Sexism is the ideology that one sex is superior to the other.

The term is
generally used to refer to male prejudice and discrimination against women.
Women do not enjoy the same opportunities to attain high-status positions that men
do in the form of institutional discrimination. Gender bias has limited womens
opportunities for employment outside the home, at the same time that it forces
them to carry a disproportionate burden inside the home. All the major institutions
of our society including the government, the military, large corporations, the
media, universities, and the medical establishment are controlled by men. Women
are underrepresented in occupations historically defined as mens jobs, which
often carry much greater financial rewards and prestige than womens jobs. The
term glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a
qualified individual in a work environment because of the individuals gender,
race, or ethnicity. Women from all groups and men from minority groups
sometimes encounter attitudinal or organizational bias that prevents them from
reaching their full potential. Women gain and lose status in American society in
ways that are more complex than their male counterparts, due to the secondary role
assigned to them within the societal structure. A woman's status is easily affected
by the person she marries and by how they maintain their personal life as they

juggle their responsibilities in both the private and public realms.

Feminism is the belief in social, economic, and political equality for women.
The feminist movement of the United States started in the summer of 1848 when
the first womens rights convention began. At first, feminists were ridiculed and
scorned as they fought for legal and political equality for women. In 1872, Susan
B. Anthony was arrested for attempting to vote in that years presidential election.
One of the greatest victories by early feminists was the passage and ratification of
the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to
vote in national elections beginning in 1920.

A critical victory in the struggle for legalized abortion in the United States
came in 1973, when the Supreme Court granted women the right to terminate
pregnancies. The Courts decision was generally applauded by pro-choice groups,
which believe women should have the right to make their own decisions about
their bodies and should have access to safe and legal abortions. Feminists involved
in defending abortion rights typically believe that men and women are essentially
similar. They support womens full participation in work outside the home and
oppose all forms of sex discrimination. Feminists also claim that pregnancy and
childbirth have been socially constructed by male-centered health care systems and

patriarchal religious traditions. An estimated quarter of the worlds women live in

countries where abortion is illegal or is permitted only if a womans life is in
jeopardy.