Stereotypes

Gender stereotyping is defined as an overgeneralization of characteristics, differences and attributes of a certain group based on their gender.

According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, gender stereotyping can limit the development of the natural talents and abilities of girls and boys, women and men, as well as their educational and professional experiences and life opportunities in general.

Stereotypes about women both result from, and are the cause of, deeply engrained attitudes, values, norms and prejudices against women. They are used to justify and maintain the historical relations of power of men over women as well as sexist attitudes that hold back the advancement of women.

Access to quality education

Gender stereotypes serve as an obstacle to high-quality education for girls. Stereotypes of the position of women as restricted to the domestic and family sphere, for instance, underpin all barriers to fair access for girls to quality education. In order to assume domestic and care duties, girls are often socialized, believing that they would be economically dependent on men. The stereotype of men as breadwinners contributes to boys' education being prioritized. For boys and girls, assumptions also determine distinct requirements, such as completion of education and areas of study to undertake.

In school curriculums and materials, inequalities are often perpetuated, often contributing to occupational gender discrimination, with girls less likely to study and pursue careers in highly regarded technical and generally male-dominated fields such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics as the United Nations acknowledged.

It is a fact that gender roles and stereotyping also affects the young ones. In a survey done by the Childhood Report, founded out that it is a topic related to happiness as it can really affect. They asked the children the different type of attributes that they felt their peers would claim were the most important for boys and girls. For both genders 'being good looking' had a big impact followed by 'being caring', for the girls and 'being funny' for the guys. In addition, 1 in 8 of the children interviewed said that 'being though' is important in boys. This can create problems such as having lowest well-being across the group. Same for ‘having good clothes’ for girls, as it can cause problems in the future.

This is not an issue that happens only to children but also to teenagers and adults, as we will see later on.95% of young people say they have heard jokes or comments being made about other people’s bodies or looks.

"I feel judged all the time based on what I wear. It’s like girls are expected to fulfil certain ridiculous expectations.”

Secondary school girl

As the Children's society mentioned, it’s clear that gender roles and stereotypes are engrained in children’s lives from a young age, but it’s also clear that young people are forced to fit in with society’s expectations of them. Thanks to this expectations we can hear comments like "Women should stay at home, they shouldn’t go to school or work" as we found out in our survey, or "Stereotypes like men HAVE to work and women HAVE to do the household" with the obligation of have to, are other answers we found out in the survey, that justifies how the things and comments we heard from little, affect in the future. Toys are key as well, as we will see later on.

"I was in a Supermarket where a man told me I was not allowed to be there as 'I needed to be at home with the kids'. I didn't even have kids. I was 16 at that time. This is one time that I really remembered as I was very shocked and frustrated".

Response from our Gender Equality Survey

Media

As we can see above, toys are another example of stereotypes. We can see that the color pink is associated with the girls and blue with the boys. In addition, cars, science, or numbers are synonym of 'for boys' and cleaning, cooking and dolls a synonym 'for girls'.

"I was once told that women should stay at home, they shouldn’t go to school or work"

Response from our Gender Equality Survey

Specialist Elizabeth Sweet examined toy inventories and promotions after some time and found that toys are in reality more gender divided than they were 50 years ago.

The gender studies professor at Monmouth University and co-author Lisa Dinella, adds that how children play is more important than what they play with, as no toy essentially 'good' or 'evil'. She justifies it with the example of a gun, by saying that "You can be really, aggressive, or you can just be shooting targets.". Same goes for a princess game, as it could be all about being pretty, or it could have a worldly plot.

Banning toys would not be the perfect solution but rather talking with the children or letting them to have an opinion. Playing with them can be another solution as you can provide them more ideas and thoughts that they might not have encounter before.

Rebecca Hains, a professor at Salem State University in Massachusetts, has written a book about it: The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls Through The Princess-Obsessed Years. Where she underlines how

Disney characters were more diverse before. She puts the example of Cinderella, Pinocchio and Bambi.

In 1989's, when The Little Mermaid made a splash, she says, "Disney realized profitability in girls.". Enter the juggernaut Disney Princess brand. Including, in the hope of selling more sets, advertisers are now detonating even gender-neutral toys like blocks in both predominant and pastel shades.

Present stereotypes

Early Years

• Girls should play with dolls and boys should play with trucks

• Boys should be directed to like blue and green; girls toward red and pink

During Youth

• Boys should not wear dresses or other clothes typically associated with "girl's clothes"

• Girls are better at reading and boys are better at math

• Girls should be well behaved; boys are expected to act out

• Girls and are not as interested as boys in STEM subjects;

• Boys should engage in sports and refrain from more creative pursuits;

• Boys and men are expected to use violence and aggression to prove their manliness;

• A boy that doesn't use violence or aggression is an understandable target for bullying;

• Girls should be thin and beautiful to make them appealing to men;

As Adults

• Victims of intimate partner violence are weak because they stay in the relationship

• There is something wrong with a woman who doesn’t want children

• Assertive women are unfeminine and are "bossy," "bitches” or “whores”

• Women are natural nurturers; men are natural leaders

• Women don’t need equal pay because they are supported by their husbands

• Women who appear less feminine or reject advances from men are lesbians

• Women with children are less devoted to their jobs

• Men who spend time with family are less masculine and poor breadwinners

• In heterosexual couples, women should take time off to care for children or elders

• Men who are not aggressive and/or assertive are unmanly and likely gay

• Same-sex couples cannot make good parents

• A transgender or gender non-confirming person is profoundly wrong

• Women are too emotional to undertake certain kinds of work, especially while pregnant

• Men are too impersonal and not emotionally apt to take on tasks "better done by women"

• Women are less confident than men in certain subjects, like math

Gender stereotyping can occur from the toys, films, magazines, books, adds, school, to our daily life.