Gender Stereotypes affect everyone; feminism isn't a "women's issue"
- Prisha
- Apr 7, 2021
- 5 min read
I've talked a lot about how women face discrimination or how gender stereotypes negatively affect them. I haven't said much about men, however. Gender stereotypes and norms harm everyone. It's important to understand how things affect all people, not just a certain group of people. Before we can do that, we must understand what a gender stereotype really is. Gender stereotypes are essentially characteristics that "should" be found in a certain gender. This leads to gender roles or norms, which follow the reasoning that people with certain traits are better for certain jobs.
I tried to research the history of gender norms, but there isn't much you can follow on that. The only thing that's clear to me is that they are largely reinforced by media in general.
The reason that gender stereotypes are, to put it crudely, messed up, is because the perception of gender differs from place to place and circumstance to circumstance, and they affect everyone more negatively than positively. They also refuse to acknowledge the fact that each individual is their own person, and you can't neatly shove them into boxes. If gender stereotypes are forced upon a girl, people might tell her that it's more important for her to look nice or pretty instead of focusing on her education or success. If they're forced upon a guy, he may not be able to be decent and express emotion without seeming "feminine." About that word, feminine. It's used in such a context that its associated with weakness, dependence, and neediness. This is another reason that gender stereotypes harm us all. Anyone who possesses traits such as emotional intelligence, empathy, and expresses their emotions in a healthy way may be considered "feminine." If that person is a guy, society will reject him for being "weak."
If gender stereotypes are so harmful, why do people conform to them? This is because society rejects people who are different from the version of themselves that it's made them out to be. Take being a feminist. For a man, if he's a feminist, he's weak and "girly." For a girl, she's loud, takes up space, and is "manly," which is unattractive. This is the reason that when gender stereotypes are forced upon someone, they change their behaviour to conform to the norm and reinforce it. Now that we understand gender stereotypes, we can talk about how they affect men and how we can prevent them. These are a few ways by which gender stereotypes harm men:
- Lack of emotional communication/ belittling of problems -- since according to traditional gender norms, men have to be "tough," when, they're not able to express their emotions in a healthy manner, and when they have actual problems, eg. depression, they may be told to "suck it up." In the workplace, men showing vulnerability in general is penalized; people consider those men to have a "lower status." This is harmful in general, but since this is work-specific, it can harm them when they need to find areas of improvement.
- Can transmit gender norms to children -- if a man is taught to submit to gender norms as a child, and even if he dislikes them, he can push them onto his children. If he's been led to believe that certain interests and behaviours are "manly" and he doesn't want his children to be belittled, he could push those onto him. Alternatively, if the child isn't a boy, he might discourage the child from pursuing the same activities.
- Men who are nice or agreeable at work make about 18% less money than more "masculine" men -- people also consider them less competent, and less likely to have management potential. Following this track, men who show sadness or cry at work are perceived as less deserving of that emotion. They're also seen as weaker and more emotional than women who cry. Additionally, men who display modesty are also seen in the same way.
- Displaying empathy as a leader is important. But it benefits women more than men -- at work, when women leaders show empathy, they're at less of a risk of career derailment, while showing the same empathy affects male leaders in no beneficial way.
- Men tend to receive jail sentences that are up to 63% longer than a woman who committed the same crime. Women are also twice as likely to avoid incarceration when convicted -- this is perhaps largely due to the feminine stereotype being that women are kinder and generally more "good."
- In almost 90% of custody battles, women win -- This is again due to the stereotype that women are more nurturing and are better suited to take care of children. Family courts are generally biased against men, because the masculine stereotype is "harsh, abusive."
These are a few of the many ways that gender stereotypes can affect men negatively. I feel like this doesn't get talked about often enough, and its necessary to talk about how a problem affects all sides.
More importantly, however, what is noticeable in all of these is that when women are made out to be weaker and less competent, it affects men very negatively as well.
So how can we counter these? Here are a few ways you can use your voice and counter stereotypes
Stay true to yourself, and do things that you want to do, regardless of whether it "agrees" with your gender norm. If you're a guy and you like wearing makeup or nail paint, do it! Don't let the stereotypes get in the way of your self expression. Similarly, if you're a girl who wants to play football, go ahead!
It's okay if you also do follow the stereotypes, you shouldn't change your behaviour specifically to counter these. But don't feel pressured to follow the negative things that come with that norm. If you're a girl and you like wearing dresses and cooking, you shouldn't stop that. Similarly, if you're a guy and you like playing soccer, don't stop. But the problem occurs when the girl is told that its her job to cook and the guy is told that he can't cry if he breaks his arm.
Speak up. If you notice gender stereotypes being reinforced by your peers, media, or any adults in your life, speak up! Don't stay silent, counter them. It's everyone's job to fight for equality.
Encourage others to express themselves. If you notice anyone who seems like they're forcing gender norms onto themselves, or others are forcing them onto the person, encourage them to act how they want, regardless of that.
Remember, use your voice, and inform yourself!
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This article is so on point. Issues like these aren't stressed enough in today's society.