The Harms of Gender Stereotypes (Sociology 356 Blog 2)

For my second blog entry, I wanted to discuss the harms of gender stereotypes and the problems that it creates. Gender stereotypes create a divide in our society based on social constructs deeming what is for males and females. Before going into how harmful these stereotypes are, let me explain what gender stereotypes are to begin with.

From the scholarly article, Why are gay leaders perceived as ineffective? The role of the type of organization, sexual prejudice and gender stereotypes, written by Valerio Pellegrini, the article gives a good description of what gender stereotypes are. The article states that, “Gender stereotypes refer to different expectations associated with men and women, and describe how they are expected to behave and appear to others” (Pellegrini, 2020). We see that gender stereotypes can be seen as social constructs that deem certain expectations for males and females. This creates a limit in society of how people may want to express themselves. They want to be happy but society deems that those individuals challenging the system are wrong. The same scholarly article by Valerio Pellegrini gives more information on these stereotypes by stating, “…on the one hand, men are expected to have stereotypical masculine characteristics like agency, assertiveness, and dominance. On the other hand, women are expected to have stereotypical feminine characteristics like communality, warmth, and sociability” (Pellegrini, 2020). Once again, we see these rules in society which state how a male and female must act. This creates doubt in an individual making them believe that they are not good enough to be either male or female. The question then is, how did these stereotypes come to be. Though we may never know the true answer, a good place to start is to look back on our past and observe.

Do you remember the phrases, “Be a man”, “You fight like a girl”, or “Crying is for women”. These are phrases I heard on the playground when I was a kid. Though at the time, I did not think much of it but looking back now, I see how these stereotypes can be deeply rooted in our life. The idea that stereotypes can be traced back to our past when we were growing up. This example resembles the Authoritarian Personality theory that links prejudice to early childhood experiences as I learned from my Sociology 356 class. The individuals growing up hearing all these stereotypes end up believing in them unless they question it themselves. The pressure of conforming to these standards of being a stereotypical male and female is also put upon these individuals as they grow up. Hearing those phrases of “Be a man” and “Crying is for women” and looking at the Authoritarian Personality theory, it gives some clues to why we have these gender stereotypes ingrained in society today.

Now that we have an idea of where these stereotypes may come from and an overall idea of what gender stereotypes are, lets see how these stereotypes can be harmful. From an article posted to the “New York Times” and written by Claire Cain Miller, it discusses research done when asking boys and girls on their goals and aspirations. When asking children how they perceive society, the article states, “Boys said strength and toughness were the male character traits most valued by society. Three-quarters said they felt pressure to be physically strong, and a majority felt pressure to play sports” (Miller, 2018). As stated from the article, we see the pressure and demand that society puts on males. The article continues its findings by stating, “…what society expects boys to do when they feel angry, the largest shares said they were supposed to be aggressive or be quiet and suck it up. When they felt sad or scared, they felt pressure to hide those feelings or to be tough and strong instead. Girls were more able to express themselves by crying, screaming or talking about their feelings, respondents said” (Miller, 2018). From this article alone, we can see how harmful these beliefs and stereotypes are for everyone. The pressure these stereotypes create and the expectations that are put onto everyone. If an individual were to stray away from what is deemed as normal to males and females, that could lead to unfair treatment and less opportunities for that individual.

Through the examples we have seen so far, this does not mean that only males go through gender stereotypes, females also have to deal with gender stereotypes and the expectations that come with it. A good example of how females deal with gender stereotypes is from an article posted from “The Guardian” and was written by Sarah Boseley. In the article, they discuss the different expectations and restrictions for both males and females and how these beliefs are harmful to both genders. This is stated in the article when “…researchers found that gender-based restrictions rationalised as “protecting” girls actually made them more vulnerable by emphasising subservience and implicitly sanctioning even physical abuse as punishment for violating norms” (Boseley, 2017). We also see the other side of this gender stereotype when the article says, “Boys in both New Delhi and Shanghai, for instance, talked about being encouraged to spend time outside of the home in unsupervised exploration of their environment, while girls said they were told to stay home and do chores. Shaming and beatings for those who sought to cross the divide was reported by girls and boys in both cities” (Boseley, 2017). When looking at the full picture, we see this promoted belief that males should be strong and have leadership which is backed up by the idea that boys are encouraged to explore unsupervised. Though this idea of free living and learning is not the same for females. As the article states, females are expected to be seen as needing protection which creates more vulnerable females as a result. We are promoting the ideas that females should not explore and should just stay home and tend to the chores. Not only is this creating unfairness in society, it is also creating more unprepared males and females who are not given the chance to see the whole picture which being that males and females should not come with expectation.

