With the civilization of the 21st-century generation, the traditional view of gender stereotypes has come under criticism by various believers of gender equality. Culture is known to play a big part in classifying roles and responsibilities depending on the gender of the individual. The paper will use jobs listed in Occupations and Gender document to discuss how people perceive various jobs and roles depending on the gender. The influence the culture of the individuals has on the perception will also be debated.
Gender stereotyping is the conception of the characteristics of an individual based on their gender thus developing an assumption of their roles. The assumptions tend to be inaccurate therefore neglecting the individuality of a person regarding their desires, capabilities, feelings and even their thoughts (Heilman, 2001).
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Influence of culture on the various forms of gender segregation
Culture has been the greatest determiner of the division of roles and responsibilities on the gender basis. By dictating the expected social norms since the birth of a child, gender stereotyping has been traditionally misused to dictate the personality of an individual rather than just defining their sex (Powell et al. 2002).
Segregation of gender may take various forms that may include personality, domestic behaviors, occupations and even the physical appearance (Powell et al. 2002). Under the personality, segregation requires for men to be bold and aggressive whereas the female is to be calm and submissive. At a domestic level, women are viewed to be responsible for domestic chores such as cleaning, cooking and taking care of families whereas men are tasked with instructing their wives and carrying out repairs and construction works (Heilman, 2001). On physical appearance, women are required to show their femininity whereas men are required to show their masculinity.
Although varying with the culture, gender segregation hugely affects the occupation by dictating the various working position one's gender is eligible to take. Such include designating manual works such as mechanics and engineering works for men whereas women should take white collar jobs such as teaching, secretarial and nursing (Heilman, 2001). Also, leadership and political positions within institutions are also mostly assigned to male figures.
Positive and negative impacts of gender segregation
Gender segregation can have both positive effects when the impact is beneficial and at times pose negative effect. Gender segregation is mostly associated with its negative effects that result in gender inequality. One impact is creating huge pay gap where although occupying similar positions, men are most likely to earn more as compared to the female workers (Powell et al. 2002). Another includes limiting female workers to low earning positions in comparison with their male counterparts. It also limits people of one gender on leadership positions in the government (Heilman, 2001).
A positive effect is when due to gender segregation, women, who are normally underrepresented in higher positions in an organization, may secure high earning jobs with good working conditions, opposite to the view of many (Powell et al. 2002). Pressure for organizations that are viewed to discriminate against women may also contribute to higher rates of employment for women. Another beneficial effect is when gender segregation results in job security for women even when the organization under study is undergoing through tough economic periods (Heilman, 2001).
Difference between Western and Asian cultures and their impact on gender stereotypes
The Western culture is popularly known for its individualistic nature whereas collectivism is popular among the Asian culture. Western culture, therefore, promotes individualistic behaviors encouraging personal freedom and achievements whereas Asian culture advocate for social cooperation and communal accomplishments (Heilman, 2001). However, in both Asian and Western cultures, males are viewed as the most dominant culture whereas the female is given a supportive role. Males also take up most of the leadership and political positions although the changing legislation advocating for gender equality has been more accepted in Western cultures (Heilman, 2001).
Men are also associated with the traits that are most valued in both cultures. Such trait includes independence which varies across culture. In Western culture, where interdependency is highly valued, male figures are seen as more interdependent. On the other hand, in East Asian culture, interdependency is highly valued and to them is more reflected in males than in females (Powell et al. 2002).
Tools for culture preservation
Communication has played a great role in retaining the cultural perception of roles and occupation depending on gender. It has enabled the transmission of the attitude and the view of roles across sexes across different generations (Heilman, 2001). Through oral communication, children from a young age are told what is expected of them and what activities they should engage themselves in depending on their gender.
Apart from oral communication, such views of gender roles are instilled through learning from the behavior of the older persons. The low representation of women in political and leadership in the country is passed to the other generations who continue to view gender inequality as an acceptable social norm. Another issue is the huge gap between the number of male and female working in the science, technology, engineering, and math field (Powell et al. 2002). It creates the view that male figures are better at tackling science and math and other manual work, whereas women are viewed to be good in humanities and domestic chores.
Minimizing gender stereotypes
Gender stereotypes have been minimized in comparison with the traditional times through the empowerment of women. Women empowerment has been enhanced through feminism where women are encouraged to tackle tasks that were traditionally viewed to be masculine. It discourages the view that the male is the subject whereas the female is objects meant to provide support to the former. Feminism can also be used to achieve gender equality through demanding the recognition of feminine attributes to be equally capable of carrying out all the roles and responsibilities as those assigned for males (Powell et al. 2002).
In the workplace, various strategies can be implemented to help reduce the gender segregation. One way is through the implementation of policies that bans any form of stereotyping in the working environment. Such policies should align with one set by the federal and state government (Powell et al. 2002). Equal employment opportunities should also be given to employees. Also, rewarding to employees who perform well should be awarded regardless of their gender.
References
Heilman, M. E. (2001). Description and prescription: How gender stereotypes prevent women's ascent up the organizational ladder. Journal of social issues, 57 (4), 657-674.
Powell, G. N., Butterfield, D. A., & Parent, J. D. (2002). Gender and managerial stereotypes: have the times changed?. Journal of management,28 (2), 177-193.
