Research Paper on Gender Stereotypes: Separating Society and Creating Gender Gaps

Introduction

One of the most conflicting issues society faces today is gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes create gender gaps, which separates society as a whole. Gender stereotypes affect men and women in different ways as society expects them to act a certain way just because of their gender. Small generalizations that men should work blue-collar jobs and women should work pink-collar jobs turn into more significant social issues than most people realize. At this point, stereotypes like these are culturally accepted all around the world, and it does not mean that they do not have long term adverse side effects. Because of this full acceptance, most people are blind to the real problems that these stereotypes bring.

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In many cases, masculine men are perceived as strong individuals who are meant to work in physically demanding jobs. Because of these generalizations, it can also be tough for men to get jobs in fields that are dominated by women, and in the same way, women also find it difficult to get jobs in male-dominated fields. Most women are expected to stay at home as mothers and wives or work jobs that won't interfere with them becoming mothers. For example, during the soldier's recruitment, women are likely to have more limitations, especially when they are pregnant or have newly given birth. This means that one can lose a lifetime chance to get such a job. Those generalizations have created social and political issues of the gender wage gap. Although stereotypes will forever exist in societies, there are ways to reduce them to the point that they are not social issues anymore. Corporations should aim and persuade other corporations into hiring men and women for any and every job while maintaining equal pay for the genders, and dominant groups should use activism as a tool to educate society on the gender wage gap.

Gender stereotypes create wage gaps between men and women, with women getting paid less on multiple occasions. As women, they experience identity contingencies, which are things that individuals have to deal with in a situation because of the identity they have been given by society (Steele 556). With identity, contingencies come stereotype threats, which is a predicament that individuals feel scared to confirm a certain stereotype that they are part of (Steele 556). The purpose of this proposition paper is to propose specific actions or solutions to remedy the problem of gender stereotyping relating to specific identity contingencies, identity/stereotype threat, and their consequences.

The situation and instances of gender stereotypes have many adverse effects when it comes to the job environment. This is because of sidelining one gender and uplifting the other as the favourite for performing specific tasks and filling vacant job positions in society. Many men are still not willing to take jobs which are traditionally believed to be feminine. This is dangerous to the economy due to the dynamic nature of the markets. Due to this stereotyping, change is needed, and the reasons for implementing and changing these situations are concrete and will be explained in greater detail.

Reasons Why Change Is Needed

Automation has led to the displacement of casual labourers leading to the growing role of emotional labour (Gershon). Men are so reluctant to enter the jobs which are believed to be feminine based (Gershon). Unfortunately, these are the jobs that are expected to significantly grow as the economy is shifting away from manufacturing (Gershon). In case of such mentality and stand that there is an existence of emotional labour, it might be possible that the number of unemployed males will skyrocket in the future. For example, in the mid-west factory towns, the white working-class male is experiencing a disappearance of their father's jobs and the emergence of other jobs believed to be more feminine such as domestic health workers and nurse practitioners. "Elite men, you will notice, are not flooding into traditionally feminine work. To recommend that for WWC [white working-class] men fuels class anger." (Gershon). This shows that it is often the men that are reluctant to change the perception of gender-based jobs in the market. Sometimes Americans see men as unsuitable to take jobs that will require emotional skills such as teaching and nursing.

Many male jobs no longer exist like the past (Gershon). The only remaining male jobs are likely to pay fewer wages. Apart from the shift, there is also an entry of women in various fields. This means the proverbial saying of breadwinner becomes almost meaningless (Gershon). The vanishing of the breadwinner ideal is due to the ability of women to narrow the gap of the earnings between their male counterparts.

Gender stereotypes affect men's well-being. Apart from the work situation, in their social life, men are likely to be punished for the transgression of existing masculinity norms (Gallegos et al., 1). For example, when they behave in a way seen as stereotypically feminine, they often experience backlashes (Gallegos et al. 1). They lose social status and are sabotaged. These restrictions of men's expressiveness affect men negatively since their ability to seek help for emotional issues is compromised to a greater extent.

There is a need to remove or minimize gender disparities in the existing workforce. Across different cultures, despite many changes in society over time, stereotypes still strongly exist (Barth, Rice & Joan 2). The belief that men are more competent and prominent in the workforce is still prevalent. For example, men still dominate the women when it comes to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Barth, Rice & Joan 2). In big reputable corporations, a significant position requiring competent leadership and communication skills, men still hold the highest number in taking these positions. A demographic data released by Google, one of the leaders in technology, illustrated that women just held thirty percent of all the positions (Barth, Rice & Joan 2). The sidelining of one gender has led to subjecting women to different evaluative standards compared to their male counterparts.

