Have gender stereotypes improved?
In American society when it comes to the media and society advertising, entertainment, women & men are both portrayed by media with stereotypes. Women often times usually end up with disadvantages in this. The disadvantage with women is that when they are portrayed by the media often time they are perceived as sexual objects. Even when women are not being seen as sexual they are shown as the weaker gender between the two sexist. This video also shows that gender stereotypes aren’t just harmful to women they also can have a negative impact on men as well. The only difference is that men are not shown as sexual objects they are seen more as being macho and handling majority of their problems with violence to show that their being masculine.
With Mo’ne Davis participating in the little league world series their was no secret that her parents did not raise her gender specific. If they had she would be playing softball not baseball. She has inspired many young girls to go out and do what they want to do instead of letting society define their roles. In our society many aren’t still use to this which caused some her to deal with some problems. As much praise as she got she has also had negative situations that came with it.
Can men be victims of sexism ?
Gender stereotypes not only exist in the media but some court rulings reinforce the typical gender stereotypes. Courts often view the males as the provider in relationships just because in American society we view it as this is how things should be done and have always been done as the man taking care of the women. In traditional gender roles females are viewed as stay at home and males are seen as the cash resource or the one who supports the relationship. Many times in divorce cases the judge will often rule in favor of the male to pay alimony even if the wife has enough potential to make a lot of money. Back in the 50’s it was more reasonable for males to pay alimony for the simple fact that women were housewives who stayed home and and handled all of those responsibilities. Now things have changed for the simple fact that there women in today’s society have the ability to get jobs well payed jobs at that and have their own money. For example, their was a report about a divorce case that a women received her PhD. during the marriage and even earned a high paying job that paid just as much as his job did. She quit to start up her own practice which made her salary take huge deficit. The judge then required the husband to pay a lifetime of alimony.
Questions:
- How much influence do you think the media plays in gender stereotypes today ?
- When talking about gender stereotypes how can we ensure equality for both men and women?
- What are some of the negative stereotyping on today’s youth? How are these stereotypes influencing the pattern of being raised gender specific?
References
Berlatsky, N. (2013, May 29). When Men Experience Sexism. Retrieved October 21, 2015.