I‘m tired of sexism! : a qualitative study about the diverse forms of sexism women face in everyday life

Abstract

In today‘s so called 'liberal‘ world, sexism is being portrayed as annihilated and societies are perceived as having finally achieved gender-equality. Due to this reason, women are depicted as being radical feminists or simply exaggerating by complaining about sexism in their lives. This study aims to: explore the level of awareness and what the term 'sexism‘ means for women; identify personal experiences that these women have gone through or go through presently in their everyday life; explore the feelings that are evoked by such experiences; and consider the impact that these experiences have on these women. Semi-structured interviews with women who were chosen with the use of purposive sampling through social media were used to collect the necessary data which were audio-recorded. The data was analysed and coded through the use of Thematic Analysis. Conclusions gathered from this study were that contrary to popular belief that today‘s world is 'liberal‘ and gender-equal, it was found that everyday sexism is seen as a taken for-granted way of life for men to which it is also rendered as second nature to them. Additionally, it was also revealed that because sexism is so embedded within our Maltese society, even women themselves participate in sexism by being 'unconsciously sexist‘ towards women and their male counterparts, as well as through the use of sexist humour.