Sometimes even the
most well intentionrd people just do not understand when they are
being prejudiced. Think of a white grandmother making awkward
comments to her granddaughter about her black boyfriend. Or the black
father telling his son that he shouldn't move into a neighborhood
because it is a bit “queer”.
Recently I was
walking through a store with a female friend of mine when I picked up
a product and noticed that it was marked “woman owned” next to
the manufacturer's name. I pointed this out to her stating that if it
said “male owned” people would be in an uproar. She didn't take
that well. We passed a belt display that said “men's belts” and
she said, “see, same thing.” Only it is not. With “men's belts”
people aren't trying to get you to buy a certain product because of
the gender of the people who own the company that manufacturers it.
If it is okay to label a product a woman owned, then why isn't it
okay to label a product as “male owned,” or “white owned,” or
“straight owned?” Should a car manufacturer state that its cars
are “male engineered?”
Walmart actually has
a special program to label produced manufactured by woman owned businesses. They even state the products are better because they are
manufactured by woman owned businesses.
"The anecdotal evidence is that these products tend to be more innovative, more in tune with what women customers want."
One of the
manufactures mentioned makes waste baskets. If you really believe
that women manufacture waste baskets better than men then you just as
sexist as a man who believes than men make better scientists than
women.
I think it is
important to always reverse the gender/sexual orientation or change
the race whenever you see those terms used to understand whether a
statement is prejudiced. If you are okay with a wast basket being
labeled “woman owned” then you should not mind if a desk manufacturer is
labeled, “male owned.” We want to reduce/eliminate
discrimination not just change the target of discrimination.
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