Stereotype 06: Sexism and stereotypes

Sexism and stereotypes

Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about the general characteristics of groups. As the focus of research in the field of social psychology for half a century, stereotypes, through simplification, help However, on the other hand, the simplification of labels is also obscuring the richness of individual differences.

Gender stereotypes are derived from the social consensus of gender roles.

Gender roles are socioculturally expected general patterns of behavior for men and women, and the socialization of gender roles begins even when a new baby is born. One study found that despite the fact that the newborns in the study did not differ in height, weight, or health by gender, parents tended to use words like beautiful, delicate, and small when describing female babies, while words like solid, strong, and coordinated were often used when describing male babies.

Gender stereotypes lead people to mistakenly believe that a certain gender must look a certain way, to constrain freedom with dichotomous thinking, and even to criticize, blame, and demonize individuals who are less than the stereotypical expectations. Anxiety about difference turns into a sharp blade that hurts others, bringing prejudice, bullying, hot and cold violence, and discrimination. As Li Yinhe said, gender stereotypes are oppressive to the rich and colorful humanity, not only to women, but also to men.

Each of us has heard such voices in our social life: "Look, that boy is still wearing a sunshade", "Oops, a female driver", "It's better for girls to study arts, not girls in science ", "big men wear what makeup".

The reality is that people often cannot be generalized by labels, and things are not black or white with only two ends. As in Figure 6.1, the labeled man in the Japanese drama "The Wonderful Story of the World", the simplification of labels is what prevents us from seeing the richness of individual differences, and the labeled evaluation also puts others in a quagmire of self-doubt.

(6.1)

The threat of stereotypes brought about by sexism should be made clear that the negative impact of the stereotype itself, such as women solving math problems by explicitly attributing anxiety to an external cause, "I am capable of completing, I feel anxiety when there is no scientific basis for gender bias and sexism", can effectively reduce this impact itself. Setting up real people within groups and fictional characters as role models are both effective measures to counter the threat of sexism, and simply reading about women's success can reduce the negative impact of gender stereotypes on women or men.

May women's strength be seen, may men's refinement be appreciated, may there be less "forced masculinity" and "aesthetic formatting", and may we all embrace diversity and freedom.

References.

Zhang Baoshan,Yuan Fei,Xu Liangyi,Elimination of stereotype threat effect: intervention strategies and their outlook,Psychological Science,2014