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Old 04-26-2005, 10:27 PM   #124 (permalink)
Strange Famous
follower of the child's crusade?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by analog
Also, in regards to your "sexism doesn't exist from females to males in a patriarchal society" bit, does that also mean that racism doesn't exist from a minority race to a majority race in a specific geographic area? If you were in China and went around calling the people whatever racial slurs there are for them, you would be a racist. If you went to a gay club and went around doing the same, you'd be a bigot. Hire only handicapped people, and you are still discriminating. Sexism very much exists regardless of the "society" it's living in, and regardless of who it's "from" and "to".
I do not believe it is possible for an anglo saxon white to suffer from racism, the only reason the examples you give dont ring true, is that I view them from a global perspective. Because we understand that China has been a victim of Western colonialism for very much of its recent history, the Chinese people do not have the same power as the Western people. For the gay adult, the gay club is a sanctuary from a deeply and legally hostile state - a state where discrimination is not only openly preached by moral leaders, but enshrined in law - the power of the gay person is less equal because they are the victim of massive prejudice in society. To hire only less abled people may be discrimination in the literal sense of the word (in the same way as we discriminate between the fire and the fire hose) - but again this may be seen as an act of empowerment within an environment when people who are not as physically able face many difficulties and prejudices in the workplace.

It is possible for a Chinese man, a gay woman, a disabled child - all of these - to be prejudiced, and bigoted. But concepts like sexism and racism are not based on individual prejudice, they are based on the exercise of power on a societal level against one group. A woman in America cannot make a man the victim of sexism, although she may be prejudiced against men. A white man cannot suffer racism in America, although there may be some groups or individual who are prejudiced against white men,
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