Sexism and How it’s Holding Back Society

Introduction
“When you come together as a group, as a force to be reckoned with, you can make a difference and change the world in ways you can never imagine.” -Marcia Pappas, President, NOW-NYS
Throughout history, there has always been a specific boundary between the male and female gender. There is no society that can escape this stereotype, known as gender stereotyping. Gender has been negatively portrayed throughout the media and entertainment world. The negative effects have also influenced the workplace and our own attitudes as human beings. Gender bias is a social problem because it teaches children that they have a specific gender role, it teaches children stereotyped gender roles, it shows different roles in Asia, and it is stereotyped in TV and movies.
Gender roles are what we as small children learn that a man and woman’s jobs are. According to Richard Kolbe and Joseph LaVoie, women’s roles are a lot more stereotypical than the male’s (369.)  Children are shown that a woman is a mother and caretaker; this means that she stays at home and takes care of the children and cleans up around the house. On the other hand, the man is the provider and discipliner. Children can be shown this through abuse and dominance in particular roles that are shown to them in different environments (Kolbe, LaVoie 372.)
What is sexism?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, sexism is defined in two ways. American Heritage dictionary states that the first definition is discrimination centered on gender, especially bias against the female gender; the second definition is any form of mind-set, circumstances, or manners that encourage labeling of societal functions based on sexual characteristics.
Who is discriminated against?
Both male and females are discriminated against; however, the majority of the time, a female is the one who suffers the most prejudice. Abuses against women are relentless, systematic, and widely tolerated, if not explicitly condoned, according to the Human Rights Watch. Violence and discrimination against women are “global social epidemics, notwithstanding the very real progress of the international women’s human rights movement in identifying, raising awareness about, and challenging impunity for women’s human rights violations…” (Human Rights Watch n.p.)
The Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch fights against the “dehumanization and marginalization” of women. The promotion of female’s identical privileges and individual pride is detrimental (Human Rights Watch n.p.) The understanding of women’s rights is a worldwide grapple based on widespread human rights and the rule of law (Human Rights Watch n.p.) The Human Rights Watch requires all of the female gender to “unite in solidarity to end traditions, practices, and laws that harm women.” It is a fight for freedom to be fully and completely human and equal without apology or permission: in the end, the struggle for women’s rights as humans must be about making women’s lives matter everywhere all the time (Human Rights Watch.) In practice, this means taking action to stop unfairness, inequality, harassment, and hostility against women in both the workplace and at home (Human Rights Watch.)

