Gender Stereotyping

Gender stereotyping can be seen through the ages. It is still held and though of as the basis of how individuals of different gender should behave in many places. Stereotyping is a generalization of a group of people in which certain characteristic are assigned to almost all members of the group regardless of the actually variation among the members. In this case characteristics are given to specific genders. For example male, are supposed to me strong, brave and tough while females are supposed to be kind, caring and gentle. A of the primary example of where these characteristics are inbuilt are in fairy tales. In these stories the female character is often portrayed as the weaker sex, in that they are shown unable to defend themselves and depend of a man to help them. The female characters are mostly portrayed as beautiful and kind whilst the males are portrayed as handsome and brave. These values that are often carried within an individual once it is inbuilt in them.

Although we currently live in the modern era where gender equality is claimed, many people in various places still hold on to this stereotype. For example in Singapore why aren’t women conscripted into taking the two year mandatory period of national service but only required for men. Gender stereotyping occurs not only in developed but less developed countries where by women are still expected to stay at home and look after men. This can be seen in the middle eastern countries where women are rarely seen going out of the house and are not allowed to go the mosques and attend prayers with their husbands but have to do so separately. The complexity of gender stereotyping is vast and is intertwined into our way of life be it one way or another thus making it hard to remove or put aside such a stereotype that has existed for the most of human existence.