Stereotype Gender Roles

Introduction
Gender stereotypes are generalizations about what men and women are like, and there
typically is a great deal of consensus about them. According to social role theory,
gender stereotypes derive from the discrepant distribution of men and women into
social roles both in the home and at work (Eagly, 1987, 1997; Koenig and Eagly, 2014).
There has long been a gendered division of labor, and it has existed both in foraging
societies and in more socioeconomically complex societies (Wood and Eagly, 2012). In
the domestic sphere women have performed the majority of routine domestic work and
played the major caretaker role. In the workplace, women have tended to be employed
in people-oriented, service occupations rather than things-oriented, competitive
occupations, which have traditionally been occupied by men (e.g., Lippa et al., 2014).
Accordingly, men are characterized as more agentic than women, taking charge and
being in control, and women are characterized as more communal than men, being
attuned to others and building relationships (e.g., Broverman et al., 1972; Eagly and
Steffen, 1984).
Like other stereotypes, gender stereotypes reflect essentialism, or the tendency to infer
essences, often taking the form of traits underlying individuals’ behaviors (Prentice &
Miller, 2006). Although some people ascribe such trait essences to biology, others
instead ascribe them to socialization and social position in society (Rangel & Keller,
2011). For example, in U.S. public opinion poll data (Pew Research Center, 2017),
among the 87% of respondents who indicated that men and women are different rather
than similar on “how they express their feelings,” 58% ascribed these differences mainly
to “society,” and 42% to “biology.” According to social role theory (Eagly & Wood, 2012;
Koenig & Eagly, 2014), gender stereotypes stem from people’s direct and indirect
observations of women and men in their social roles. Role-constrained behavior
provides crucial information because most behavior enacts roles. Moreover, people
spontaneously infer individuals’ social roles (e.g., student) from their behaviors (e.g.,
studied in the library), with downstream consequences of ascribing role consistent traits
to them (e.g., hardworking; Chen, Banerji, Moons, & Sherman, 2014). When people
observe members of a group (e.g., gender, race) occupying certain roles more often
than members of other groups do, the behaviors usually enacted within these roles
influence the traits believed to be typical of the group. To the extent that people in the
same society have similar observations, these beliefs become shared cultural
expectations.
Body of the Paper
Gender roles in society means how we’re expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and
conduct ourselves based upon our assigned sex. For example, girls and women are
generally expected to dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating,
and nurturing. Men are generally expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold. Every
society, ethnic group, and culture has gender role expectations, but they can be very
different from group to group. They can also change in the same society over time. For
example, pink used to be considered a masculine color in the U.S. while blue was
considered feminine.
A stereotype is a widely accepted judgment or bias about a person or group even
though it’s overly simplified and not always accurate. Stereotypes about gender can
cause unequal and unfair treatment because of a person’s gender. This is called
sexism. There are four basic kinds of gender stereotypes: 1.) Personality traits. For
example, women are often expected to be accommodating and emotional, while men
are usually expected to be self-confident and aggressive. 2.) Domestic behaviors. For
example, some people expect that women will take care of the children, cook, and clean
the home, while men take care of finances, work on the car, and do the home repairs.
3.) Occupations. Some people are quick to assume that teachers and nurses are
women, and that pilots, doctors, and engineers are men. 4.) Physical appearance. For
example, women are expected to be thin and graceful, while men are expected to be tall
and muscular. Men and women are also expected to dress and groom in ways that are
stereotypical to their gender (men wearing pants and short hairstyles, women wearing
dresses and make-up.
Hyperfemininity is the exaggeration of stereotyped behavior that’s believed to be
feminine. Hyperfeminine folks exaggerate the qualities they believe to be feminine. This
may include being passive, naive, sexually inexperienced, soft, flirtatious, graceful,
nurturing, and accepting. Hypermasculinity is the exaggeration of stereotyped behavior
that’s believed to be masculine. Hypermasculine folks exaggerate the qualities they
believe to be masculine. They believe they’re supposed to compete with other men and
dominate feminine folks by being aggressive, worldly, sexually experienced, insensitive,
physically imposing, ambitious, and demanding. These exaggerated gender stereotypes
can make relationships between people difficult. Hyperfeminine folks are more likely to
endure physical and emotional abuse from their partners. Hypermasculine folks are
more likely to be physically and emotionally abusive to their partners.
Conclusion
As these examples demonstrate, gender roles are sometimes created on the basis of
stereotypes about gender. Gender stereotypes are oversimplified understandings of
males and females and the differences between them. Individuals sometimes base their
perceptions about appropriate gender roles upon gender stereotypes. Gender
stereotypes tend to include exaggerated or erroneous assertions about the nature of
males and females. For example, a common gender stereotype about males is that they
are not emotional. Females, on the other hand, are commonly stereotyped as being
irrational or overly emotional. Political movements such as the feminist movement
continue to work to deconstruct gender stereotypes and offer alternative visions of
gender roles that emphasize equality between women and men. Finally, gender roles
are often discussed in terms of an individual's gender role orientation, which is typically
described as either traditional or nontraditional. A traditional gender role orientation
emphasizes differences between men and women and assumes that each sex has a
natural affinity to particular behaviors. Those who maintain a traditional gender role
orientation are likely to be influenced by the rules and rituals of the generations that
came before them, by their parents and grandparents. Individuals with nontraditional
gender role orientations are more likely to believe that an individual's behavior is not or
should not be determined solely by her sex. Individuals with nontraditional gender role
orientations are more likely to believe in the value of egalitarian relationships between
men and women and in the power of individual human beings to determine what roles
they wish to occupy and the extent to which those roles are or should be associated
with their sex.
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