By JULIA PARKER
Sexism: one word, two syllables, but an idea that has been used a billion times, and an idea that has worked against women in modern day. While sexism was a lot worse in previous times, where women were not allowed to vote, or own property, or even speak out of turn, it has advanced to a level these days where there is almost no common courtesy towards females anymore.
Before society turned towards women being able to have the same rights men do, they were given the type of respect where the saying was “ladies first." There were doors held open for them, their hand was held down the stairs until they were safe on the level ground and more. Nowadays, you rarely see people opening the door for someone, even if they do not recognize them. Women have fought throughout centuries for their rights, and while it did make sense to do at the time, where they wanted to do all the things men could, it was really the fight that has destroyed the world of respect today. Think about it for a moment: when was the last time you have seen a man who noticed there was a woman behind him on the way into a store, and he actually held the door open for her? Or when was the last time you saw a man offer his arm to a woman on her way down the stairs so she wouldn’t fall? My point is that things don’t have to completely return to the ways people had adapted to back then, but woman should be shown a bit more respect these days. Women and men should be equal to an extent, where they still have the respect for each other like they once did. The Equal Rights Amendment(ERA), written by Alice Paul in 1923, was a document that promoted the rights of women and how they should be equal with men. The first visible public demand for women’s rights began in 1848, in a women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls. In the document, it is repeated how women can survive and work much better than men can, and live longer even when men aren’t subjected to different environments. These declarations are what Congress took as “Okay, well you can do the work, then.” The ERA may have led to equal rights then, but led to the problems we have today. The old world feminism has led to a modern feminism, which is that we, as women, should do all the work. However, this version of feminism is not right; all people deserve their part in this world. Today’s expectations from women is sexist in and of itself, and should not be found as “okay.” Now is the time to find that courtesy women once were given, and get it again.