Where Sexism And Racism Come From

Where does bigotry and bias come from, especially the kind that is expressed in actively harassing, sabotaging, harming, manipulating, and oppressing other human beings?

This is an age-old question that people love to debate. Is it biology or is it taught? Nature vs. Nurture?
Is one sex or ancestry actually superior to another?
Or superior in certain ways?
Or in enough ways to make them DESERVE privilege and power over others?

The actual, objective, fact-based SCIENTIFIC answers to these questions can not be answered at this time, because there is no way to TEST it in a controlled environment.

The current cultural biases in the species is predominantly pro-male and anti-female. This is reflected in the behavior of BOTH males and females species-wide.

This bias has been directly influenced for centuries by the BEHAVIORS that are learned and mimicked from one generation to another. 

That's why so many people have CONTEMPT and resentment toward girls and women, either individuals in their lives, or toward the whole group.

The desire for control over who and what one fears and has contempt for, and ALSO who and what one desires to OWN,  is a common human reaction and behavior.

There are over 7 billion humans on Earth currently, and ALL OF THEM have been directly influenced by the culture and behaviors surrounding them. In other words, EVERYONE has been influenced to believe what others around them believe, both inside and outside of their family.

So scientifically it's not possible to determine if any race or either sex is actually "superior" or "inferior", because EVERY HUMAN ALIVE has been influenced by the bias and beliefs that they grew up with. 

There are NO "controlled environments" where large, racially diverse groups of infants have been raised since birth by NON-HUMANS who are non-gendered and non-biased, who would therefore NOT influence the infants and children either by their own behavior, or by the way they TREAT the babies.

MOST humans treat infants right from birth with bias, due to all kinds of physical traits about the infant, and mostly because of the infants' sex (boy or girl)). So by the time the child is in First Grade, he or she has already been deeply influenced by the biased treatment of adults around them, and their surrounding culture. 
(They are "guided" to "be" a certain way, toward certain behaviors, abilities, and preferences and AWAY from others according to what OTHER people want them to be like, because of what sex they were born with, and also other physical traits like skin color, facial features, size, and vocal intonation. ALSO, MOST people tend to be in deep denial about treating their infants and children with bias, and those who are not in denial but do it anyway may have other issues (mental or emotional) and would not want to change it because they WANT to treat one child as superior, and another as inferior, regardless of the effects on the child.)

Bullies Get What They Want Because Of Fear And Skewed Perception

One of the reasons that bullies seem to get what they want more often is because... they bully other people into giving them what they want on a regular basis, and throw "blame" around when they're not getting what they want.

People tend to try to avoid blame, and they tend to fear potential personal consequences from getting blamed, and also direct aggression from BULLIES, so they tend to cater to bullies for these reasons alone.

On top of that, many people learn (unfortunately) to associate BULLY behavior with "authority" during their youth, and will GIVE bullies and controllers jobs, trust, and positions of authority.
They'll even often stand up for a bully AGAINST the bully's targets, because of this skewed reasoning.

One can witness this often in society at large; when a person complains about being treated poorly, scammed, "discriminated against", or even physically assaulted, MANY people will side AGAINST that person, and WITH the bully or perpetrator, and without wanting to know anything about the actual events that took place. They seem to be identifying with the BULLY.

Flattery PLUS Insults Will Get You Far In Monkey Land

Fake flattery is one of the "skills" learned by many people who seek acceptance by others.

Those who have Narcissism often learn how to do it on another level of skill, and learn how to turn it on when they want something from someone, either material or otherwise (trust, etc.) 

Demeaning, insulting implications and personal criticisms toward others are ALSO part of this "skill set". Those who combine this with fake flattery are often successful at confusing others and building an image that depicts them as having a high level of ability and intelligence.
 
People who don't do fake flattery OR personal insults, or rude (dismissive, disrespectful) behaviors - who live in social climates where these social habits are common - are OFTEN "unpopular", often judged as not fitting in, and often rejected socially, simply because they don't do and say the things that others are used to, or that they expect from them. 

They don't flatter people just to get their approval, nor do they insult people just to get a laugh or to bully them, and they don't GO ALONG with it when others do these things, either to them or to other people. It's not just that they openly reject or "call out" the behaviors, it's more about simply not doing them, nor responding favorably to them.

~When a person tries to flatter OR bully them, they just don't give the expected response, so the person doesn't get what they were looking for. So therefore, the person doesn't "like" them.

These behaviors (fake flattery, insulting or bullying comments and actions) become normalized in varying degrees in cultures, and people who feel like they fit in tend to see them as "Just The Way We Are", "Just The Way Everyone Is".
So when a person does not go along with it for ANY reason, they are noticed, and often REACTED TO negatively. 

This is one of the main reasons why those with Autism traits are often treated poorly. They tend not to go along with social habits such as flattery or bully displays, nor do they respond to them.
So it's hard for a person to get their approval, adulation, or their trust with mere words, or just because everyone else apparently thinks they're "cool" or in some way superior,  NOR are they easily intimidated with "toughness" or bully displays, NOR can others get them to accept or believe in anyone's superiority over them, typically.   

Red Flag: Narcissism or Control

Red flag:
Prone to contempt and resentment toward others as an initial reaction to those who are physically different than themselves (sex, ancestry, religion, "class", appearance, age, etc).
Prone to extreme, even hateful bias against those who are different than themselves; those who are the "same" as they are are considered simply "in disagreement", or are listened to with at least some measure of respect.
However if the "different-minded" person is physically different than themselves, of a certain sex or ancestry, age, etc., they feel and express contempt toward the PERSON.

Contempt for others who are physically different than they are.
Contempt for young people and children.
Racism and/or sexism,esp. toward young people.
Contempt for people who have a different point of view.
Expressing contempt for others at every opportunity.
Apparently like to feel contempt and rationalizes and justifies it as if it's valid no matter who or what it's about.
Prone to contempt FIRST, not trying to understand another person's point of view or having any respect for their personhood or differences, or simply the body they were born in.

This may be more biologically-based than learned, however it's hard to tell since those who display this kind of severe bias and hate-thinking have often been raised around one or more other people with the type of attitude and apparently pathological prejudice.

The desire for superiority and deep-seated insecurity are at the root of this contempt-hate thinking, but again, it can be learned from others as well during youth as if it's perfectly "normal".
For example if a child has a classmate who intimidates them, an adult with these issues might tell the child not to worry about that classmate because they're "inferior" to them because of their sex or race, INSTEAD OF giving the child guidance about dealing with feeling insecure, or understanding other people, how to treat other people, and dealing with other people's behavior, personality, or differences.

Usually, those with this type of contempt-thinking desire to be superior and supreme over either another race or the opposite sex, and it's typically based in their identification with certain family members, or certain individuals they've idolized who they think are "superior", or who they think OTHERS see as superior.
They typically want to be SEEN as "superior" like that person, via their sex, ancestry, or both (or for some other superficial reason).
They'll often be seen doing and saying things to put others down, trying to make it come true, and trying to recruit others to go along with them in projecting "inferiority" onto others.

Superiority issues are based in insecurity, not confidence: one does not worry about whether frogs are equal in intellect or capability, and does not try to oppress them or rule over them. However humans have always tried to "tame" and dominate other creatures that intimidate them.

Again, this contempt and severe-bias thinking is usually "learned" during childhood, and it may be either directly taught by those with superiority/insecurity issues, or inadvertently by adults who have been normalized and desensitized to it by those around them in their own youth.