Let's face it. It is very easy to cite gender stereotyping as the root of all evil. And, to top it all off -- a political season of this significance feeds the frenzy even more. The media love it and isn't it plain old human behavior to seek out conflict for whatever reason, rather than take note of how well most people get along (in general)?
At this critical and historic political juncture, he said/she said gender stereotype slinging abounds. When gender is called out, leaned on or defaulted to as an exciting (hmmm) difference to discuss, is it really as simple as one particular man slurring women or one particular woman slurring men? No. Stereotype slinging is actually evidence of a gender relations cultural transformation cracking the ice of years and years of traditional perspective. The growing pains have been around for a while, but only now are we actually experiencing the symptoms.
Since the U.S. women's suffrage movement in the late 1800s, and the more broad-reaching women's movement of the 1960s, the average citizen -- male and female -- has become much more aware of gender stereotyping. And, to give credit where credit is due: many people are honestly trying not to perpetuate such stereotypes.
This is indeed progress. But, this cracking ice also means that, being so newly empowered to name gender stereotypes as the culprit, citizens are more frequently doing just that.
So, let's step back and consider our roots. Over the thousands of years of humankind's existence, these huge sorts of cultural shifts have proven to take many more years than any of us could imagine. So, can we expect that any last trace of gender stereotyping will disappear over the next 20, 30 or 50 years? Not really.
Many of us (certainly those in the U.S.) were raised in a patriarchal culture, so both men and women live up to some level of gender-appropriate role expectations. Whether women like it or not, we've had all sorts of feminine expectations laid on us by our parents, our schooling and so on. And, vice versa for men. A dad may like the idea of a son with an interest in art and drama, but in his gut, wouldn't he really prefer to see him having more masculine interests? Still, here we sit -- very aware that we need to be changing things and frustrated that stereotyping still exists.
It is useless to point fingers at any one presidential primary candidate or at any of the millions of voters currently discussing and considering their primary or general election votes right now. Sins of the fathers and mothers play out in us all. Stereotypes come quickly to our minds. Yet, by being responsible for ourselves, and making efforts to counter the gender stereotyping embedded in our own brains, we actually can contribute to the positive cultural transition underway.
"There is no essential male or female, no essential masculinity or femininity, no maternal instinct, no testosterone-driven aggressiveness sans culture. Masculinity and femininity are clay in culture's hands. Whatever our world has been, is, or will be, we are the makers of it." - Gil Richard Musolf, professor of sociology, in his book, Structure & Agency in Everyday Life.
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