Gender Stereotypes of Relationships

1. Gender Stereotypes of Relationships Stereotypes have existed since time immemorial. Stereotypes are a type of discrimination based on race, sex, age, health status, sexual orientation among other differentials. Despite being an issue that is traceable to ancient times, stereotyping persists even today. For instance, sexual violence, rape, battering, and other forms of sexual harassment are common in almost all world societies. The fact that women are often the victims raises many questions regarding their rights. In a bid to address the injustices meted against women, measures such as adopting fair practice workplace policies, violence common policing, training and counseling programs have been adopted, yet the problem of stereotyping continues to affect many societies. Ever since the emergence of the electronic media such as televisions, the society has promoted the culture of stereotyping against women. According to essay professor reviews the following topic is rather important nowadays. Moreover, the way women are portrayed in adverts, films, books, politics, and other platforms are put into perspective to illuminate the issue of gender stereotypes across the world. In some quarters, it is suggested that gender stereotyping is ingrained into the society. In supporting this position when a surgeon is mentioned, people are more likely to expect a man to be the one being referred to. Mentioning an engineer is likely to elicit similar perceptions. Hence, it is clear that people hold beliefs and attitudes, which are passed down. Such stereotypes influence how individuals perceive the world around them. Another example is found in elementary education and modeling. Seeking views from observers would lead to a finding that elementary school teachers should be women. In the same way, engineers are expected to be men, whereas models are thought to be women. Based on this realization, it is safe to conclude that stereotypes are individual cognitions that do not necessarily correspond to the reality. Put differently, stereotyping reflects inaccurate representations of the world in peoples’ minds. Classifying or categorizing people plays a big role in the development of stereotyping. Thus, stereotypes emerge because some people categorize others as being in possession of some common attributes held by given/particular groups of people. However, gender stereotyping is reflective of a psychological process depicting ordered sets of notions/beliefs concerning men’s and women’s attributes. The awareness of gender stereotyping begins as early as at a pre-school. This misleading perception develops, and by the time, a child joins first grade, he/she is aware of what men and women should do. It should also be observed that parents play a major role in enhancing stereotyping since they are the primary socialization agents. Parents shape their children’s ideas, beliefs, behavior, and other commonly held perceptions that influence growth and development. From the time parents know a child’s sex, they begin envisioning his/her future. The parents feed children with the beliefs and every kind of perception they know, an

2. aspect that influences children in fundamental ways. The stereotyping is also reflected in the items (such as toys, presents) bought for children. Whereas boys are given vehicles, sports equipment, and building blocks, girls are offered dolls and household appliances. Tracing Stereotyping In order to understand gender stereotyping more, tracing its history through the 1920s, 1940s, 1960s, ad present is necessary. The paper reviews the periods in an ascending order. During the 1920s and1940s, the globe encountered two world wars. Whereas the First World War ended in 1918 and the Second World War ended in 1945, the two events bring out discrimination modeled along sex lines. It is noted that before the world wars women were restricted to household chores while men were free to venture out in search for opportunities. However, after the outbreak of the wars, women began experiencing some freedoms. For instance, women were allowed to work outside their homes. Women were required to work at concentration camps. This was a major turn of events in the lives of women, as supported by the views of Rupp. Nevertheless, discrimination based on sex was rife since those people who actually fought were men, as opposed to women. As a rule, women were not allowed to go to battle zones. 1940s The works of Jane Addams reflect the nature of discrimination that women underwent during the time. In her writings, Addams focused on world peace and health matters. In particular, Addams focused on children’s health. Women were tasked with taking care of community cleanliness. However, women were never allowed the right to vote. At the time, society viewed women as tools to attain its purposes, but not as worth contributors.Extending voting rights to women could have played a significant role in empowering the whole society since women had a capacity to make positive contributions. The decade beginning in 1960 experienced major transformations and bizarre developments. These included rebellion and backlash, idealism and alienation, and birth of flower children, as well as assassins. Walsh contends that the period was mixed in terms of social positives and negatives. When referring to backlash and rebellion, focus is on the events surrounding the response of women’s attempts to wrestle their freedom from the society. At the time, women increasingly realized their rights, while the society was hell-bent on denying them their rights. During the 1960s the world was experiencing a shift in the role of women across societies. It is noted that during the time more women were making inroads into paid employment. This development increased the dissatisfaction levels among women regarding their expected positions in the society. In particular, women were unhappy about being expected

