SOCIETY
INFOteen
11
Gender Stereotypes follow us since our childhood, from the moment we are born to our professional lives.
Subjects like the color of newborns’ clothes, interests, professional choices and behavior of adult women and men, are issues that are defined and shaped by stereotypes.
Every girl from the time of her birth to her adulthood will be under a constant bombardment of information, suggestions and requirements as to what is expected, what is "normal" and what is acceptable to a woman. This is the case with every boy too. It is a steadily recurring process that ends up giving each new generation very specific concepts about the specific destination of each sex, leaving little room for deviations.
Sex and gender
Men and women have been always assumed as different but also “complementary”. However, regarding the traditional masculine and feminine traits this model is unrealistic. Assertiveness, rationality, aggressiveness and other masculine traits are more highly valued and associated with prominent social roles. While nurture, sensitivity, intuitiveness and other feminine traits are associated with submissiveness and less socially valued roles.
It is now accepted that sex and gender are different things. The American Psychological Association has recently stated:
‘Sex is assigned at birth, refers to one’s biological status as either male or female, and is associated primarily with physical attributes such as chromosomes, hormone prevalence, and external and internal anatomy. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. These influence the ways that people act, interact, and feel about themselves. While aspects of biological sex are similar across different cultures, aspects of gender may differ.’
More similar than different
Multiple reviews and meta-analyses of psychological literature have consistently found that men and women are more similar than they are different when it comes to a host of psychological traits and mental functioning. These include cognitive performance, mathematical abilities, personality traits, social behaviours, emotions, aggression and leadership.
There are some biological realities such as pregnancy, childbirth and lactation. But social and biological research indicates that with the exception of these, men and women are equally equipped for parenting and caregiving.
The focus needs to shift from being mostly on women, to changing the nature of gender relations, debunking gender polarity and promoting softer masculinity. Boys and men would also benefit from this, as it offers them more options for how they can be.
To do this, prevention strategies are needed to address the covert and overt sexism that lead to gender inequality.