Gender Stereotype

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Gender Stereotype

According to the writers in chapter, “Gender Stereotyping And the Media”, gender stereotypes are harmful to men and women. Gender stereotypes set impossible standards for men and women that lead to unhappiness, loneliness and possibly violence towards themselves. Stereotypes affect relationships between a man and a woman. Moreover, stereotypes dictate the behavior of boys and girls that lead to violence. Rather than combating gender stereotypes, our society reinforces stereotypes by passing them to the next generation and giving labels and names to the people who do not conform to the stereotypes. Hence, the dichotomy is that our society buys into the stereotypes that reinforce abuse, while tying to remove violence from our society.

Traditional female stereotypes rigidly emphasize the belief that women must perform the specific role that are assigned to them. From a traditional perspective, “femininity is characterized by passivity and sumission.” (Devor P.169) Feminine characteristics of passivity and submission allow women to best fulfill t...

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