Sexist Was Built to Match Racist
Sexist means discriminating on grounds of sex. The word was coined in the 1960s by direct analogy with racist.
Sexist describes attitudes or treatment that discriminate on the basis of sex. The word was deliberately manufactured: in a 1965 talk at Franklin and Marshall College, Pauline Leet argued that people who dismissed women's writing were doing what racists did, and coined *sexism* on the spot by analogy. It reached print in 1968 and general use within a few years.
- Discriminatory on grounds of sex. *A sexist assumption.*
- A person who holds such views. *He is an unrepentant sexist.*
- Sexism — the attitude or system. *Everyday sexism.*
- Casual sexism — unthinking rather than deliberate. *Casual sexism in the office.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | sexist | A sexist joke. |
| Noun | sexist | An old-fashioned sexist. |
| Abstract | sexism | Institutional sexism. |
| Model | racist | A racist remark. |
| Related | misogyny | Open misogyny. |
- The advertisement was withdrawn as sexist.Adjective.
- Sexism in hiring is often invisible in individual cases.Systemic sense.
- She called out the casual sexism in the meeting.Common collocation.
Words coined on the racist pattern
- Sexism — 1965, by analogy with racism
- Ageism — 1969, coined by Robert Neil Butler
- Ableism — 1980s
- Speciesism — 1970, coined by Richard Ryder
- The pattern — a group name plus -ism, then -ist for the person
From *sex* plus the ending *-ist*, formed on the model of *racist*. First attested in 1965 and in print by 1968.
Who coined the word sexism?
Pauline Leet, in a 1965 talk, drawing an explicit parallel with racism. Caroline Bird helped spread it in a 1968 speech.
Is sexism the same as misogyny?
Not quite. Sexism is discrimination based on sex; misogyny is hatred or contempt for women specifically.