+
upworthy
More

These 48 comments to women and girls show that sexism knows no age.

A new video from Huffington Post shows how pervasive and lifelong sexism is for women.

It covers everything from "you look so pretty" to "you must have been beautiful when you were younger," to show that whether you're 8 or 80, if you're a woman, you just can't escape sexist comments.


All images via Huffington Post/YouTube.

In two minutes, the video shows the progression of what women hear from society as we age. Apparently, the only thing that doesn't change as we get older is how stereotypical, patronizing, and demeaning these comments are.

Here are some "highlights" from the video that will have women young and old shaking their heads in recognition.

As a young girl, you're already being evaluated for your sexual appeal later on.

Not only do girls start hearing comments about their appeal to (and effect on) boys and men at an absurdly young age, but these comments also imply that a young girl's sexuality is the domain of her dad and, later, of other men in her life.

The video shows how these comments progress as girls get older: "Don't wait after school, you're going to distract the boys," which becomes, "Don't be a slut," which becomes, "No guy wants to have sex with a virgin," which becomes, "How much did you have to drink that night?" and finally, "What were you wearing that night?"

This is rape culture in a nutshell.

As a teenage girl, people assume your interests based on how appealing they are to prospective (male) partners.

Young girls may start out thinking they can excel at or be interested in anything: math, music, sports, art, video games, you name it. As girls get older, though, they're often discouraged from taking part in stereotypically masculine interests.

It's not necessarily that woman and girls are told this outright. Most people aren't that direct; they aren't going to say: "Don't play video games. Video games are for boys." They discourage those behaviors in more subtle ways — by expressing surprise that a woman or girl likes a stereotypically masculine thing like whiskey or football (two other examples in the video) and then imply they must only be interested in it because it is appealing to boys or men.

As though women can't just like things because we like them.

Apparently, men dictate not only women's sexuality, but also our interests and hobbies. Assuming that to be true ... why, that's sexism, my friend.

As adult women, we're told not to draw too much attention to ourselves. In a rather crude way.

This is a heartbreaking bookend to the first girl who appears in the video saying, "Don't be so bossy!" a common refrain girls hear growing up.

Women are taught at a young age not to be assertive, not to lead, and to let others take the lead, which is why so many women say sorry so much and don't feel confident negotiating for equal pay at work.

Even prominent feminists like Sheryl Sandberg, in trying to promote women in leadership positions, inadvertently stigmatize a "bossy" woman.

As married women, we hear assumptions about the role we play in our relationship.

At this point, the video starts getting into tired debates about gender roles between husband and wife, with judgmental questions like "You're not taking your husband's last name?" to "Does your husband mind that you make more money than him?"

And if your husband, the person who is ostensibly equal to you in your relationship, does something stereotypically feminine like cooking dinner, you just know you're going to get this in response:


Ugh.

Because of sexism, society is still surprised to learn that, in heterosexual relationships, women CAN be the primary breadwinner, and that men can share in domestic chores. It's 2015, but many women still face questions about their relationships that are right out of the 1950s.

And these assumptions hurt both women and men.

As an elderly woman, you're way more likely to hear that you were beautiful than that you still are.

More than women's intelligence, humor, empathy, or any other non-superficial qualities or accomplishments we have, at the end of our lives, we're still valued for our looks. When (or if) our looks "fade with age," we receive pity.

Most heartbreaking of all is when you compare what an elderly woman hears to what young girls are told so often:

We've come full circle, haven't we?

That's sexism. It's pervasive, it's subtle. We often don't realize we're reinforcing these behaviors. But now that we know and can see them laid out like this, don't you think it's time we break the pattern?

Watch the entire video below:

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

Keep ReadingShow less

A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Innovation

A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

Keep ReadingShow less
via PamTina_/Twitter

Pam's little brother is so sweet.

Pam has a little brother, who recently learned that he is actually her half-brother.

Of course, half-siblings are still very much siblings, but Pam's brother doesn't quite grasp the concept yet and seems upset about having to part with 50% of his sister.

Keep ReadingShow less

Jennifer Garner's Ziploc care package.

Homelessness has been on the increase in America since 2016 and the numbers exploded in 2020. On a single night in January 2020, there were more than 580,000 individuals who were without a home.

There are many reasons for the increase in homelessness and one of the leading causes is a lack of affordable housing across the country. Housing prices have been on a steady increase and, according to PBS, we are about 7 million units short of affordable housing in the country.

So what can the average person do about this human tragedy taking place in America’s streets? Some people who would like to help don’t feel comfortable giving money to homeless people, although experts in the field say that most of the time it is OK.

Keep ReadingShow less