By Chris Agnone ’18
THE ROUNDUP
Women being tasked with household chores and caring for the children as the men work and provide the necessities for the family.
This was the norm for the majority of history, until the late 1800’s. European countries started to yield to women who insisted on the right to vote and work.
The United States made it legal for women to vote on Aug. 18, 1920 with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution after a long battle headed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton, stated in an article on HISTORY.com.
After the amendment, women began to enjoy the freedom of men, but to this day, some have not fully been given the rights that a man does in the workplace and in society.
“Teaching has typically been a woman’s profession,” said Mrs. Dorothy Dunnion. “When I was in school, my counselor asked me if I wanted to be a nurse or a teacher; those were the options I was given.”
One big aspect to modern sexism in America is the wage gap.
Women earn about 92 percent on the dollar compared to men, a fact stated in an article in The Washington Post.
Brophy is trying to make sure that the young men who graduate do not continue to spread this injustice through the world, said Principal Mr. Bob Ryan.
“Jesuits are all men so their perception of sexism is different,” Mr. Ryan said. “I think that is is extremely important to listen to women because we are men, but Jesuits are really good about meeting people where they are and giving dignity to all human life.”
The Jesuits are also very humble men and make themselves vulnerable, he said, and this helps them to realize that the way they see the work is not necessarily how the person next to them sees it.
“The Jesuits at Brophy have helped me adopt this and realize this in my life,”Mr. Ryan said.
Brophy is an environment that helps to eliminated sexism, but can also lead to the reinforcement of it.
“Sexism in America has definitely gotten better since the suffrage movement in the 50s and 60s,” said history teacher Mr. Ryan Hubbell.
Mr. Hubbell has an undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies and a Masters in Sociology with an emphasis in gender issues and masculinity.
Brophy’s motto, Men for Others, is a statement that directly defies sexism in all forms, but there is also things that the community can work on.
“Just because the movement has come this far does not mean we are done,” Mr. Hubbell said. “We are not done until women get equal pay for equal work and men start thinking about things that women have had to think about for generations like having a job and raising a family.”
The all-male demographic does not help with this issue.
“It starts to put the students in a bubble,” Mr. Hubbell said. “I was scared to death to teach here with a Women’s Studies degree, but now I am glad that I am able to have conversations with you guys that I had in college and graduate school.”
A lot of students have done a great job defying this issue, but there is a lot of campus talk that needs to change, he said.
“A lot of things that I hear on campus, for example, the colloquial use of derogatory terms that students use casually when they did bad on a project or quiz, is not OK,” Mr. Hubbell said. “Those words, for many women in the world and in our community and culture, are the worst thing that could happen to them.”
Sexism is not completely solved, but it is on the decline.
“The issue is not solved, but Brophy has helped change the ways students see women in society,” Mrs. Dunnion said.
Mrs. Dunnion believes that Brophy has done a good job with helping students address the issue.
“I think that it has gotten much better and Brophy has done a great job with this,” Mrs. Dunnion said. “I think that you guys are the most enlightened men and I appreciate that.”
