Gender stereotyping has been around for the longest time; and unfortunately even before the
birth of a child, they are already exposed to gender stereotyping. Have you ever heard of a
‘gender reveal’? Gender reveal is basically an ongoing trend whereby one reveals the gender of
their unborn baby, be it to a spouse, families or even friends. The expecting couples would
usually host a gathering afterwards with pink or blue themes for the gender reveal. Most
couples go along with the crowd without realizing the repercussions of such subtle acts, they
are oblivious to the consequences. The consequences of generalizing society based on gender
affects our health, discriminates and alters lifestyles.
Stereotyping affects both mental and physical health, making it harder to live a day to day life.
Stereotypes damages one’s self esteem. (Aguirre, n.d) When a female earns more than a male,
the males would regularly feel intimidated by their partner’s success. They begin to feel as if
they are inadequate,unworthy and less desirable towards their significant other. Psychologically
when victims dwell on negative thoughts it would lead to major mental issues such as
depression, anxiety, and stress. (Culp-ressler, 2014) They become unhappy with the biased
opinions,assumptions and expectations provided to them. More often than not, the victim's
lack emotional support system. Without proper encouragement the risk of having eating
disorders may increase. (Aguirre, n.d) This is due to the intense pressure on women to fit into
society’s unattainable standards. It is rather difficult to be healthy, living in such a toxic cultural
environment. People diagnosed with eating disorders have troubled relationship with food. (
Epstein & Ikeman 2014 ) They would neglect their own well-being by starving themselves. In
doing so without a proper diet, it leads to malnutrition and on rare unfortunate occasions
permanent organ damage. Besides being damaged internally, the victim's becomes increasingly
self conscious about their appearance. (No bullying 2015) They are no longer confident in the
way they look due to society definition of beauty, it makes them feel ashamed when they don't
look a certain way thus resulting to go for cosmetic procedures as a solution.
Bullying and objectification affects both genders. The term “boys will be boys” is frequently
used to justify their disputes. Men and women who defy gender norms are culturally
unacceptable in society. (Teensafe, 2015) Men are supposedly not allowed to cry, because it
shows signs of weakness. They are taught to suck it up and conceal their emotions. Similarly,
feminine males and masculine females are ridiculed for their unorthodox behavior. They are
consistently punished by name calling because of their differences. (Levitch & Gable, n.d) On a
virtual level, attackers will leave snarky comments and spread false rumors with the intention
of harming them. Additionally, men are misrepresented as perpetrators not victims. (Katt,
2010) Society is very skeptical when it comes to victims being of male gender. A gender that is
described as strong, responsible and independent could not possibly be a victim. On the other
hand, objectification is also another form of discrimination. Our generation is brainwashed by
the whole idea of beauty. (Youtube, 2014) This is due to advertising influence; advertisements
are commonly used as powerful medium for discrimination. Advertisements registers to one’s
mind very quickly and subconsciously by the cause of repetitive positioning in schools,
buildings, billboards and so on. It is believed that 8% of and ad message is received in a conscious mind, so it lingers as we process it subconsciously. Exaggerated features are commonly used in media nowadays. (Youtube, 2014) Viewers are surrounded with the “ideal” image even though they are anatomically impossible. They are blind to what happens behind the scenes and in the making of ads which includes the makeup and special effects used to lighten skin tone or exaggerate body parts. Furthermore, the use of dismembered bodies in ads has also become a regular practice. (Youtube, 2014) They are indirectly normalizing dangerous attitudes to please the opposite sex. Sometimes even children get objectified. Ads should not allow children to be sexualized but rather educate them about sex the proper way.
Stereotyping gives restrictions in lifestyles, even in early childhood. When restrictions are
presented, it limits the victims potential. (Girls Action Foundation, n.d) They feel the need to
strive and perform specific roles. This discourages self expression and promotes violence. (Girls
Action Foundation, n.d) Violence is not necessarily physical, the mere act of disliking one’s self
is already a subtle form of violence. It perpetuates the idea of not being sufficient ergo being a
big disadvantage for personal advancement. Identically, gender stereotyping affects the
workplace environment it contributes to workforce inequality. (No bullying, 2015) Male and
female are expected to pursue pathways or partake in jobs depending on their stereotypes.
Men are expected to work jobs that require manual labor whereas women are given lower
wages and lower positions. When women persist on doing a man’s job their employers feel
doubtful towards their capabilities and are often reluctant to agree, they are given secretary
jobs instead. Despite the workforce inequality, gender stereotyping also happens at home.
(Nielson, 2016) It is a belief that parenting is a woman’s job because of the constant
reinforcement but in reality parenting is a shared responsibility. Alternatively, children also are
exposed to gender stereotyping at a young age. (Bates,2015) Parents nurture their kids by
practicing gender roles, they pass on to their children their inherited assumptions. Not wanting
to be disrespectful, the facts told to children are normally not questioned. Likewise children
learn through observation from people they admire so when parents and teachers use
non-neutral gender labels such as firemen instead of firefighter, or flight stewardess instead of
flight attendant; jobs are indistinguishable by gender. Other than gender stereotyping jobs,
gendered toys has also been implemented in a children’s life. (Let Toys Be Toys, 2013) The
market normally divides toys to boys and girls sections but studies proved that a wide range of
toys is needed to develop different skills. If they are never offered a chance, they would not be
able to find out if they have a preference for certain toys or other styles of play hence only
having the mindset of gender rules as “this is for boys, that is for girls”. Correspondingly,
children come up with their own conclusions. (Levitch & Gable, n.d) As children, they are
usually curious but when their questions are unanswered, they would make their own incorrect
and possibly harmful conclusions. This is so because they believe their questions are
inappropriate or unimportant.
Ultimately, the consequences of generalizing society based on gender troubles our health,
creates discrimination between each other and alters lifestyles tremendously. Such effects can
be changed by not allowing stereotypes dictate how they act. With that said, everyone should
start accepting people the way they are.
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