Gender Stereotypes

Gender Equality Goal 5

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 Challenges to cultural Diversity
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Gender Equality
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Gender Typing and
Stereotypes
 Gender is one of the most basic categories to social
life.
 Gender typing is the process of labeling people, things,

and activities as masculine or feminine.

 Gender stereotypes are beliefs about the typical

personal attributers of males and females.

 Cultural stereotypes are societal level images of the

genders found in the media, art and literature.

What is Gender?
 The term gender refers to the economic, social and cultural
attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female.
 In most societies, being a man or a woman is not simply a matter
of different biological and physical characteristics.
 Men and women face different expectations about how they
should dress, behave or work.
 Relations between men and women, whether in the family, the
workplace or the public sphere, also reflect understandings of the
talents, characteristics and behaviour appropriate to women and
to men.
What is Gender Equality?
 Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men.
 To ensure fairness, strategies and measures must often be available to
compensate for women’s historical and social disadvantages that prevent
women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field.
 Gender equality requires equal enjoyment by women and men of
socially-valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards.
 Where gender inequality exists, it is generally women who are excluded
or disadvantaged in relation to decision-making and access to economic
and social resources.
 Therefore a critical aspect of promoting gender equality is the
empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing
power imbalances and giving women more autonomy to manage their
own lives.
Women’s Empowerment
 Gender equality does not mean that men and women
become the same; only that access to opportunities and
life changes is neither dependent on, nor constrained
by, their sex.
 Achieving gender equality requires women’s
empowerment to ensure that decision-making at private
and public levels, and access to resources are no longer
weighted in men’s favor, so that both women and men
can fully participate as equal partners in productive and
reproductive life.
Gender Stereotypes
 Gender stereotypes are generalized
behaviors and attitudes that are thought to
be normal and appropriate for a person
solely based on his or her biological sex.
 This leads to people making quick
judgments about others based on their
appearances and attitudes.
Gender stereotypes
 Gender stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about
characteristics, or the roles that are ought to be possessed or
performed by women and men.
 Gender stereotypes are prescriptive.

descriptive.
 Prescriptive means that they indicate what the majority of people in a

given culture believe men and women should be like and the role each
should play.
 People implicitly learn stereotypes about how men and women are

supposed to look.
 The social psychology of gender examines the ways gender shapes

and is shaped by social interaction.

Gender stereotyping
(cont’d)
 Gender stereotypes have descriptive components, or
beliefs about how males and females typically act, as
well as prescriptive components, or beliefs about how
males and females should act.
 For example, women are supposed to be nurturing and

avoid dominance, and men are supposed to be avoid

weakness.
Gender Discrimination
 Gender discrimination: is any action that specifically
denies opportunities, privileges, or rewards to a person
(or a group) because of gender.
 The practice of letting a person’s gender become a

factor when deciding who receives a job or a

promotion, is gender discrimination.
4 types of gender
stereotypes
 1. Personality traits:
 Women are often expected to be helpful and emotional,
while men are usually expected to be self-confident and
aggressive.
 2. Domestic behaviors:
 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.
4 types of gender stereotypes
(cont’d)
 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:
 Women are expected to be thin and graceful, while men

are expected to be tall and muscular. d make-up.

4 types of gender stereotypes
(cont’d)
 Physical appearance (cont’d)
 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 skirts.
Modern Theories of Gender
 Modern theories of gender view gender as an
institutional system of practices for constituting people
as two different categories (men and women) and
organizing relations of inequality based on this
difference.
 In other words, gender is not simply a trait of

individuals, it is also an organizing principle of all

social systems, including families, work, schools,
economic and legal systems and every day interactions.
Gender Stereotypes in the Work place:
Obstacles to Women’s Career Progress

 The nature of gender stereotyping about men and

women create a system in which:
 A. Men have relatively more control than women in

public areas (e.g. professional settings)

 B. Women are thought to have relatively more control

than men in private domains (e.g., the home).

Gender Stereotypes in the Work place:
Obstacles to Women’s Career Progress
(cont’d)
 Gender stereotypes have both descriptive and
prescriptive properties.
 Each of these aspects of gender stereotypes give rise to

biased perceptions that can affect both how women are

evaluated and the career related decisions that are made
about them.
Gender Stereotypes in the Work place:
Obstacles to Women’s Career Progress
(cont’d)
 Whereas men are known to be more independent,
assertive and decisive), women are thought to be more
unselfish, friendly and concerned with others)
 Women are believed to be less competent but nice, and

men are believed to be competent but less nice.

Descriptive stereotypes and
Problems in the workplace
Descriptive stereotypes about women can create
problems in the workplace because there is a perceived
“lack of fit” between women’s assumed capabilities
and the presumed requirements of a position.
This should cause particular problems for women
attempting to gain access to high level jobs, as the
qualities believed to be necessary for jobs that are
highest in authority and prestige are typically ones that
are considered to be male in gender type.
Descriptive stereotypes and
Problems in the workplace
 The requirements believed necessary for success in
these positions are attributes such as decisiveness,
toughness, and leadership skill—attributes that are
consistent with stereotypes of men, but not with
stereotypes of women.
Lack of fit Model
 Women are often thought to be lacking the qualities
required for success at upper level positions.
 In other words, women are not equipped to handle

certain jobs, and are not likely to succeed in positions

that are traditionally considered male.
 These expectations of failure will proceed to bias

employment decisions regarding women.

