Gender Stereotypes

Men expected their wives to return home and go back to cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children, but to their surprise many women were not returning home without a fight is still continuing. Even today, women are viewed as the ones who do the housework. This sends the wrong message to young women that their only talent is to raise a family and work all day in the house. Society does a wonderful job of making women feel like they are not good enough, or that they are only needed for cooking and sex, and Swiffer’s sexist ads continue to contribute to that shallow way of thinking. Yet, in reality, there are plenty of men out there who enjoy cooking and cleaning.

Gender roles are defined as the “widely accepted societal expectations about how males and females should behave” (Rathus, 2010).

Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Sexual stereotypes are deeply imbedded into today’s society. Ideals of the gender roles are passed down from generation to generation, creating a gap between what is socially acceptable for a woman to do and what is expected of a man. One thousand years ago humans chose dominance by physical capability, simply because it was essential for our survival, but the world has evolved. One thousand years ago physical strength was the most important part of survival for human beings. Men in general are physically stronger therefore it made sense to have a man lead. The world humans live in has evolved and is no longer run by the physically entailed, but by the most intelligent or creative(Adichie). Though this world has evolved, the gender expectations and stereotypes have stayed the same. Sexual stereotypes in America limit men and women to abide with,by the expectations of masculinity and feminism, create a sense of shame for women, and create a gap in today’s job industry.

Why do men feel it’s necessary not to help their spouses when it comes to doing household chores? Many american women feel most of the dirty work falls onto their plates when it comes to cleaning. A women by the name of, Jessica Grose, wrote “Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier,”published in March of 2013 in the New Republic, argues that although men are credited for some chores, like child care taking and cooking, household tasks still fall unduly on women. This article is aimed towards women who feel underappreciated, disrespected, and feel as if they are being treated unfairly when it comes to chores around the house. Grose starts off this article by constructing her credibility by sharing personal experiences and prominent sources, citing plausible facts and statistics, and implying emotional appeals, however, near the end of her article, she appeals to the audience's emotional and empathy appeals which weakens her credibility and unfortunately, her argument.

To start with, seeing how society identifies with a black man society sees him as violent and vicious, even the music they listen to has violent lyrics, they are also labeled in the worse way, because society don’t understand black men and are too afraid to converse with them, even in the media, African Americans males get a bad report especially in a drug or violent stories, Now, looking at the Caucasians, some view black men as uneducated, ill-mannered drug dealers, beneath them, and a threat to their livelihood, they are even afraid that they may hurt them in some way. As like in other races Caucasians fear that Black men will rob, or even kill them. Surprisingly, blacks, especially the older blacks perceive some black men as violent, drug dealers, gang bangers, they listen to loud obscene rap music, the clothes they wear, and jealousy among other blacks.

Living in 21st century United States, being a much more liberal and inclusive environment than prior decades, gender “roles” and their normalities are being severely questioned and challenged. Americans have defined and established gender stereotypes that have become a critical part of how we look at gender roles and create biases about each gender. Stereotypes assume people who 'belong ' to a group will appear, behave, look, speak or sound like others from that group. The values, norms, practices, behaviors and traditions associated with the group are shared by all members of the group. For example, gay men are promiscuous, women are maternal and men don 't show emotions. Stereotypes are often dismissive, negative, and they are sometimes

Black men struggle with the notion and social construct of masculinity immensely. The idea that we must always be strong truly is hindering our growth. Morehouse College alumnus Matthew Jones in his article Defining Black Masculinity defines Black masculinity, “Black masculinity is defined in three overarching categories: perception, expectation, and representation. All three of these categories are intertwined together to create an extended definition of Black masculinity. This type of masculinity is extremely different from any other race’s definition of masculinity because there is a negative connotation attached to Black men.” Parents need to change their approach with how the raise you black boys, allow a child to be a child; getting in

Women are the caretakers, the nurturers, and the one’s that make a house a home. It has been that way

Long gone are the days when women were expected to stay at home and play “housewife”, cooking, cleaning, and making sure the kids got off to school, while their husbands worked a 9 to 5 in order to make ends meet. Today, women are no longer viewed as weak and incapable. A “superwoman” is the new woman. Men as the “breadwinners” have been replaced by “Ms. Independent.” The traditional male role has diminished as women fulfill bigger roles in society and exceed the expectations of their male counterparts in the household, workforce, and within social settings. We have abandoned old rules; no longer is it a “man’s world,” we now live in a shared world.

