Soapbox Essay: Sexist Stereotypes
By saying women are the weaker gender, one assumes men are stronger. By saying men are the unaffectionate, one can assume that women are more nurturing. But we’ve all seen that these things are hardly ever true, not all guys fit this perfect macho image, the same way not all women are weak.
We live in a society in which we constantly hear derogatory & simply childish terms said to both genders because they don’t fit exactly into the gender role that society has created for them. How many times have you heard, “You’re such a girl!” when showing any signs of weakness or fear? How many times have you heard, “Only boys do that!” when not fulfilling the feminine gender role? We’ve come a long way since women weren’t allowed to vote & it was normal for men not to be there for their spouses childbirth, but does that mean we’ve rid ourselves of these stereotypes? Of course not!
By having these stereotypes, we are holding ourselves back as a society. In order to rid ourselves of these sexist stereotypes, we need to start by changing ourselves as individuals, getting out of this mindset that someone will act a certain way based solely on their gender. Before judging someone based on their gender, consider the situation & think before you say something that could impact them negatively. Why can’t a girl dress the same as a guy? Why can’t a guy be feminine? Are these things really bad? Will they affect you personally? Once we can accept every individual as an equal, we can grow as a society without sexist stereotypes holding anyone back.
We live in a society in which we constantly hear derogatory & simply childish terms said to both genders because they don’t fit exactly into the gender role that society has created for them. How many times have you heard, “You’re such a girl!” when showing any signs of weakness or fear? How many times have you heard, “Only boys do that!” when not fulfilling the feminine gender role? We’ve come a long way since women weren’t allowed to vote & it was normal for men not to be there for their spouses childbirth, but does that mean we’ve rid ourselves of these stereotypes? Of course not!
By having these stereotypes, we are holding ourselves back as a society. In order to rid ourselves of these sexist stereotypes, we need to start by changing ourselves as individuals, getting out of this mindset that someone will act a certain way based solely on their gender. Before judging someone based on their gender, consider the situation & think before you say something that could impact them negatively. Why can’t a girl dress the same as a guy? Why can’t a guy be feminine? Are these things really bad? Will they affect you personally? Once we can accept every individual as an equal, we can grow as a society without sexist stereotypes holding anyone back.