Gender EQUALITY
Hello my fellow "bright-eyed" bloggers,
To start off we need to know what Gender equality even is. Gender equality means when a state where no opportunities or resources are held back from people based on their gender. Gender equality is what should've been the bases of humanities future, rather than gender stereotypes.
Boys don't cry. Girls are delicate. Men are stronger. Women are too emotional. These are many of the gender-based stereotypes that prevent humanity to reach the equality between genders. These stereotypes have later lead to women being accepted into fewer jobs because of attributes that don't necessarily apply to them. These stereotypes are like small matches that can easily cause wildfires.
The society has changed over the course of the last few years with feminists trying to debunk some of these gender stereotypes. Considering that a group of people have the goal to bring an equilibrium between the gender rights, do you consider yourself a feminist at any level?
When I was researching about these gender stereotypes that are forced upon the genders I discovered that they don't just affect women but also men. Gender stereotypes are just socially constructed ideology created by males or females and by continuously reinforcing this over time in order for one gender to gain superiority over the other gender.
Furthermore, there is also an ideology created by the society which makes it seem as though men or women have to be a certain way in order to uphold basic societal needs, and are downgraded if these standards are not met. This can be removed if we all come together to fight these stereotypes and create equality.
Which leads me to some questions I have:
- What was the last time you did something to defy social norms?
- Do you think stereotypes have affected the humanity? If yes how so?
- Have ever dealt with gender stereotypes personally?
- Do you think gender stereotypes can ever be rid of? And what can you do to achieve that?
- Finally, what would your life be like if these stereotypes were to be reversed?
I want to leave you with this thought I have, if women earned for the house rather than the man, if boys wore more dresses rather than girls... yeah our society would label it as "weird" but it would be "good weird" won't it? I mean why only have one gender earning for the house? Why put the masculinity and feminine label on an article of clothing? Why only have one gender that is strong? Why only have one gender who is allowed to show their true emotions? Why can't we all just be the best of ourselves and let others do the same?
As Emma Watson once said in her speech "If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are we can we can all be freer."
Published by Abdullah Maqsood
Hey Maqsood! So, to begin, I have done things which defies my social norms, but we wont discuss the details. I do believe that stereotypes have a large effect on humanity. This is because stereotypes separate people into groups, cause mental and physical effects on ones who are affected, and even have negative effects in society, such as hiring a male over a female due to stereotypes. These stereotypes restrict people from being equal. So, have I ever dealt with gender stereotypes? Yeah. I've learned that men are "supposed to" hide their emotions, be physically strong, etc. Could gender specific stereotypes go away? Sure, but it all begins with a movement. One person breaking out of their social norm could start a chain reaction of support, eventually getting rid of these gender stereotypes. Finally, if these stereotypes were to be reversed one day, I'd probably feel uncomfortable. Life, in terms of gender stereotypes, completely flipping around would be a very confusing and odd event. Like imagine if all the wives worked hard labour jobs while all the males were "househusbands". Also, as a male, I would now be delicate, and the female counterpart wouldn't be allowed to cry. That unlikely event would seriously impact the lives of everyone.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your response, Rugshan. I agree with all your points that social norms restrict people from being who they are and from being equal. I strongly agree with the point you made about one person defying stereotypes can have a domino effect and lead the human race closer to equality. And you're absolutely right, that if stereotypes were to be reversed then the unlikely even would impact everyone live, and in my opinion it would impact lives positively and open everyones minds to what the other gender goes through every single day.
DeleteI personally think we can never get rid of gender stereotypes, because of how these stereotypes are created. These stereotypes are created through media, for example a harmless ad for makeup that has a female on it, there is a example of a stereotype only females use make us that is created by something harmless. The only reason why they would put a female on the ad is to appeal to the larger consumer quantity, but is it wrong? it is only business. To conclude i think we will never get rid of gender equality, because there will not always be a 1 to 1 male to female consumer ration automatically creating stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteHey Maqsood, i agree with Ahsan because i too also believe we can never truly get rid of gender stereotypes because of the marketing behind it. Almost all products sold takes into factor the stereotypes of their consumers, then they push it forward so their consumers believe the marketing. An example would be makeup beautiful women use make up in the ads, so girls buy the makeup to look beautiful. I feel like gender stereotypes may lessen like how Covergirl incorporated Coverboy but the stereotype will still stay no matter what.
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DeleteNice blog Maqsood, I personally think that gender stereotypes have affected humanity in many ways. Men are always told that they are tough and durable and that they should hide their sensitivity to maintain a certain image. I believe that because of this, it puts a certain amount of pressure on men and forces them to act tough or else they will be shamed. For the females, society expects women to be nice and well mannered which put limitations on them. I feel like these stereotypes have downgrade women a lot. For example, a guy who hangs out with multiple girls is considered alright. We call these types of men “players”, and if you call somebody a player, they would not get offended; instead, feel a sense of pride. On the other hand, if a woman is seen with a bunch of guys, she is considered a “slut”, a word that everyone finds disgusting and humiliating. If you look closer, both these genders are doing the same thing, but for some reason, its alright for a guy to do it but wrong for a woman.
