If I were to say "Women should only wear skirts and heels and wear makeup, otherwise it's unladylike," you would be offended. "Women belong in the kitchen," might fetch me firm slap, and you'd likely wonder if you've slipped into a timewarp to the 1940s.
Are these things something I'm likely to say? Heh, maybe, only if I wanted to receive the reaction I outlined above. It's a silly notion that anyone should be relegated to only a single task, or look and dress a specific way. It's sexual discrimination plain and simple. No reasonable person would argue otherwise.
Yet, everyday reasonable people do exactly that. They actively participate in sexual discrimination and don't bat an eye. In fact they are quick to defend it. It's even socially acceptable, very few people recognize it as a form of discrimination. The victims suffer silently in fear of losing favor from loved ones (often the primary perpetrators) or being outcasts from society.
I'm speaking of gender stereotyping, and it happens everyday. The victims, our children, even ourselves, face daily subtle persecution from those held most dear, most trusted.
