all the time and very rarely were we approached and asked if we need help finding anything. A few weeks ago, I went to Home Depot with a (female) friend of mine to pick up a drain snake. We had two male employees ask us at the same time what they could help us find (note they did not ask IF we needed help, they asked WHAT we needed help with), and then shortly after, a third employee, proceeded to ask us again. Leave me alone, I just want to unclog the drain in peace.

 

You’re *compliment*, for a girl

Honestly, what does this even mean? Why does me being a girl (although again, I find that term to be patronizing as I am not a child) have anything to do with literally anything. On the flip side, “you hit like a girl” pisses me right off because I know plenty of girls that can hit pretty hard.

 

People making assumptions about your strengths and weaknesses

I love math. I am good at math. I used to be a math tutor. I was once tutoring a small group, holding the textbook, explaining an equation I was writing on the board when someone came in and said, “I’m looking for the math tutor, is he here?” No, he is not here, because he is not the math tutor. This person did not believe me at first when I said that I was the math tutor. News flash, being female does not automatically make one bad at math, and being a male does not make one automatically good at it.

 

These are just some examples I have personally experienced, and it’s a great time to reflect on things like this because just a while ago was Equal Pay Day on April 10th. What is Equal Pay Day, you might ask. Basically, what a male earns from January 1st – December 31st, it takes a female, with the same qualifications and in the same job, from January 1st – April 10th of the following year to make. What a male makes in 12 months, it takes 16 months for a female to earn, which is just another example to

Kelly is a senior Business Management student at the University of Maine. She is a sister of Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority and enjoys spending time with her friends, travelling, and learning new things.
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Mary Everett

U Maine '22

Mary is a fourth year Ecology and Environmental Science major at the University of Maine, with a concentration in sustainability. Mary loves to read, spend time with her Alpha Phi sisters, cuddle with her cat, and drink coffee. She hopes to save the environment and adopt alllll the kitties.