Gender stereotypes and modernity

The construction of today’s society is encouraging a shift from the erstwhile “traditional roles” assigned to both male and female that entertained no “middle ground players”.

From the clichéd ‘the woman’s office is the kitchen’ to the baseless ‘hard work is for men’, there is now a deliberate crisscrossing of roles which has not only enhanced efficiency and boosted productivity, but has also given rise to useful competition which have ensured that only the best materials assume responsible roles without recourse to gender.

Socialization concerns itself with the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies, by providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society. In short, socialization is the process that prepares humans to function in social life.

A study by Oxfam conducted in 2011 on the effects of socialisation on gender discrimination and violence in Lebanon indicated that; “a good deal of role-gendering occurred during childhood. In particular, male adolescents were expected by their parents to be strong as adults, to be like their fathers, and to control and protect women; parents reinforce this gendering by being proud of boys if they are tough, strong, brave, and more of a ‘man’, and by being proud of girls if they are helpful in performing household chores, obedient, and beautiful. Boys were given priority and entitlement over their female siblings by being their providers and being made responsible for their security and honour”.

“The research findings also revealed that as an adult the typical man perceives his role to be the provider for the family, a decision maker, an authoritarian, a protector who is powerful and strong, and who punishes his family members when they make mistakes. Men are found to be pressured by their society to fulfil that role, and as a result they consider themselves to be victims. At the same time, however, most of them enjoy the power that this role provides”.

“Furthermore, the findings show that men consider the woman’s role in terms of being dedicated and devoted to her family: a role which, if fulfilled, will grant her the trust of her family and husband. Paid employment for women is perceived to jeopardise this role, threaten male supremacy, and challenge the control exercised by men. Men considered respect, obedience, and marital obligation as non-negotiable rights. Some men questioned their future role in the event of women becoming providers”.

“Many of the male respondents were raised in a violent environment and were commonly using violence as a way to express anger and resolve disputes. Most justifications given for the use of VAW (violence against women) related to women’s ‘bad’ behaviour, with no acknowledgement of men’s responsibility for the violence. Interestingly, many men, mostly married, felt proud and relieved after a violent outburst, perceiving themselves as having done the right thing”.

“In conclusion, the study indicated that gender roles are social constructs that are propagated by parents during childhood. However, both sexes suffer from its consequences. With women assuming more productive and income-generating roles, many men feel their supremacy to be threatened. Many even wondered about the role that they will be expected to play in the future. As a result, violence is likely to be perceived as a defence used by men to protect their vanishing role. A way to combat VAW would therefore be to break the gender role stereotypes and encourage individuals to assume the social roles that they themselves choose, regardless of their gender”.

The plethora of issues raised in this report may be country-specific but in practice, they are global. The default setting of society which makes the woman of a softer, less resourceful or less important in role, or worse still, less intelligent, has ensured that this needless gender-based segmentation of roles in the society remain perpetual.

“Children learn at a very early age what it means to be a boy or a girl in our society. Through a myriad of activities, opportunities, encouragements, discouragements, overt behaviours, covert suggestions, and various forms of guidance, children experience the process of gender role socialization. It is difficult for a child to grow to adulthood without experiencing some form of gender bias or stereotyping, whether it be the expectation that boys are better than girls at math or the idea that only females can nurture children. As children grow and develop, the gender stereotypes they are exposed to at home are reinforced by other elements in their environment and are thus perpetuated throughout childhood and on into adolescence” (Martin, Wood, & Little, 1990). Sons have a definite edge as far as parental preference for children is concerned. Most parents prefer male children to female children throughout the world (Steinbacher & Holmes in Basow, 1992, p. 129). Also, people who prefer sons are more likely to use technology for selecting the sex of their child (Steinbacher & Gilroy, 1990). This preference for male children is further emphasized by the finding that parents are more likely to continue having children if they have only girls than if they have only boys (Hoffman, 1977).

Parental attitudes towards their children have a strong impact on the child's developing sense of self and self-esteem, with parental warmth and support being key factors for the child (Richards, Gitelson, Petersen, & Hartig, 1991). Often, parents give subtle messages regarding gender and what is acceptable for each gender - messages that are internalized by the developing child (Arliss, 1991). Sex role stereotypes are well established in early childhood. Messages about what is appropriate based on gender are so strong that even when children are exposed to different attitudes and experiences, they will revert to stereotyped choices (Haslett, Geis, & Carter, 1992).

A UNESCO article on ‘Early Gender Socialization’ in 2007, also took a look at the disturbing stereotypical characterisation of gender in terms of roles and functions and how the family – the most significant factor in early childhood socialisation – contributes to this disturbing trend; “It is generally accepted that early gender socialization is one of the most pertinent issues in early childhood, affecting both boys and girls. The foundations for stereotypes in gender roles are laid through early gender socialization”.

“Early gender socialization starts at birth and it is a process of learning cultural roles according to one's sex. Right from the beginning, boys and girls are treated differently by the members of their own environment, and learn the differences between boys and girls, women and men. Parental and societal expectations from boys and girls, their selection of gender-specific toys, and/or giving gender based assignments seem to define a differentiating socialization process that can be termed as "gender socialization". There are numerous examples from varied parts of the world confirming that gender socialization is intertwined with the ethnic, cultural, and religious values of a given society. And gender socialization continues throughout the life cycle”.

Gender socialization is the process by which people learn to behave in a certain way, as dictated by societal beliefs, values, attitudes and examples. Gender socialization begins as early as when a woman becomes pregnant and people start making judgments about the value of males over females. These stereotypes are perpetuated by family members, teachers and others by having different expectations for males and females.

Children start facing norms that define “masculine” and “feminine” from an early age. Boys are told not to cry, not to fear, not to be forgiving and instead to be assertive, and strong. Girls on the other hand, are asked not to be demanding, to be forgiving and accommodating and “ladylike”. These gender roles and expectations have large scale ramifications.

In many parts of the world, girls face discrimination in the care they receive in terms of their access to nutritious foods and health care, leading them to believe that they deserve to be treated differently than boys. The degree of gender differences observed varies in all cultures in respect to infant, toddler and young child health, nutrition, care developmental activities, education, hygiene and protection.

In the light of all the above, it must be noted that it is now no longer what men or women can do, it is all about who is more qualified to do what. Merit, rather than gender, should be the overriding consideration is assigning roles to people because no scientific study had sufficiently concluded that men are more intelligent than women, or vice versa.