The term was defined by Pauline Leet in 1965. She defined it as:<p>&quot;...both of them [racism and sexism] are making decisions and coming to conclusions about someone’s value by referring to factors which are in both cases irrelevant.&quot;<p>(This is in the context of a poetry group, so &quot;value&quot; most likely refers to ability to create good poetry.)<p>The first time it appeared in print (by Caroline Bird) it was defined as:<p>&quot;Sexism is judging people by their sex when sex doesn&#x27;t matter.&quot;<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Sexism#Etymology_and_definitions" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Sexism#Etymology_and_definitio...</a><p>If you think this is wrong, by all means cite some sources and update wikipedia.<p>It may be the case that academic usage has shifted, but lay usage has not.