In part one I listed; patriarchy, male privilege, discrimination, sexual harassment and violence against women, and the sexual objectification of women. I said we’d look at them one by one. In parts two & three, covered patriarchy & male privilege, so let’s try another one:
Discrimination – and here, obviously, I mean sex discrimination against women*. Sex discrimination can refer to beliefs and attitudes in relation to the gender of a person, but that’s a general concept that covers most of the topics listed at the start. Here what I’m talking about is the sense of an adverse action taken against a woman that would not have occurred had the woman instead been a man. In the USA and the UK, and many other countries, such action is, in certain explicitly enumerated cases, illegal. The most insidious form of sex discrimination is that caused by systemic bias. This bias can happen when a largely male group is responsible for actions taken about women. The classic, if hackneyed, example of the is women being taken advantage of (or at least the attempt being made) at auto repair shops. There’s always the “she’ll get pregnant and leave” one too.
There are two types of sex discrimination – direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. Direct sex discrimination is obvious on the face of it – ‘Waitress wanted'. No need for Cagney & Lacey to spot that one. But indirect sex discrimination, where an unnecessary requirement puts women at a significant - and often severe - disadvantage compared to men, is sometimes quite difficult to detect (although living a few years as a woman should make it easy). Of course, it can also be obvious - “Wait person needed – must wear skirt & heels” - although anyone posting such an opening may get an applicant they weren’t expecting.
But indirect discrimination can be very subtle, for instance adding points in a candidate scoring scheme for having been in the Scouts/Guides – though it varies by county, boys are more likely to take part. And you might need Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson to spot that one.
*Every time I use the term sex discrimination here, I mean against women.