After everything we have seen with how gender stereotypes and expectations are perceived with both males and females, I raise the question again, is this belief due to circumstances in childhood? Not only do we learn these stereotypes from school, family, friends, and life itself, it can also be hidden in plain sight with entertainment. From a scholarly article titled Playing Princess: Preschool Girls’ Interpretations of Gender Stereotypes in Disney Princess Media and written by Julia C. Golden, it speaks about how Disney films promote unhealthy expectations and gender stereotypes on both males and females. The article tells its findings when it states, “For example, a content analysis of 16 of the most popular Disney animated feature films between the years 1937 to 1995, revealed that Disney females, including five of the official princesses, were more likely to do housework than their male counterparts were, whereas males were six times more likely to be portrayed in positions of authority than females…” (Golden, 2018). We once again see the continued gender stereotype that women are to be in the home and men are perceived to have the control. This is worse due to the gender stereotype being promoted in a whimsical fashion and for a young demographic as well. The young boys and girls watching these stories and lessons will believe that this is the way that society is run. That men and women should act certain ways and that an deviation from this belief is unnatural.

In conclusion, gender stereotypes create a divide between males and females. This can be seen by physical actions or expectation on both parts. Though some might argue that biology already creates some unfairness, either gender can be just as good as each other. These gender stereotypes can prevent males and females from fully expressing themselves and experiencing everything that life has to offer. From the same scholarly article, Playing Princess: Preschool Girls’ Interpretations of Gender Stereotypes in Disney Princess Media, written by Julia C. Golden, she overall sums up the issue that gender stereotypes creates. The article states that, “Performing the gendered roles that they learn and observe makes children feel “good, powerful, and desirable to others” and, in this way, learning gender is essential to children’s identity formation. However, the rigid differentiation between the genders, reinforced by dominating gender stereotypes, poses concerns for children’s gender construction. Unyielding gender expectations confine girls and boys to a narrow set of appropriate behaviors, restricting them to certain forms of dress, games, toys, and friends” (Golden, 2018). These expectations that males and females should act a certain way only hinder us as a society. The good news is that individuals have seen the injustice and unfairness that these gender stereotypes have created on society and act against it. They prove that no matter if you are male or female, you can do things that may be perceived as for the opposite gender. Females can take the job as construction workers and males can take the job as stay at home father. Jobs that may be seen for the opposite gender are starting to be seen as more widely accepted. This isn’t just due to the young generation, it’s all generations working towards the same goal. I think a good way to end the blog is to see how these gender stereotypes are challenged so that the new generation can learn fairness.

A video from the YouTube channel “The Atlantic” demonstrates how these gender stereotypes and gender roles are challenged. It shows that no matter what gender you are, you can do anything even if it is widely perceived as for one gender.

Gender stereotypes are harmful to everyone and the biggest lesson that we need to remember is that whether you are male or female doesn’t matter, we are all human in the end trying to be happy and achieve our dreams.

References

Boseley, S. (2017, September 20). Children are straitjacketed into gender roles in early adolescence, says study. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/20/children-are-straitjacketed-into-gender-roles-in-early-adolescence-says-study

Esguerra, Tamatha (2020). Sociology 356, Module 4

Golden, J., & Jacoby, C. (2018). Playing Princess: Preschool Girls’ Interpretations of Gender Stereotypes in Disney Princess Media. Sex Roles, 79(5), 299–313.

Miller, C. C. (2018, September 14). Many Ways to Be a Girl, but One Way to Be a Boy: The New Gender Rules. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/upshot/gender-stereotypes-survey-girls-boys.html

Pellegrini, V., De Cristofaro, V., Giacomantonio, M., & Salvati, M. (2020). Why are gay leaders perceived as ineffective? The role of the type of organization, sexual prejudice and gender stereotypes. Personality and Individual Differences, 157, Personality and Individual Differences, 15 April 2020, Vol.157.