Stand against both racism and sexism

One is older than the other, and they are braided together

Christyl Rivers, Phd.
6 min readAug 5, 2024
Photo by Vanessa Serpas on Unsplash

When woman want representation

One clue to whether sexism is involved with any life is a comment such as “I don’t care that she’s a woman,” or “Yes, women and girls should be equal,” followed by a quick “But, this is the wrong woman.” or “A woman can’t be president (and also have a female VP.). It’s too soon. Too much.” Since such comments almost never swirl around a male candidate, it’s telling that one’s sex and presentation are noticed, pointed out, and then explained away.

Girl, woman or “female” in this context, connotes both gender and sex. But as a whole, people accept far more sexism even as we fight against racism. We need to stand solidly against both.

We can look at social trends over the last 14,000 years ago and safely conclude that sexism and patriarchy are far more deeply entrenched than racism. Racism, similar but not the same, as tribalism, arose only when slavery was deemed to be the “natural” fate of “inferior races.”

In modernity, our heads know that there is one race — indeed all DNA is related — and all people are related, but in our entrenched socialization, and therefore in our feelings, social patterns persist.

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Christyl Rivers, Phd.
Christyl Rivers, Phd.

Written by Christyl Rivers, Phd.

Ecopsychologist, Writer, Farmer, Defender of reality, and Cat Castle Custodian.

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