We are all stereotypes. They act as a code in society to quickly categorize what kind of person someone is. There are the typical high school stereotypes we all heard, and thanks to movies like “The Breakfast Club” we will remember forever. Stereotypes are a play on personality, they are categories that society places us in, but the real issue is the stereotyping that we not fully aware of, and that’s gender stereotyping.
Sure, we know it for women. That’s an obvious one with all the attention it has gathered in the past decades. Fighting for equality, rights, and acceptance and not only making leeway, but also making a severe impact in the world. Women have fought to be given equal job opportunities, have an equal say in society and our nation by voting, and have worked to rid themselves of the ever lasting image as a housewife. In addition to this, the viewing of woman as a sex symbol has greatly impacted the way today’s youth views how a woman she look.
Without a doubt, media stereotyping is inevitable, especially in advertising, news, and the entertainment industry. It’s said that in “advertising industries, media stereotyping is standard protocol for boosting the success of programming and accessibility towards viewers” (Harper). It is a disappointment that our society has come down to this, that in order to make something sell men and women need to show some skin or use sex appeal to appeal to consumers.
Women today are made to believe that unless they are a size zero, they are overweight. This is not sending the right message to today’s youth. Even through television shows the female characters are portrayed as stick figures, with long flowing hair. Girls today are more pressured than ever to look a certain way. This image is what they are led to believe is beautiful, and unless they match that description they are led by today’s media to believe that they are not socially acceptable. This is just a large means of propaganda.
Besides needing to have the perfect body, the media depicts women as helpless, idiotic, and dependent on males. This places a stereotype on the male gender as well. Women view men to be not only the usual tall dark and handsome, but in addition we view them as needing to be muscular, a savior, and an overall prince charming. They need to come to every defense for a woman, be a shoulder to cry on, and more importantly when we are in trouble, we expect them to slay the dragon and carry us to safety.
This may not be seen as a big issue for men, thinking that something as positive as this is a good stereotype to have. But more women than you realize fall into believing this stereotype of men, truly thinking that this is what’s normal, and this is what they need to hold out for in a man. More importantly, this is sending the message that women need to rely on men, and women are incomplete without them.
Shows like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” are jammed packed with stereotypes within a 30 minute time period, and the stereotypes they portray what is perceived as normal, acceptable, and comes off as humorous to society. We do nothing to monitor this type of reaction because we are so accustomed to it. However, it is well acknowledge that this stereotyping is unacceptable and something needs to change- but who is actually taking the steps to make that change?
Day in and day out we are submerged in media that is capable of morphing everything and making it something that we deem as normal. It’s something we fall prey to daily, something that has an effect on us all, and something we don’t realize is happening. We play into the stereotypes because we don’t know any better, and we look to people as being in that stereotype because we use them to put people into categories. It’s propaganda at its finest, but it is a selling technique. It’s something that someone can always relate and identify with, because we all stereotype, and we all reinforce them.
By Caitlin Golub
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