Throughout history, humans have always been expected to act a certain way depending on their sex. These societal expectations are called gender roles. (Rathus, 2010, p.447). These roles begin to develop even before a child is even out of the womb. A mother may decorate their nursery pink if they are having a daughter because “girls like pink,” and “boys like blue.” Gender roles should not be confused with gender stereotypes. A gender stereotype is a narrow way of thinking about how men and woman are obligated to behave. For example, men have always been considered to be the breadwinners of the family. Females, on the other hand, are seen more as the gentle homemakers that stay home to clean and take care of the children. (Rathus, 2010, p.447). These types of stereotypes have caused certain out-of-the-home jobs to be mainly categorized for either women or men, causing an even more distinct line between the genders.

During school years, I wasn't like "other girls". No I'm not going to tell you about how I was different or I fell in love with the popular kid and he didn't even know I existed. I was just the girl who never got into the phase of make up. I was never dressed up in cute dresses, or was remotely interested in "girly toys" (other than Polly Pockets, I mean who didn't love those adorable mini rubber barbies?!). I woke up five minutes before the bus would come to my stop, throw on my sweatshirt and take my hair out of my braid and run. I never worried about getting up an hour early to make sure I had my make up on point (not that there is anything wrong with that at all, it's just not what I did). I was always told by the girls I went to school with about how lucky I was to not have to wake up early to get ready for school. I always thought that was kind of weird though since they were all cute enough to do the same thing I did. I didn't think they needed to go through the trouble.

Women stereotypes have kept women from being successful in male dominated jobs. With women being housewives and care givers they do not fit the role of being a laborer. Gaining education and joining male dominated jobs have changed the trend of being house wives and care givers. Single mothers can have been working and being a care giver for many years now. Many skills that women have exceled at such as multitasking has helped women become successful in many fields of work. Regardless of the efforts women make to succeed in male dominated jobs they are passed up by other men for higher level jobs. With women starting to have interests in mathematics, mechanics, and other male dominated jobs they must conform into male dominated jobs. When women

Television, and media in general, has told girls that they are supposed to be the stay at home mom who relies on their husband. The men are told they should be the providers and protectors. This stereotype is demonstrated time

In well-known fairy tales the males and females characters are often portrayed in the same light. The male characters are often described as the hero with strong masculine traits while the female characters are portrayed as the damsel in distress. Throughout the years fairytales have been casting the same stereotypes for their characters. In the story Beauty and the Beast the author de beaumont depiction of what an ideal woman is lays in Beauty. She is meant to embody the role of a feminine, humble caretaker, lover, and savior. The author depicts males as provider’s, however, it is clear that the men in the story are dependent on a positive female figure for life. Beauty’s disappearance threatens both her father and beast with death, symbolizing

How women are perceived by others, and how women perceive themselves, impacts their leadership roles in the work place. Stereotypes and gender biases are themes women have been dealing with for centuries. How women are perceived by social medial and television have been influencing how they are treated by men, and how they view themselves when it comes to taking a leadership role in their organization. According to Omega Institute (2012), “The rapidly shifting landscape of new media and technology, including reality television and celebrity culture, continue to reinforce gender stereotypes” (p. 1). This leads to men still growing up viewing women as home makers versus bread winner. With more women entering leadership roles in the work place they lack the respect from men due to how these men have grown up to know the typical role of a man and woman. Men tend to feel belittled due to the gender stereotypes seen on television, and this leads to women struggling to succeed as a leader with the lack of support from their male counterparts. Lack of confidence with women in the workplace is also influenced and effected by how women are perceived in social media and television. According to Steele (2005), “Exposure to stereotypic commercials persuade women to avoid leadership roles” (p. 276). As young women grow up seeing the typical gender stereotypes they lack ambitions to break the mold and