Gender Stereotypes

In Pepper Schwartz article titled “ The Social Construction of Heterosexuality”, Schwartz writes about what she believe Americans define as Heterosexuality. Schwartz writes about the so-called body standard that movies and television show set for us about how we should look and dress. Schwartz writes about what she believes straight men have to look like in order to define their masculinity. Schwartz’s main argument is about all the gender stereotypes we have in our society. Stereotypes like in order to be straight or even gay you have to look, dress, and talk a certain way. Schwartz is trying to say that you do not have to meet the so-called standards we have set for sexuality. Schwartz does make some valid

This is the principle argument, Masculinity as Homophobia. That is, to be a genuine man is to abstain from being female in any capacity. On the off chance that it's female to cry, show apprehension, or think about the way you look, then any man who does that is seen as unmanly and prone to have their man card pulled.

Despite Gender identity and sexual orientation being used interchangeably in conversation they are not connected what so over. Gender is an individual's sense of self as opposed to your physical characteristic. Rothenberg states in Part 1 Gender as a process , Stratification and Structure that “ as a process, gender create the social differences that define “won and “man”. In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected…..thus simultaneously construct and maintain”. Which shows us that gender usually dictates an individual's behavior and appearance based on their biological sex.

3. How do rigid definitions of masculinity contribute to homophobia? -Rigid definitions of masculinity demand heterosexuality, and thus antigay slurs are a prime way that men degrade one another. In fact, homophobia affects men regardless of their sexual orientation, since it is used as both a put-down and a way to enforce strict adherence to hegemonic masculinity.

First, let’s start with the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. This community is amazing, and I’m glad that more and more people are accepting them today. Unfortunately, there are still individuals who stand for homophobia. A homophobe is a person with an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people. A man or woman, who likes their own gender, identifies as another or none at all can be a victim of homophobia. Homophobia tends to be more prevalent among men than women. In the minds of many people, gay men are inherently not masculine. That is of course, completely false. Sadly, society projects an image of what is acceptable to be if you are a man, gay not being one of them. In the eyes of many, males are not supposed to act feminine. Males aren’t allowed to do things like wear feminine clothing or makeup, or act feminine to say the least. Obviously, being a man is accepted and promoted in our society. Women who are more masculine or present themselves as men sometimes have an easier time than men who present themselves as women. That's because what is projected to society is that to be male is to be powerful and to be female is not. In my opinion, the stereotypes when it comes to gender roles are horrible. Men and women should be able to express themselves without the fear of getting judged or

Imagine being mocked for who you are and singled out on the way you act and dress—heterosexuals face that problem everyday seeing it broadcasted on shows and movies commonly seen in the genre of drama and comedy. Stereotypes on groups of people affect whether they are true or just a perception. The gay community is discriminated against and has to overcome stereotypes in the media, as seen in Modern Family, Glee, and Mean Girls showing how they are struggling to be represented accurately and positively. Before the 1960’s gay men weren’t shown in films, plays, shows, etc.

In any case, a few people don't feel that they fall into the gender binary and they question or test the male-manly and female-ladylike double. For instance, people that distinguish as transgender feel that their gender identity does not coordinate their natural sex. People that distinguish as gender queer challenge characterizations of manly and ladylike, and may recognize as some place other than male and female, in the middle of male and female, a mix of male and female, or a third or forward, or fifth continuing in sex inside and out. These personalities exhibit the smoothness of sexual orientation, which is so as often as possible thought to be organic and unchanging. Sexual orientation smoothness additionally demonstrates how sex standards are found out and either acknowledged or dismisses by the mingled

You’re not homosexual just because you dress nice. This development has helped men become more equal to women in the fashion-way. It’s still not 100% equal, but the society is on the right path.

Stereotypes are damaging ideas about how a group of people are supposed to behave and act. It dehumanizes them by lumping them into broad categories it takes away their traits that makes them unique and it does not define their personality and turns them into a form of objects. The idea that the male homosexual is directly linked to feminism is inaccurate. While there are some males who express themselves in behaviors that are considered to be feminine, there are others who do not. Gay men are displayed to seem interested in fashion, are meticulous, and are emotional but in reality not all men display these characteristics. This stereotype damages gay males in the extent that they are playing a role in which gay men are hiding their uniqueness as individual human beings because of the formation of these stereotypes.

A character in the movie is discussing a gay man with her friend. She states, “Call me old fashioned, I just like all the men I’m around to be all men.” The quote is following the misconception that all gay men are not masculine. It is possible for a gay man to still be masculine and enjoy things men enjoy. Gay men have historically played the role of the consummate sissy in the American popular mind because homosexuality is seen as an inversion of normal gender development (Kimmel, 2010, p. 216). Being seen as unmanly is a fear that leads men to go above and beyond to prove their manliness. Masculinity serves as a defense against humiliation by others. Manhood is equated with power over women and even other men. Fearing that men may be called homosexual and not manly, often they prey against women and gay men to make their power over them known. Men want to prove their masculinity so badly that they suppress vulnerable populations, women and gay men, to keep from ever being called a homosexual. Some men allow maintaining a manly front to take over their daily lives. He will make sure he is walking, talking, and acting a certain way to prove how manly he is. Steps forward in equality must be taken to relieve this gender

Masculinity in the modern age is changing, so much so that many men feel inadequate. A large amount of men are unable to understand what type of masculinity they fit into and what they want to fit into. In Gurmeet S. Kanwal’s article from “Psychology Today: The masculinity crisis, male malaise, and the challenge of becoming a good man” he says that, “the perception and image of heterosexual men in this country has never been as negative, de-idealized, and potentially harmful as it is now. And lots of men are feeling it.” Men are now feeling that they do not fit into or do not want to fit into popular masculinity. This is similar to the way American men were feeling about masculinity

“Men are more easily threatened by a gender-deviance manipulation than are women...homosexual men are not endowed with the generally higher status of their gender; on the contrary, they are vilified and victimized (Rudman & Glick, 175). The component of understanding and accepting one’s gender identity becomes a challenge when society has a pre-established norm and structure. As a result, many gay individuals had committed suicide to escape the mental torment and threat from society.

Some of the strengths of this study are the various areas of a participant's perspective that were evaluated including their implicit association between careers and both genders and their likeliness to sexual harass (Weber et. al. 108). The study also kept the sexual harassment vignette in the same pose and with the same facial expression regardless of how she was dressed, conservatively or provocatively, to ensure that no other body language was attributing to the participants attitudes (109). The study also addressed participants internal factors that could not be measured, these include personality factors attributing to perceptions of masculinity and femininity as well as possible gender role conflict within the study.

     The well-known concepts of masculinity and femininity run rampant in our society. We live in a world where men are told to be masculine, women are told to be feminine and those who do not do as they are told, will suffer the societal consequences.

Standards of masculinity vary from time to time, from culture to culture. However, masculinity always defines itself as superior and different from femininity. For example, gay men and househusbands exemplify "subordinate" masculinities in our culture. They are not considered to be "real