Daily Sexism

In our dinner group the other day here at the Barlow Center an educated intern was heard to say, after some disparaging comments from the group (none of them from me, I don't waste my time talking bad about people who've never heard of me) about Bill Clinton, "If I was married to Hillary Clinton, I would turn gay too." An awkward silence ensued and somebody said "That sounds like something Tim would say." I'm not really sure why they thought that, probably because I'm a fan of non sequiturs to make awkward silences, but I try not to malign anyone with them. So, in response, I said, "Actually, I try to stay away from sexism." The guy was a little upset, and said it wasn't sexist, and because I didn't want to cause a scene I ended the conversation there. But I will use our little personal soap box to explain why it was a sexist comment.

What sexism basically comes down to is treating the two sexes differently in ways that have nothing to do with their fundamental differences. Saying that being married to Hillary Clinton would be enough to turn a guy gay is sexist because one'd never say that about a guy. "Barrack Obama is just so intimidating and scary. If I were married to him I would become a lesbian too." Saying that a certain type of woman would turn her husband gay means that only a certain type of women is sexually attractive enough to allow her husband to remain straight. And that's sexism at its core. Thoughts?