Stereotypes Of Women Essay

Do you ever wonder why teenage girls have low self-confidence and are never satisfied with what they have? As young children, girls are indirectly taught what people think perfection looks like. Barbie portrays that exact image and life. Beginning at a young age girls are influenced by this doll, what they should look like, and what their life should be like. Young girls strive to achieve Barbie’s look which is life threatening to obtain.

Young girls have been playing with Barbie dolls since the dolls inception at the American International Toy Fair in New York. Recently, researchers have been skeptical on whether the dolls have an effect on the self-image of girls who play with them. In order to determine if Barbies have an impact on young-girls self-concept, clinicians have carried out several studies where they monitor the interaction between the young girls and the famous figurine. From these experiments, scientists concluded that Barbies can have a bearing on a girls self-image, making the consumers who buy the doll more aware of the issue Barbie

What was that one doll every little girl just had to have growing up? What doll made little girls obsess with perfection? What doll set the unrealistic standards for girls starting at ages three or four? Barbie is a children’s toy that was first introduced to the market in 1959. Barbie was the perfect role model for all girls. She was perfectly skinny, had a perfect boyfriend and family, perfect hair, perfect house, perfect everything, but her existence is completely ironic. Although Mattel, creator of Barbie, attempts to make Barbie absolute perfection, all her imperfect buyers are wondering why they cannot look like the beautiful doll. She is responsible for the diminishing young girls’ self-confidence. Lisa Belkin believes girls in today’s society cannot comprehend what true beauty is because they were so entranced with the idea of Barbie in her online article “Banning Barbie.” Barbie should be pulled off the shelves immediately. Barbie’s looks, actions, and lust for materialistic objects are the blame for the degeneration of assurance in young girls and women.

Young Girls look up to many people as role models, one role model that plays an immense part in their lives is Barbie. Barbie is defined as being pretty, beautiful, and even perfect. But is she really that wonderful as she seems? Her body shape is completely inaccurate representation of the female body and people get easily influenced by these unrealistic standards. If no one steps up to help young girls realize that Barbie is not perfect then they will have dissatisfaction with themselves forever. Body dissatisfaction is becoming more and more popular and one reason is that Barbie presents an unrealistic body image that affects young girls and their idea of a perfect life.

Barbie has become a pillar of the children’s toy market since her inception. Forbes reports, “Ninety percent of American girls ages three to ten own at least one Barbie, according to the doll’s maker, Mattel톖.” The doll has an impactful reach on kids today through both the dolls and other products that have been inspired by or created to accompany Barbie. This exposure, which has been proven to damage the self-esteem of women (American Psychological Association 1), impacts the development of kid’s views of themselves and other people. Comparing real women to these images causes these girls to have negative views of themselves as they grow older and judge other women harshly. It also causes boys to hold girls to an unreasonable standard of their appearances, which further damages the girl’s self worth when they don’t meet these standards (ScienceDaily 1). Consequently, the

Since the beginning of time, gender has played a big role in how one acts and how one is looked upon in society. From a young age children are taught to be either feminine or masculine. Why is it that gender plays a big role in the characteristics that one beholds? For centuries in many countries it has been installed in individual’s heads that they have to live by certain stereotypes. Women have been taught to be feeble to men and depend on them for social and economical happiness. While men have been taught to be mucho characters that have take care of their homes and be the superior individual to a woman. For the individuals who dare to be different and choose to form their own identity whether man or woman, they are out casted and

It’s no question that women have been put under very specific stereotypes, specifically since the 1800s, women are to “stay home to take care of their children and perform household chores, while the men were the bread earners” which, over the next century, would turn out to be a hard stereotype to break (“The Evolution of Women in the Workforce”). After the Civil War, African American women had to provide for themselves and loved ones, post freedom of slavery, which would result in the joining of the workforce. Married white middle class women would soon join but it wouldn’t come to make a huge impact up until World War II: 1939, where it became vital for women to start working. The Draft of World War II was issued on September 16th, 1940 for men to leave their jobs behind, as well as their families and go on to fight for America’s freedom (The National WWII Museum). After a drastic decrease in the workforce the government then saw an opportunity for the use of women to help with the shortage of supplies and resources used during the war. Propaganda posters would come into play to encourage women to get up and join the working forces, such as Rosie the Riveter. Rosie the Riveter displays a

