Brenda DiDonna 4-10-14 Societys Socially Consructed Gender Roles and their Damaging Effects

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Since we were young weve learned the stereotypes of what gender we are and we take on these roles, making them a norm in society. Just walking through your neighborhood, you will see these gender stereotypes because they are all we have been taught and shown in life. These stereotypes will continue in society because many people do not recognize them as a socially constructed norm. Going for my daily jog, I quickly see these gender roles; a man washing a car, a women strolling her child in a beautiful dress, all because we constantly enforce these gender stereotypes. It is enforced through the media and everyday life and it becomes a social problem because the stereotypes of man and woman have damaging effects on people, mentally and physically. Gender is a socially constructed stereotype that is created by society, and we conform to these genders to fit in, ultimately leading to expectations that have damaging effects. These genders have been ingrained in us since we were young. We have been told how a boy should look and behave and the expectations for girls as well. These expectations are constantly shown over and over again through the media. If a girl or boy acts differently than their gender expects them too, they are considered weird, gay, or abnormal. This can cause serious physical and emotional problems such as eating disorders, depression, bullying, etc. There are two genders in our society. People argue that there are more than two genders, like gay or transgender, but ultimately everyone is trying to fit into the girl

Brenda DiDonna

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gender role or boy gender role. Why does this exist in society? We can trace it back many years to the traditional women staying at home and taking care of the children and the men working and being the bread winners. Although we have seen great improvement in gender equality, we still have great differences in expectations. The media plays a major role in this social problem today as do many other social constructions like scholar Susam Basow said in her book, Gender is constructed by every socializing agent and force in society: parents, teachers, the media, religion, and so on.1 Since we were young, the movies we watched and the toys we were told to play with all influence what we should be. How often does a mom ask her son have you seen any cute boys at school today? We immediately close off the opportunity for difference. This can be because parents do not want their child to be different or have to face adversity. How can we change these gender stereotypes that are so ingrained in our society? The video Female Stereotypes in Disney Films, explains how the movies we watched from an early age depict the perfect world or fantasy life that tell young children that women are supposed to look like princesses, clean the house, cook, and do domestic chores. This is shown when one movie says leave the sewing to the women.2 These movies are just another form of enforcing these stereotypes and maintaining these expectations put on men and women. Men also have expectations due to these stereotypes that are shown through the media. Male and female stereotypes, or the norms in society, are constantly portrayed in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

"!Basow, Susan. Gender: Stereotypes and roles (3rd ed.).. Belmont, CA, US: 1992. http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1992-97754-000 (accessed April 7, 2014).! #!Female Stereotypes in Disney Films. Youtube 12 12 2011. compact disc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57zKcmrT6M.!

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movies, commercials, clothing stores, and the Internet, all showing the characteristics of these genders. Men are strong, manly, interested in sports or physical activity, and dominant in a relationship. Women are passive, skinny, always trying to look attractive for men, doing womanly activities like laundry or the dishes. Whether you are buying clothes on the Internet or in a mall, you always see men and women models basically telling us how to look, as well as our place in society. According to a Daily News article, The average American over the age of 2 spends more than 34 hours a week watching live television, says a new Nielsen report plus another three to six hours watching taped programs,3 and Science Daily shows that the media consumption will be 15.5 hours a day by 20154, both of which show how greatly the media influences people in todays society. These pressures on women and men to fit into these stereotypes, considered to be norm, cause personal problems. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, An estimated 10-15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male. Men are less likely to seek treatment for eating disorders because of the perception that they are womans diseases. Also, 91% of women surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, 86% report onset of eating disorder by age 20; 43% report onset between the ages of 16 and 20. It is known that women are more likely to have eating disorders than men and that Almost !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$!Hinckley, David. "Americans spend 34 hours a week watching TV, according to Nielsen numbers ." New York Daily News , September 19th, 2012. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/americans-spend-34hours-week-watching-tv-nielsen-numbers-article-1.1162285 (accessed April 6, 2014). %!University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. "Media consumption to average 15. 5 hours a day by 2015." Science Daily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131030111316.htm (accessed April 6, 2014).!

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50% of people with eating disorders meet the criteria for depression. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.5 Not only are men pressured to look attractive with six pack abs and strong muscles, but they also cant even express their personal problems or seek help because it is woman like. These statistics show how greatly people value their physical appearance which causes physical as well as mental harm, and gender stereotypes portrayed in the media must be greatly blamed. The social problem of gender roles and stereotypes create many more societal problems. Another problem is bullying. During my listening survey, just sitting at Dunkin Donuts, I heard a boy order a latte and his friend say youre such a girl. Since these gender sterotypes are such a norm, we dont even realize we are a part of the reason it continues in society. Also, The Daily News had an article North Carolina school tells boy, 9, to ditch My Little Pony bag because its a trigger for bullying. This article is about a boy being told his My Little Pony bag is banned from school. The article explains that the bag was banned because it was triggering the bullying.6 This boy was bullied because he did not fit in to his gender role. And because we are so conformed to these stereotypes, the school did not stand up to stop the bullying, they just recognized the reason he was being bullied and removed it. These gender stereotypes, which over time have been built in society, create expectations for men and women. Ultimately whom can we blame for these !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, "Eating Disorder Statistics." Accessed April 6, 2014. http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/. 6 Moran, Lee. " North Carolina school tells boy, 9, to ditch My Little Pony bag because its a trigger for bullying ." New York Daily News, March 19th, 2014. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boy-told-ditchpony-bag-article-1.1726433 (accessed April 6, 2014).

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stereotypes and how can we change them? Overtime we have slowly achieved more equality in gender roles such as women doing more manly jobs or women playing sports and it has become more accepted. Media is a huge target to blame for these stereotypes being constantly enforced, so to achieve more equality in these gender roles lets start showing women and men as having similar roles and not have stereotypes for each gender. Lets present people with as few stereotypes as possible for each gender and let women and men fall into one big category. Also, it is important to show more acceptance by having more feminine boys in movies, women working physical jobs, men not always being dominant over women, etc. Gender stereotypes are a socially constructed problem that leads to many others, but have the potential to be slowly eliminated. !