3. to do equal work with men, but expecting lower pay. Moreover, women were curtailed in the extent to which they could advance in their careers. In extreme cases, women were suffering harassment at workplaces. It is also noted that at the time women were expected to continue playing wife and mother duties. Such issues complicated their work life, and it was not until the late 1960s that the US government approved the use of birth control that emancipated women from this form of slavery. As time passed, the Americans came to terms that things were never the same by embracing the idea of respecting women. In particular, the issue of unequal pay for the same work was addressed. Other issues such as reducing domestic violence, opening career progression opportunities, ending sexual harassment, and shared responsibility in child upbringing were changed. It is observed that it is during the 1960s that the gender stereotyping took a massive change. In the 1990s, stereotyping extended to books. Sexism was also displayed in picture books. Common sense suggests that gender stereotyping in books maters. Stereotyped depictions of the two sexes and the obvious under-representation of females influence societies greatly. In particular, such biases impact growing and development of children. The negative part is that stereotyping limits children in terms of career aspirations and expectations. In addition, the constructed stereotypes influence attitudes and future roles of children. Research concluded that gender bias in books contributed to undermining children’s development. The authors proposed the adoption of a non-sexist approach to teaching and mentoring children. Gender-typed attitudes strengthen the continuity of biases and hence need discouragement. It is noted that differences between the times are not clear although the levels of stereotyping seem to be declining. In the next step, focus shifts to the manner in which women have been portrayed in films, mass media, and other electronic channels. When being portrayed, the image of women assumes a cultural dimension, which seems to benefit the patriarchal society. It is notable that cultural ideas, norms, symbols, and values influence the creation of images about men and women in respect to role differentiation. Most societies such as the United States have not remained static since stereotyping has kept changing. Women and Advertising The issue of advertising portrays women in a bad light. Adverts focus on sex-based roles where women are predominantly used to show a close relationship between the consumer goods industry and advertising. In the adverts, women play a role of consumers. The adverts portray women as symbols of attraction. Hence, they are used in order to attract men who are known to consume many highly-priced products. The strengths of the portrayed women lie in their beauty and tenderness in age. Thus, sexuality emerges since advertisers exploit the sexual attraction such people are able to evoke. Further, the popular television media show women as people who

4. reside indoors with men presented as their favorite companions. Thus, the media have managed to domesticate the role of women as their image in advertising always depicts femininity. Media and Women Sex stereotyping also extends to the media. Sexual stereotypes in the media are more perilous than the explicitly obscene adverts carried in popular television channels Durham and Kellner. Women are portrayed as docile, sacrificial, superstitious, sentimental, submissive, and incapable of rational thinking. Hence, their work entails being companions, wives, and devoted mothers. Viewing the film industry, there is a misleading trend when women from certain communities such as the Indians are portrayed as traditional who are devoted to the reproduction duty. The mass media have considerable influence across societies. The mass media continue to employ stereotyping in order to achieve its intentions. Of note is that the mass media have a wide access in terms of coverage and audience. Moreover, it has wide power over many viewers or followers. It is also significant to observe that, in order to stay relevant in the industry, players create a channel that is universal, acceptable, and understandable to the big variety of audiences. Often, the use of stereotypes is intended to attain the said objective. Stereotypes often evoke certain shared memories, which mass media operatives exploit to great effect. Mass media influence people through shaping their opinion, beliefs, and attitudes. Thus, mass media play a big role in social life. Based on this finding, it is observed that the views of mass media consumers’ views are a reflection of the hegemonic ideologies. The mass media have established a male hegemony by institutionalizing their dominance over females. All over the world, mass media have supported the notion that men should be the heads in families, while advancing the negative notion that women should be housewives. It is significant to note, however, that the role difference is no longer much pronounced as it was in the past. Through message manipulation and distortion, mass media are capable of creating an image useful for enhancing a certain group’s interests. It is held that, in part, mass media have contributed to the creation of the notion that women are subordinates to men. The fact that men are in control of such institutions, it becomes harder to portray or encourage the depiction of the reality. The area of commercials brings out the state of current forms of gender stereotyping. Commercials are sex-specifics since they target either male or females. Often, commercials reflect the status of recipients. Apart from satisfying needs, current commercials also serve creation goals. Women are used in adverts as a way to exemplify the role of women in everyday life. Additionally, women are depicted as investments or products as they are presented

