A fresh concept--sexism benefits women

This morning, I was in a discussion about sexism in sports with a group of people who were, for the most part, younger than I. They had no concept of any sexism in women's athletics. In fact, they thought the attractive young women and girls were "lucky" because they could make so much money from endorsements. And they are not being exploited. And women should stop whining. One even went so far as to say that sexism benefits women.

Can you imagine if someone said that racism benefits people of color? Inasmuch as many people are still extremely racist, they at least would not say something that outrageous. But when it comes to women, there is some kind of twisted logic that says that oppression and exploitation are good things. We are back to pedestal thinking, of course--did we ever really leave it?--and the highly original idea that women should make money off of their looks and be thankful.

It seems that feminists speak a foreign language. White male privilege is so much a part of the national psyche that any suggestion of another paradigm for our social structure is not only rejected, it is literally incomprehensible. What in hell happened to the daughters of the Second Wave? And the sons, for that matter.