Parties Responsible for Making the Proposed Changes

The post-industrial economy, which exists in the modern world, should adapt to the alternative view of masculinity and gender roles as it has proven worthy of being embraced (Gershon). This is because, historically, there have been men who were always proud of doing jobs believed to be more feminine. Even in the modern economy, there exist some men who still enjoy and love jobs demanding emotional and social skills.

Men should play their part and take up emotionally demanding jobs. However, many are obsessed with the fear that they lack the essential skills of performing tasks in these jobs effectively (Gershon). The long history that existed many years ago and the idea that men are unsuitable for teaching and healing tasks should not hinder men in the modern world. There are plenty of men who have been successful in parenting and coaching roles.

Women should take the initiative of taking up male roles and prove their capabilities in delivering the expected results (Rotem et. al 11). The changing roles of women in the workforce and higher status positions nowadays create a predicament for working women (Barth, Rice & Joan 2). Although most valued skills in the workplace are considered to be masculine, women who work on these skills are likely to exhibit masculine elements when compared to those women who don't work (Barth, Rice & Joan 3). However, women taking leadership positions may be seen as less skilled and less likeable (Barth, Rice & Joan 3). When women possess the masculine characters that are required to fill certain positions, they are seen as competent, but on the other hand, they are said to lack social skills (Barth, Rice & Joan 3). Only when the women engage themselves in performing these tasks can they prove their capabilities since society is unlikely to change their perception.

Implementing the Change

Women should pursue courses that allow them to be more engaged in male-dominated fields. For example, in the United States, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to men in the field of engineering exceeded eighty percent in the year 2011(Forsman & Barth 1). On the other hand, women dominated the nursing field, with men taking only twelve percent of the total number of bachelor's degrees awarded (Forsman & Barth 1). This means that the continuation of such records will result in the sidelining of women in significant fields, which for many years, have been believed to be preserved for men.

Ways in Which the Proposal Is Feasible or Sustainable

The proposal will be feasible and sustainable and be beneficial in the long term if there is; Provision of opportunities in which men will likely consider employment while at the same time prevent and disrupt being compared based on traditional stereotyping (Forsman & Barth 1). Major male-dominated fields require a lot of skills that women have not yet been believed to be competent to fill them. However, through education, women will be able to acquire these skills and supply some of their positions.

The offering of leadership programs where beliefs will be shaped about both female and male abilities to perform all tasks regardless of their technicality will be essential(Rogus-Pulia, 10). It should be ensured that the processes of graduate admissions use materials that have a diverse field snapshot. Job descriptions should be free of stereotypical language; use of terms such as charismatic and strong will favour the male applicants and regardless of measures taken, the concept of gender stereotyping will not cease in the workforce.

Proper diversification of professional roles should be ensured. Women's roles in society, such as in the field of teaching, librarians, house helps, farmers, doctors, are poorly diversified (Elena 70). This will mean that women will not appear more in natural roles as mothers.

Conclusion

Gender stereotypes exist in the modern economy, and this is a continuation of earlier history's beliefs. Many tasks and job positions are either classified to be feminine or masculine. Gender stereotyping brings on job stereotyping since some of the job openings only favour men and other women. The concept of gender stereotyping may be dangerous to men who believe that they cannot perform feminine tasks. Since both males and females are capable of doing any job in the modern world, my proposal that is possible and necessary to end gender stereotyping and offer every equal gender opportunities in the workforce.

However, critics may argue that some of the jobs and tasks in the society are purely deserved to be performed by one type of gender, such as women should teach and do nursing jobs while men work less emotional demanding jobs. The reason why naysayers will argue this way is mainly because of the general societal perception that some jobs are for one type of gender only.

What is at stake for the critics of my propositions might be dangerous than it can be thought. Reluctance to end gender stereotyping my bring about joblessness who refuse to take feminine jobs, not realizing that the economy is shifting away from manufacturing where most male jobs exist. More women who have had the courage and determination to take up masculine jobs such as the field of engineering, have proven their capabilities. The failure to empower such undertakings may result in lost productivity due to the inadequacy of the labour force due to job stereotyping.

Critics of the proposition should reconsider their position of standing for gender stereotyping because; it is dangerous for the economy and the general productivity of a nation. Women who are primarily discussed...