Gender stereotypes

 

"People share a common nature but are trained under gender roles"

A gender stereotype "is a generalised view or preconception about attributes, or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are or should be performed by men and women.

Gender stereotyping can limit the development of the natural talents and abilities of girls and boys, women and men, as well as their educational and professional experiences and life opportunities in general. Stereotypes about women both result from, and are the cause of, deeply engrained attitudes, values, norms and prejudices against women. They are used to justify and maintain the historical relations of power of men over women as well as sexist attitudes that hold back the advancement of women.

According to the article entitled 'Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children's interests' published in the journal Science in 2017, girls begin to feel less intelligent than boys from the age of six. "Neither boys nor girls are born sexist, there is something that we as a society do to them to make them reach that point," says Miriam Gonzalez, founder of Inspiring Girls in Spain. The subject, therefore, has an enormous socio-cultural background; one which, for example, associates certain activities, clothing and hobbies with men and others with women. UNESCO warns that women are under-represented in STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics): only 29% of researchers worldwide are women.

#Daily examples related to gender stereotypes

• If we are in a gym class at school, in which we have to play football, and a boy has to choose between another boy or a girl to be part of their team, the kid will choose the boy without even thinking (he probably isn't doing it with any bad intentions), but the problem is that this action is normalized, the boy reacts like that and choose the boy because he had heard or seen someone doing the same, so he thinks that the boy will play better than the girl, but she could also be a good player.

• If we are in a dinner with friends and family, once the meal is over, automatically and without even thinking in most of the cases the men will stay in the table talking, and without asking the women will start to pick up the dishes and wash them. I try to understand why this happens but sincerely I don't find any answer, because I don't find any sense in the idea that a women have to wash the dishes and a man no, if actually the man can without problem take care of that too, because there's nothing that privates them of doing that.

These examples and many situations more are daily actions caused by gender stereotypes, and this comes from the idea that society has for women and how they must behave.

#Impact

• Researchers believe gender stereotypes hold women back in the workplace.

• This weak self-confidence may hold some women back as they count themselves out of pursuing prestigious roles in professions they believe they won’t excel in, despite having the skills to succeed.

• Women are less confident than men in certain subjects, like math.

• Women discount positive feedback about their abilities.

• Women hold back on expressing ideas on ‘male topics’

THE SOLUTION LIES IN EDUCATION

• The seed of stereotypes is sown in education, and education is where the solution lies. Therefore, as UNESCO states in its Global Education Monitoring Report, the support of governments is crucial. 

• For example, curricula, textbooks and teacher training programmes should be periodically reviewed to ensure that gender stereotypes are not perpetuated and apprenticeship programmes, tutorials, networks or scholarships should be considered to promote and encourage the incorporation of women into STEM fields.

• Within schools, the role of teachers becomes essential when it comes to providing quality, gender-neutral education that promotes students' welfare and respect for professional standards.

•  Lina Gálvez, director of the Master's Degree in Gender and Equality at Pablo de Olavide University in Seville and research expert in gender equality, gives some advice for teachers on how to act against inequality inside and outside the classroom.

"To make a change, we need to pay attention to the way we behave and think about the actions we could change or correct.

The change depends on everyone; say NO to gender stereotypes."