Added: 11/09/2005 |
Gender Stereotyping ? Isn?t It About Time We Let Go Of Our IgnoranceSexuality is a word with many dimensions. Each of these huge and vast dimensions explains the way we perceive the word sexuality. Appearance and sexuality has often lead to the stereotypes about appearance. Often men have a tendency of stereotyping women in a sexual content. However women have also become as arrogant and perhaps playful as men in their sexual stereotyping of their male counterparts. The adverse effects of gender stereotyping are that we put people, who have a certain appearance, into a box. We then say that it is just what they are. And often the person who has fallen into this gender stereotyping is far from what the stereotyping suggest that they are or should be.
Gender stereotyping put plainly is ignorance. It is sad to think that many people still hold onto stereotypes as if they were the religious truth. Stereotyping women is often primitive and stupid. It is clear that many people still associate blonde hair and blue eyed women with stupidity. And in a more degrading sexual context, if the same women had big breasts she would automatically be labelled a porn star., without good reason except to say that they assumed that she was a porn star. Therefore given her a stereotypical label before you even know her. But it is clear that gender stereotypes are not going to change for a long time.
The reason is that even television and magazine ads keep these stereotypes alive. And since these medias are quite strong social influences, in the way we see the world and ourselves, people automatically accept these gender stereotypes. Often people aren't even aware that they are gender stereotyping, because they have known all these facts about certain features represent this and that. As being part of some socially accepted truth, even though we know that it is in a way wrong and unfair to label these people with these labels without knowing this person.
Gender stereotyping also extends into occupation, where even this modern, supposedly open-minded and technological society it still comes as a shock to hear about a male nurse. Perhaps it is due to the stereotypical fact that men are suppose to do mucho jobs and become big-shots of the world while women have to be care-givers gender stereotyping is indeed going to be a hard nut to crack. Letting go of what you have known all your life gets harder with age. It is like a bad habit that keeps coming back to haunt you and you know that you can fight it off but most of the time you will chose not to.
Gender stereotyping is also different from country to country and even continent to continent. Although there are still those stereotypes that apply universally. The difference in stereotypes is understandable, since in reality we are all different. Different skin colour, features, height and everything else that makes us different. This also opens up many different other types of stereotypes. That is why it is clear that so many people have just given in. They have let society put them in a box and they continue to live their lives as they choose.
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