Nurses, counselors, teachers, wedding planners, interior decorators, and pediatricians are just some of the important positions women hold in the workforce, however, there has been a lack of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related careers. Women tend to be drawn more towards careers dealing with secretarial work, health care and retail instead of engineering, chemistry, and technology. One of the biggest reason women do not enter these fields is due to cultural stereotypes. Another is due to the multitude of positions available to women that are not STEM related. Finally, women tend to look for jobs that are more flexible, hands on, financially rewarding and socially welcoming.

The stereotype of women has been harming female careers in fields of researching, commerce and politics.

Sports magazines across the world are known for featuring buff, strong and sexy male athletes on their covers, where they’re usually wearing their uniform, looking heroic, muscular and powerful. Women also occasionally grace the sporting magazine covers, wearing scantily clad bikinis, pouting and looking beautiful with immaculate hair and make-up. The women are often models, sometimes pictured with male athletes, but nearly always are depicted in sexually objectifying ways. This brings attention to the body type and attractiveness, rather than the qualities that define them as an athlete. Objectification is used in this context to describe forms of marketing, promotion or attempts to gain media coverage which focuses on attention on the sexual

Images are all around us, and while some are helpful many can destroy the image that is our existence. These negative images are projected at us through media, and the media is all around us, making it at the very least difficult if not impossible to ignore them. A great analysis of the effect of these negative images on young women is a film titled Beyond Killing Us Softly. The third in a series of films on the advertising industry, body image, and women, Beyond Killing Us Softly is a 30-minute documentary that explores the question of how adolescent girls interpret the confusing, conflicting, and sexist messages they get from the media. Featuring feminist activists and scholars including Carol Gilligan, Amy Richards, Gloria Steinem, and

Since its inception at the American International Toy Fair in New York, the Barbie doll has drastically altered the doll market. With the abundant amount of Barbie dolls on Earth, it is clear that they have also affected society and individuals’ body images. The mental image of one’s body can greatly influence the actions and habits of a person, and with most young girls surrounding themselves with the flawless doll, they are subconsciously comparing their own body to Barbie. The change in body image that young girls experience while playing with Barbie has left many experts skeptical that a doll like Barbie should exist. I agree with the skeptics when they state that playing with Barbie’s negatively affects young girls, and fully support a ban of the famous figurine.

Everyday we expose ourselves to thousands of advertisements in a wide variety of environments where ever we go; yet, we fail to realize the influence of the implications being sold to us on these advertisements, particularly about women. Advertisements don’t just sell products; they sell this notion that women are less of humans and more of objects, particularly in the sexual sense. It is important to understand that the advertising worlds’ constant sexual objectification of women has led to a change in sexual pathology in our society, by creating a culture that strives to be the unobtainable image of beauty we see on the cover of magazines. Even more specifically it is important to study the multiple influences that advertisements have

"For most of history, anonymous was a woman", quotes Virginia Woolf. (1) Throughout history, women’s lives were restricted to domesticity and family, and they were left oppressed and without political voice. Over the decades the roles of women have dramatically changed from chattels belonging to their husbands to gaining independence. Women became famous activists, thinkers, writers, and artists, like Frida Kahlo who was an important figure for women’s independence. The price women paid in their fight for equality was to die or be imprisoned along with men, and they were largely forgotten in written history. However, the roles they took on were wide-ranging which included working in factories, tending the troops, taking care of children

Bette Davis says, “When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch.” There are so many stereotypes when it comes to women. Women are supposed to be behind the superior male. Women are supposed to be ladylike and gentle. The crazy thing is that when a woman goes outside of that typical stereotype; it is considered wrong and unjust. Men have stereotypes as well. They are meant to be macho and have the upper hand. They have to smell and act like the guys in the Old Spice commercials. But as it seems, we all have a certain role to attend to. According to Michael Kimmel, “gender refers to cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity – the meanings of maleness or femaleness” (Kimmel,