so i keep seeing the word 'sexism' being thrown around on this forum (and, y'know, everywhere else, but i digress)

there are two (major) problems with that word

the first is that it implies that gender discrimination is based on physical distinctions (i.e. sex), which it is not. it is based on people's societal status as a man or as a woman, or as a non-binary individual (because yes, those kinds of people do exist, contrary to popular belief, and are discriminated against by men and women alike). the problem is that people tend to equate certain physical characteristics (sex) with gender, which has to do with how people see themselves. there is no way that these two can be the same thing. to say as much would mean that transgender people, whose gender differs from the one they were assigned at birth based on their sex, do not exist. which, of course, they do - i'm one myself. there's quite a few more around this site, and hey, guess what, they exist in real life too. how about that

but again, i digress. i could rant for another paragraph or two about how gender discrimination applies to transgender people, but for brevity's sake, i won't tackle that subject just now

the second problem with the word 'sexism' is that it implies that discrimination against men can exist, which is hugely erroneous. men have just about always been seen as superior to women, and have, with few exceptions, always been in positions of power. women have been systematically oppressed throughout history, and are still oppressed by men today. what do i mean by 'systematically'? i mean that men have specifically set up laws and imposed societal rules that discriminate against women. the idea that this can go in the opposite direction, the idea that the oppressed group can oppress their oppressors, while still being oppressed themselves, is ridiculous

the word to use instead of 'sexism' is 'misogyny'. since people seem to love dictionary definitions, let me throw one at you:

this word describes the phenomenon that the culture of nearly every civilization throughout history has experienced. there is no 'sexism'. there is misogyny, and it is everywhere. it permeates everything humans do, the way we think - many, many women even have internalized misogyny from the sheer amount of external misogyny in their lives. we have taught ourselves (led by men who thought they were the superior gender) for thousands of years to hate half of our own species based on a single distinction, and it's absolutely horrible. to imply that there is any way that this could be reversed under present conditions is disrespectful, rude, and above all incredibly ignorant