Gender roles are the various responsibilities that men and women need to undertake based on their sex (Ellemers, 2018). Traditionally, society expects women to be more nurturing than men. Therefore, the feminine gender role traditionally prescribes women should engage themselves with responsibilities that are nurturing. A woman can embrace the traditional gender role by spending most of her time with family rather than seeking employment out of her home. The traditional gender roles presume men to be leaders. According to the conventional view of the masculine gender role, men ought to take the mantle of leading their households, be the sole financial provider for the family, and make crucial decisions regarding sensitive family matters (Ellemers, 2018). Exaggerated gender stereotypes can lead to a strained relationship between people. Hypermasculinity and hyper-femininity are the most exaggerated gender stereotypes. Hypermasculinity is an excessive stereotyped behavior regarded as masculine. In hyper-masculinity, society expects men to dominate women by showing aggressiveness, insensitivity, ambition, and sexual experience. Hyperfemininity is an exaggerated endearment to the feminine gender. In this stereotype, women tend to believe that their success is mostly dependent on their ability to maintain a romantic relationship with the males (Hargreavers et al., 2014). Various strategies such as early socialization, educational practices, and sensitization of sports and cultural activities need to be adopted to limit society's gender narratives.
Education is one of the most fundamental human rights that adequately prepares young people, regardless of gender, to fully and actively participate in society (Alvarez, 2015). Furthermore, well-established education systems set the foundations in which different nations can acknowledge and preserve their heritage. Through education, a society can realize a change in gender relations, the empowerment of the feminine community, and the disbandment of negative gender and sexuality stereotypes. The changes are fundamental to the realization of gender equality that would significantly impact society at large. By effectively restructuring gender representations and the specific behaviors and attitudes embedded in it, education can play a significant role in combating gender stereotypes (Alvarez, 2015). The fact that education can be a factor of help in promoting gender equality is a step that is indispensable to the achievement of equality for both men and women from all spheres of life. Although society views education as that reflects its culture and values, certain essential aspects need some considerations so that the gender narratives pushed by stereotyping can be a thing of the past. For instance, in contemporary society, males are given an education that prepares them for public life. At the same time, the girls acquire an education that enables them to be society's carers. Furthermore, to counter gender narratives through education, more females need to participate in technical subjects such as science, engineering technology, and mathematics, disciplines predominated by males. Governments need to organize their education curriculums so that the female students can get motivated to engage in these technical subjects and give them a chance to graduate into careers of their choices.
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Culture and sports are vital activities that limit the narratives posed by gender stereotyping (Pfister, 2010). When both the males and females compete fairly and equally in games and sports, they will learn how to respect each other's abilities to perform specific tasks and value them regardless of gender identity. Some of the gender stereotypes in sports are that men are much stronger than women, women are quite emotional than men, male athletes perform much better than female athletes, and that the best athletes ought to have a distinct appearance. Sporting culture ought to be restructured so that the quidditch, notwithstanding assumptions, can get addressed. Furthermore, the sporting culture should mirror society's gradual changing values and norms, focusing much on gender equity. Therefore, girls and women do not deed to fight hard to get involved in sporting activities. By sensitizing gender equity in sports, women's participation in sporting and physical activities will undergo a drastic change. More women need to engage in physical activities such as horse riding, gymnastics, and sky diving. Also, society needs to see more women take part in athletics. Through these changes, the narratives pushed by the traditional gender stereotyping for both males and females will transform. The changes will also get rid of the various misleading gender perceptions in sports, such as the idea that "women can't sweat," "women don't run," and "women can't get dirty" (Pfister, 2010). The changes will also increase the number of women participating in highly competitive sporting events such as swimming, baseball, and rugby.
Early socialization of gender in children is another important strategy that can be of significant use in limiting the narratives of gender stereotypes. Assigning gender to children at birth is a fundamental aspect that shapes their identity, but it plays a significant role in shaping their lives. Early socialization of gender in children involves parents engaging in activities that positively influence their children's gender development, giving them social guidance, and being their role models (Kollmayer et al., 2018). Through early socialization, parents and policymakers will be able to structure more flexible gender roles in children. The strategy will significantly assist in the development of their socio-emotional and cognitive skills. Apart from policymakers and the parents, other groups of people that can act as a source of socialization in children's gender development include the family members, peers, friends, and educators.
Furthermore, parents can foster early socialization in children by encouraging them to incorporate both the masculine and feminine stereotyped toys in their play. Besides, they can promote flexibility in gender roles among their children by educating them on how to take part in mixed-gender activities that would make them understand the benefits of working together as equals. Lastly, they may also take the chance to discuss the various issues surrounding gender stereotypes and come up with ways of challenging them.
In conclusion, the stereotyping of gender roles is an issue that is still present in society despite all the legal, social, cultural, and intellectual changes that have taken place over the years. The persistence of the traditional gender stereotypes in society is an attribute to our unconscious biases. These biases to happen when we tend to make assumptions about other individuals based on their perceived background. Furthermore, gender stereotyping can result in a stereotype threat in which individual experiences reduced performance when handling specific assigned tasks. The stereotype threat happens when people get placed in categories when performing particular jobs based on their gender. For instance, research has shown that gender stereotyping can adversely affect a girl's performance in STEM subjects, especially mathematics. The discussions surrounding gender roles are always quite tricky and sensitive as people may find it uncomfortable imagining a change in the status quo. Gender stereotyping can also have detrimental effects on the professional industry (Heilman, 2012). For instance, gender stereotyping in the workplace can potentially lead to discrimination. In this case, a company may consider classifying profession into two distinct categories: suitable for men and others ideal for women. Such kinds of categorizations may come with different levels of remunerations for men and women. Workplace gender discrimination can also lead to the unequal representation of women and men in various managerial positions, and this can be a recipe for the problem of labor harmonization.
References
Alvarez, T. (2015). Combating gender stereotypes in the education system: success stories. In GEC (2015) 1 EN. Conference on “Combating gender stereotypes in and through education" (pp. 28-34). Conselho da Europa.
Ellemers, N. (2018). Gender stereotypes. Annual review of psychology , 69 , 275-298.
Hargreaves, J., & Anderson, E. (Eds.). (, 2014). Routledge handbook of sport, gender, and sexuality . Routledge.
Heilman, M. E. (2012). Gender stereotypes and workplace bias. Research in Organizational Behavior, 32, 113-135.
Kollmayer, M., Schober, B., & Spiel, C. (2018). Gender stereotypes in education: Development, consequences, and interventions. European Journal of Developmental Psychology , 15 (4), 361-377.
Pfister, G. (2010). Women in sport–gender relations and future perspectives. Sport in Society , 13 (2), 234-248.