ReplyDeleteHey Muhammad, I disagree with you where you said that when guys hang out with a lot of girls they are called players and don't get offended. Although sometimes this could be true, many times, if a guy hangs out with a lot of girls, and is always talking to girls, he would be looked at as "fruity" or a "sissy". Both meaning that he is a girly boy, and hangs out with girls because he wants to be like them. Also the same could be said for girls. not all the time will they be called a slut. A lot of the time people could think they are tomboys, because they are trying to be with boys all the time and trying to act like them and be like them. So in my opinion, it depends on how the person acts with the group of friends they are with. If the boy that is friends with a bunch of girls is always trying to act cool and tough, then he would probably be called a player. But if he is just with them because he wants to be there friends, and wants to be like them, then he would be called a sissy.
DeleteHey Muhammad and Ahmed, thanks a lot to both of you for the responses. I agree with both of you, gender stereotypes are funny like that, they often contradict with themselves and make things worse than they usually are. So yeah, boys that hang out with girls are considered as "players" sometimes but other times they are very well be considered to be "sissy," both of them being equally false and wrong. And yes same for girls, every situation springs up its own gender stereotypes so both of you are right with your own experiences. Ahmed also very properly said what im trying to convey in that last line of his reply.
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ReplyDeleteHey Maqsood, I believe that gender stereotypes would never fully be gone because of the fact that some of these stereotypes still to this day exist. I have been in a situation a couple years back that my dad made my sister learn how to cook because she was a female but now that I am older I understand more. I now disagree with him because when I grow up i plan to cook for my wife and kids. If gender roles were reversed, I think my life would be the same for the majority of it. I think the only stereotype that would be different is the fact that I have to look my best all the time because one stereotype ladies have is that it takes a longer time for them to get ready and that guys have to just wash there face and leave.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply Elmi. First of all I would just like to mention that I love the fact that you mentioned that you plan to cook for your wife and kids because thats something we need more from men of our generation. And I agree with you when you said that life wouldnt be that different because it honestly won't, people would just have a tiny change in their personalities but the majority of life would be not that different.
DeleteHey Maqsood, in regards to your third question, "Have ever dealt with gender stereotypes personally?". I have, as a kid there was always this stigma in my house over doing things that were not particularly "meant for your gender". It always confused me because I could never see what was so wrong but since it came from an authority figure in my life at the time I always agreed with it. Of course now as you said lately there has been a debunking of these stereotypes which leads me to your first question, "What was the last time you did something to defy social norms?". I spent all of Christmas at work in the McDonald's drive through wearing a tiara, handing people their food.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your response Huzafah, I can relate with your situation personally, and i even mentioned it in the comment section of your blog about how I dealt with gender stereotypes in my childhood and there reasoning for me following these stereotypes were the same, it being something that I was told by an authoritative figure. And I love the way you defied social norms by wearing a tiara and not caring what others thought, that is the type of spirit that is going to bring humanity one step closer to having a world with no gender stereotypes!
DeleteHey Maqsood, firstly, I believe gender stereotypes have had a huge impact on humanity. Simply because people feel like they are forced to follow these stereotypes or they will be considered not normal, or weird. For example, imagine how different things would if be gender stereotypes weren't a thing. Guys wouldn't be viewed as the ones that are supposed to be stronger, the breadwinners of the family, and the ones that pay for most of the things being bought. Life would be a lot different because people wouldn't be following the stereotypes that they've been following for decades. Any gender would be able to do anything they wanted to without being judged if there were no such thing as these stereotypes. So in my opinion, gender stereotypes have a very big impact on humanity. Secondly, I don't think gender stereotypes will ever go away. Although they are starting to be reduced, and people are trying to break these stereotypes they will never go away. The reason for that is because some religions and cultures make people follow these stereotypes/ gender roles. A lot of people like listening to their religion, and continue on the ways of their culture. So that is why I believe gender stereotypes will never fully fade away.
ReplyDeleteHey Ahmed, thanks for your response. I agree with you that life would be a lot different if guys weren't viewed as strong breadwinners, but we also have to consider that is that thought really that bad? I mean it won't affect anyone negatively at all and it would be defying gender stereotypes while it would be making the world better.
DeleteGreat blog Maqsood! In regards to your fourth question "Do you think gender stereotypes can ever be rid of" I personally think that these stereotypes will never be completely forgotten since our society will always have that one person who criticizes someone from an activity they enjoy doing simply due to the "gender" involvement. An example of a typical gender stereotype is cooking. many people think that only woman cook but I can openly and proudly say that I love cooking! People should honestly stop criticizing others on their personal choices since each person has different likes and dislikes and thats what makes us unique.
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