There has never been a political party that had a driving tenet of cursing people out. Yet, that is exactly what Florida Representative Ted Yoho did to New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., last week. AOC responded to Yoho’s comments by giving an unscripted speech that went viral and has been hailed by many as seminal to the cause of women in the 21st century. Yoho’s behavior and AOC’s response lead us to consider not only the verbal abuse she experienced but also the range of “isms” used to dominate and disempower people from a sociological perspective.
Yoho’s behavior and comments to AOC were outside the bounds of civility. They were also a clear-cut example of sexism, prejudice, devaluation, and discrimination based on an individual’s sex. While women are most often the recipients of sexism, men can also be victims. Additionally, while we assume it involves the behavior of one individual toward another, institutions can also operate with a sexist agenda.
Please note that sexism is different from heterosexism, prejudice or discriminatory attitudes and behaviors against homosexuals and homosexuality. If Rep. Yoho’s comments had been directed toward a male colleague who happened to be gay, then we would say he was being heterosexist. Heterosexism is different from homophobia, the fear of homosexuals and homosexuality. A person can have a negative attitude or engage in discriminatory behavior toward someone who is LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual or allied) without having a clinical phobia in the way they might have a fear of flying or spiders.
What if Rep. Yoho had commented on a colleague’s race? Not surprisingly, that behavior would have been labeled racism, the belief that one race is superior to others resulting in unequal or demoralizing treatment of other races. Racism manifests in many forms and can include things like racial discrimination, unfair or differential treatment of individuals and groups based on race and ethnicity, and racial profiling, action taken against members of a minority group based on those things other than personal behavior.