Which jobs discriminate?
Women are discriminated against in a number of jobs. Patty Curtis stated that the most common jobs women are discriminated in are engineering and construction (n.p.) Alan S. Rosenthal stated that sex-occupation stereotyping is a “perceived correlation between sex and occupation that is measured by the magnitude of the perceived difference between…” the two sexes (268.) He also stated that sex-occupation stereotyping was a form of “sex-personality” discrimination (Rosenthal 268.)
Although it is more noticeable that women are stereotyped against in jobs, people often overlook the fact that men, too, are victimized. In the recent article “Sex Discrimination at Work Hits Men Too,” Polly Curtis discusses how male applications are discriminated again in jobs such as computer analysts, secretarial positions, and chartered accountants. Curtis stated that this is odd because these are jobs that are unbiased against both sexes. Men, who work full-time, work an average of 41.9 hours per week compared to women’s 37.6 hours per week. More men than women work. However the unemployment rate for men at 14% is currently about three times the female rate. Traditional industries that have employed men are being closed such as mining and ship building. Nothing is being done to restore the wealth creating manufacturing industry, which would employ men (Curtis.) Men also take on jobs that are hard, dangerous, and dirty. Industrial injuries at work are overwhelmingly of men. It is very rare to see women working as street cleaners or refuse collectors (“Gender Rights.”)
Even though both men and women are discriminated against, some companies are taking steps toward making the workplace fair and equal. In the article “Workplace Fairness,” it discussed how different major corporate businesses are developing “gender identity and expression policies.” According to the article, such companies such as General Mills, Estee Lauder, and Daimler Chrysler along with 41 others adopted these policies in 2005. Today, there are over 50 colleges that have also passed these bills and policies and adopted them into their curriculums (“Workplace Fairness.”)
The easiest way to teach children these roles are through observing their parents, watching the television, and even reading a book. Manjari Singh stated in her article “Gender Issues in Children’s Literature,” numerous studies analyzing children’s literature find the majority of books dominated by male figures. She also found that even books with female or gender-neutral names in their titles in fact, frequently revolve around a male character. Many classics and popular stories where girls are portrayed usually reflect stereotypes of masculine and feminine roles; such gender stereotypes are prevalent not only in typical children’s books but also in Newberry and Caldecott medal winners (Singh.)
The most common roles are the ones depicted on old television shows; television still effects long-established gender stereotypes because it imitates prevailing social values. The AAUW stated that in showing them, TV also strengthens them, portraying them as normal; as one might expect in a society still dominated by men, “men dominate TV production and, influenced by these stereotypes, unconsciously reproduce a traditional masculine perspective, enabling dominant gender stereotypes.” Many narratives on TV are still unconditionally designed to be translated from a masculine point of view (AAUW n.p.) The audience is repeatedly asked to recognize and agree with the male characters and to objectify females and this has come to be called ‘the male gaze’: and this type of viewing  is now called unmarked: it is an invisible and largely unquestioned bias – the masculine perspective is the norm (AAUW n.p.)
Though not as strongly as in earlier years, the portrayal of both men and women on TV is largely traditional and stereotypical. According to Woodward, this serves to promote a divergence of gender roles. Woodward describes that along with femininity come associated traits such as “emotionality, prudence, co-operation, a communal sense, and compliance.” Masculinity tends to be associated with such traits as rationality, efficiency, competition, individualism and ruthlessness (Woodward, n.p.)
Woodward has shown how on TV, good women are presented as submissive, sensitive and domesticated; bad women are disobedient, self-governing, and egotistical. The “dream-girl stereotype” is tender, modest, perceptive, obedient, not aggressive, good-natured, and dependent (Woodward n.p.) The male hero tends to be physically brawny, assertive, self-confident, takes the initiative, is self-regulating, ready for action, and motivated (Woodward n.p.) Meehan also stated that TV and film heroes represent goodness, power, control, confidence, competence and success. They are geared, in other words, to succeed in a competitive economic system (Woodward n.p.) There is no shortage of aggressive male role-models in Westerns, war films and so on Woodward n.p.) Many boys try to emulate such characteristics through action and aggression. (Woodward n.p.)
Men tend to be shown as more dominant, more violent and more powerful than women. Men on TV are more likely to disparage women than vice versa. They drive, drink and smoke more, do athletic things, and make more plans. They are found more in the world of things than in relationships (Woodward n.p.)
So TV images largely reflect traditional patriarchal notions of gender. The article “Gender Stereotypes,“ stated that stereotypical masculinity, for instance, is portrayed as natural, normal and universal, but it is fact a particular construction. It is largely a “white, middle-class heterosexual masculinity” (Woodward n.p.) The article also said that “this is a masculinity within which any suggestion of feminine qualities or homosexuality is denied, and outside which women are subordinated” (Woodward n.p.) The notion of natural sex differences help to preserve the inequalities on which our economic system continues to be based.  (Woodward n.p.)
Asian Culture
America is not the only continent that deals with gender stereotyping. One study was conducted in Hong Kong, where 175 TV advertisements were content analyzed, according to the article “Gender Stereotypes. “Gender Stereotypes” also release that there was another experiment conducted in Indonesia, where 119 TV advertisements were content analyzed. In Hong Kong, 9 of the 10 content categories yielded a significant gender-role effect, particularly mode of presentation, credibility, and role, “Gender Stereotypes” also stated; in Indonesia, 9 of the 11 gender-role effects were significant, particularly reward type and product type. The fact that Asian TV commercials seem to have greater gender-role stereotypes than do Western commercials is discussed (“Woodward n.p.) Difficulties associated with cross-cultural comparisons of this type of data are discussed (Woodward n.p.)
There are a variety of beliefs that used in these stereotypes against gender. The most common one is that women and men are completely different. Women are taught that is easy and acceptable to show emotions while men are taught early on to repress theirs, stated Nadya Avsievich (n.p.) In her article, “Gender Stereotypes, Family and School,” she discussed how in our early lives we are taught what men and women should do and how they should act. She presents the argument that because we as a society are stereotypical, this is why people are social unequal and it also holds us back from developing those human personalities instead of the animalistic ones that so many people get (Avsievich.)
Effects
Research has shown that stereotypes alter children’s perception. At the University of Texas of Austin, they studied the way children remember certain situations. For example, they said that children remember stereotypical situations better than those that act against it. If a picture of a female doctor was shown to a younger child by one of the researchers, the child would “misremember” the doctor as a nurse; in some cases, the UTA researchers said some children even remembered the woman as a man because they knew that they had just seen a doctor. The researchers concluded that the children forgetting or changing the information given supported the idea that we have “pre-existing stereotypes”  (“Gender Stereotypes Research.”)
Conclusion
Genders have always been discriminated against and they always will be. The most popular form of gender bias is any form of media. The way the media portrays the female and male gender teaches children how to view their own gender. Gender roles are formed and learned from a very early age, as is gender stereotyping. The working world has also made it hard for both genders to climb the corporate ladder and have a successful life, depending on the job. There is no way to stop gender bias; however, there are steps that the world can take in order to assure a more equal world.

 Works Cited
Avsievich, Nadya. “Gender stereotypes, Family and School.” November 23, 2001. Oct 10, 2006. <www.vitryssland.nu>.
Curtis, Polly. “Sex Discrimination at Work Hits Men Too.” Feb 25, 2006. Oct 10, 2006.     <http://www.guardian.co.uk/gender/story/0,,1717638,00.html>.
“Gender Stereotypes Research.” 2005. Oct 15, 2006.     <http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/Group/BiglerLAB/GARAL/research1.htm>.
Human Rights Watch. “Women’s Rights.” 2006. Oct 8, 2006. <http://hrw.org/women/>.
Kolbe, Richard and Joseph C. LaVoie. “Sex Role Stereotyping in Preschool Children’s Picture     Books.” Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol 44, No 4. 1981.
Rosenthal, Alan S. “The Gender-Coded Stereotype.” The French Review, Vol 72, No 5. Apr     1999.
Singh, Manjari. “Gender Issues in Children’s Literature.” ERIC: Bloomington, IN. Nov 1998.
Wilchins, Riki. “Workplace Fairness.” Apr 2006. Oct 15, 2006.     <http://www.gpac.org/workplace/WorkplaceFairness.pdf>.
Woodward, Will. “Gender Stereotypes.” Sep 20, 2000. Oct 23, 2006.    <http://education.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,370737,00.html>.
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