5. alongside domestic products and cosmetics. In most instances, women are portrayed operating in the home environment, while men are shown taking part in outdoor activities such as racing. The issue of face-ism phenomenon is also common in commercials. Complete women bodies are featured in averts, while those of men feature faces only. The first case of presentation does not invite viewers to concentrate on the intelligence of the person appearing in the advert, but the figure. In the case of facial features, people are more inclined to contemplating the intelligence of the persons appearing in adverts. Women were presented in a variety of ways in commercial adverts. The most popular version is that of portraying women as housewives who are obsessed with tablecloths and steam although they lack ideas about dinner. Another exemplification is that of traditional women, which is slightly less stereotypical. Others concentrate on depicting women as sex pets. In particular, adverts of cosmetics have a tendency of showing women as sex pets. When women approve male cosmetics, advertisers create an impression that it is of high quality. A negative effect concerning the beauty is that commercials portray a picture that slim women are the ones who are appealing. This is a misleading perception, which poses a danger to native people. This is held since such perceptions may put young women under pressure to reduce weight in order to become beautiful. It is worth noting that sex stereotyping does affect men too. Male stereotyping creates various types of males. For instance, there is a “real man” who is a professional, successful, seductive, and athletic man. This type of man owns a car, as well as a smartphone. The other type of man is less glamorous. In the latter category, there are men devoted to their families. It should also be noted that men are rarely presented in adverts focused on house cleaning. In case such happens, it captures a satirical situation. In practice, men are portrayed as experts who advise women. Such stereotypes can be misleading. Films portray women as reliant on men. Since women are supposed to keep house and family, it is the duty of men to bring food and invest on behalf of the family. This leaves women at a marginal point where they struggle to escape from the confines of stereotyping. Hence, in the views of Durham and Kellner, the portrayal of women as dependent people is an unwelcome idea, which compounds the problems that women face. Such a portrayal serves to reinforce negative opinions about women and ensure a continuity of the same state. Despite the negative portrayal of women, considerable advances had been made in redressing stereotypes. Unlike in the past when the society was highly patriarchal, hence difficult to find role overlap, in the present times a degree of confusion in roles can be seen since females now occupy various responsibilities hitherto unheard of. In the past, men were seen as the sole family providers. This allowed them to focus on their careers, be assertive and independent. On

6. the contrary, women were obliged to occupy lowly positions such as showing love and playing the role of a mother and a wife. In the current times, the family is seen as a partnership. Hence, women are allowed more rights. In particular, women have increased opportunities, as reflected in their rise in the labor market. Notably, the feminist environment has played a significant role in the change of fortunes among the female population. Particularly, the women’s liberation movement has made a major contribution towards reversing the adverse trend of patriarchy. In the views of the liberation movement, the society should be equal to an extent that it is not possible to differentiate between typical feminine and masculine roles or traits. The paper establishes that stereotypes have existed from early times. As a type of discrimination based on race, sex, age, health status, sexual orientation among other differentials, stereotyping is found as unwarranted since it sidelines some groups of people without any justification. Despite tracing the issue to the ancient times, stereotyping persists even in the current times. For example, sexual violence, rape, battering, and other forms of sexual harassment are directed against women in almost all world societies. In an effort to address such injustices directed against women, measures such as adopting fair practices at work places, violence policing and training, and counseling programs present a major shift in the manner in which the society is handling the issue. The paper establishes that stereotyping is propagated by a patriarchal society, which virtually dominates all spheres of life. This is evident as it dawns on observers that since the emergence of electronic media such as televisions, the society has promoted the culture of stereotyping against women. The way women have been depicted in films, commercial adverts, and other electronic media has not been inspiring. In light of the conclusion of the paper, it is clear that stereotyping has negative consequences. Put in other words, the society has a way of constraining the choices available to men and women based on cultural tyranny. Through the socialization process, males and females are forced to enter a behavioral mode, occupational roles, and personality characteristics that are deemed appropriate within societies. It appears that the society gives men an advantage, while restricting the extent to which women can advance. Consequences attributable to stereotyping vary from powerlessness among the discriminated group to limiting their abilities. The only positive thing about stereotyping identified in the paper is that the society is appreciating the need to do away with negative categorizations and associated forms of prejudice. Hence, it is hypothesized that eventually stereotyping would be overcome