Prejudice, discrimination, or unfair treatment based on someone's sex or gender, usually against women or non-binary people.
Formed from 'sex' plus the suffix '-ism' (meaning a system of beliefs or practices), modeled after 'racism' and 'ageism.' The term emerged in the 1960s during the civil rights movement when activists needed language to describe gender-based discrimination.
The word 'sexism' is surprisingly young—it wasn't commonly used until the 1960s, which means people in the 1950s had a concept but no official name for it, showing how language sometimes catches up to our awareness of injustice.
Crystallized in modern language ~1960s as feminist scholarship named systemic discrimination. The word itself is neutral; the phenomenon it describes has deep historical roots in male-centered legal, economic, and social systems.
Use accurately to identify discrimination. Avoid softening with hedges ('alleged sexism') unless legally necessary; direct naming serves clarity.
Second-wave feminists (1960s–70s) created language to name invisible harm. This naming was epistemological power — making the unspeakable visible.
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