Gender Stereotypes

A stereotype is a widely accepted judgement or bias about a person or group — even though it’s overly simplified and not always accurate. Stereotypes about gender can cause unequal and unfair treatment because of a person’s gender. This is called sexism.
This can be seen in everyday things like social media, television, newspapers and adverts. The majority of them conform to the ideas and beliefs on gender roles and what they imply.
These views have recently started to be challenged and morphed into a better, more inclusive beliefs.

For example, this advertisement video from Aldi shows how stereotypes have lead to girls growing up believing they have to do everything themselves while boys are brought up with the belief that they do not have to help with housework, children or similar as a woman will always take care of it.
This is what i want to focus on today. Not the way stereotypes are affecting negatively our society and everyone in it, but the way we are finally starting to challenge these beliefs and creating a more equal and accepting environment for us and the future generations.
In the ad above, we can see how every action done by the woman is highlighted and put in contrast with the actions of the man. However, these are not unusual or surprising actions, but actually norms in our society. We can see how the narrator and father figure is shocked by these norms and decides to make a change. This is a message of hope, awareness and change. It goes to show how no matter what your age or gender is, no matter how you grew up and what you are used to, you can always change for the better. At the end we see him helping his old wife to do such a simple and mundane task such as the laundry, but it symbolises a much bigger change in the dynamic of the relationship.

Another example is Nike's Equality ad from 2017 which wants to “Encourage people to take the fairness and respect they see in sport and translate them off the field.” This advertisement video touches on more than just gender, talking about colour and religion as well. It encourages equality and tries to fight misconceptions and stereotypes of these groups.

We as a society have come a long way from stereotypical sexist displays such as the ad above, but we are still going. We are always improving and raising awareness and even though sometimes it might not feel like much, we have to take a step back and realise just how far we've come.