Management Positions
 What happens when a woman competes for a
management position in her organization?
 According to the stereotyped role, by acting
independently and competitively, she violates
prescriptive gender stereotypes for women.
 She is then likely to experience disapproval and some

social sanctions for this norm violating behavior,

reactions that potentially can affect her career progress.
Implications for Men
 An important question is:
 Do gender stereotypes negatively affect

men as well as women?

 There are prescriptive stereotypes for

men---expected norms for the way that men

should act.
 Additionally, there are jobs that are

traditionally feminine in nature.

Implications for Men
(cont’d)
 Just as success in traditionally male
positions implies a lack of femininity for
women, success in traditionally female
positions may imply a lack of masculinity for
men.
 However, the penalties for men who
perform female jobs is less clear.
Why is gender stereotyping
bad?
 Gender stereotypes have a much bigger effect than
society may think.
 It can directly affect how an individual will identify
their gender in society due to the pressure of fitting these
stereotypes.
 It also strongly affects how media portrays gender.
 This then also leads to individuals submitting to these
stereotypes because media is presented all around the
world.
Why is gender stereotyping
bad (cont’d)
 They pressure individuals to look and
behave a certain way that is seen as
common and normal by society.
 Gender stereotypes don’t allow people to be

themselves.
 Everyone is too busy trying to fit in, and

gender stereotypes are helping lead them

to what they think they have to be.
Gender Equality in 2021
 The Best Countries for Gender Equality in 2021
 Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Luxembourg,

Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, United Kingdom and

Netherlands
 The Worst Countries for Gender Equality in 2021
 Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, South

Sudan, Chad, Congo, Sudan, Sierra Leone

Gender Equality in 2021
(cont’d)
 In 86 countries, women face some form of job restriction and 95
countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work.
 Globally, women still have only three quarters of the legal rights
afforded to men.
 Around 2.4 billion women of working age are not afforded equal
economic opportunity and 178 countries maintain legal barriers that
prevent their full economic participation.
 In 86 countries, women face some form of job restriction and 95
countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work.
Gender Equality in 2021
(cont’d)
 Women, Business and the Law 2022 measures laws and
regulations across 190 countries in eight areas impacting
women’s economic participation – mobility, workplace, pay,
marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pensions.
 The Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa
regions showed the largest improvements in in 2021, though
they continue to lag behind other parts of the world overall.
 Gabon stands out with comprehensive reforms to its civil code
and the enactment of a law on the elimination of violence
against women.
Regional Highlights
 Advanced economies continue to make progress.
 Greece, Spain and Switzerland reformed laws in 2021, all
focusing on improving paid leave for new parents.
 The East Asia and the Pacific region continues to reform its
legislation towards gender equality, but at a slow pace.
 Two economies from East Asia reformed last year. Cambodia
introduced an old-age pension system that sets equal ages at
which women and men can retire with full pension benefits.
 Vietnam eliminated all restrictions on women’s employment.
Regional Highlights
(cont’d)
 The Europe and Central Asia region is the second
highest scoring region. Four economies reformed
last year.
 Armenia and Ukraine introduced paid paternity
leave, and Georgia introduced paid parental
leave.
 Ukraine also equalized the ages at which women
and men can retire with full pension benefits.
 Cyprus allowed women to apply for a passport
in the same way as men.
Regional Highlights
(cont’d)
 Latin America and the Caribbean: Women in these areas have
less than three-quarters of the legal rights of men.
 Two of the region’s 32 economies enacted reforms in the past
year.
 Argentina explicitly accounted for periods of absence due to
childcare in pension benefits.
 Colombia became the first country in Latin America to
introduce paid parental leave, aiming to reduce discrimination
against women in the workplace. Only half of the economies in
the region guarantee any paid leave for fathers.
Regional Highlights
(cont’d)
 Middle East and North Africa: Women in these regions have, on average, only half
of the legal rights that men do.
 However, the region improved its laws the most due to reforms in five economies.
 Bahrain mandated equal pay for work of equal value and lifted restrictions on
women’s ability to work at night. It also repealed provisions giving the relevant
authority the power to prohibit or restrict women from working in certain jobs or
industries.
 Egypt enacted legislation protecting women from domestic violence and made
access to credit easier for women by prohibiting gender-based discrimination in
financial services.
 Kuwait prohibited gender discrimination in employment and adopted legislation on
sexual harassment in employment.
 Lebanon enacted legislation criminalizing sexual harassment in employment.
 Oman allowed women to apply for a passport in the same way as men.
Regional Highlights
(cont’d)
 South Asia: Women i have only two-thirds of the legal rights of men in the region.
 Only one economy in the region reformed. Pakistan lifted restrictions on women's
ability to work at night.
 Sub-Saharan Africa: has a wide range of performance for example, Mauritius to
29.4 in Sudan.
 Gabon stands out, with comprehensive reforms to its civil code and the enactment
of a law on the elimination of violence against women.
 These reforms gave women the same rights to choose where to live as men, get
jobs without permission from their husbands, removed the requirement for married
women to obey their husbands and allows women to be head of household in the
same way as men.
 Gabon granted spouses equal rights to immovable property and equal
administrative authority over assets during marriage.
 Gabon also enacted legislation protecting women from domestic violence.
 Gabon’s reforms gave women the same rights to open a bank account as men and
prohibited gender-based discrimination in financial services.
Assignment 2 (150-200 words)
(in text citation required) due 05/04
 According to the law of International Human Rights,
gender stereotypes and stereotyping is prohibited.
Therefore, states have obligations to eliminate
discrimination against women and men in all areas of
their lives.
 Explain measures taken by the Egyptian government

to eliminate discrimination against women.

 Also, give your opinion as to whether such measures

are enough, and what can be done to change society’s

perception about the role of women?