So it can be pretty easy in 2019 to believe that gender stereotypes no longer exist. Hell, the women’s World Cup last year was the most successful it’s ever been, meanwhile Queer Eye is tearing up a storm on Netflix. So how can they still exist, right? When the world is looking pretty wonderfully gender fluid from where you’re standing? Well, we know that the planet still has a long way to go to get rid of gender stereotypes completely, which is why we threw together this list.
1) That ad about the bad dads
Did you see that ad on telly where the dads get so distracted by how good their cream cheese is they actually leave their babies on a conveyor belt? Well, for one we aren’t sure cream cheese is ever that good, but it also raises a few questions about how we look at mums vs dads. Like, would a mum ever do that in an advert? Probably not. Plus it’s pretty rubbish because it assumes kids raised by a same sex male couple would basically be lost to dairy products within the first few years of their life. We love dads, and we know that they can be pretty damn incredible parents.
2) All ads for washing up liquid or laundry stuff
On the flip side, tell us an ad you’ve seen for washing up liquid or laundry tablets that has a guy in it. We’ll wait. Yeah didn’t think you could get one. Basically every tv ad for these kind of household products still show a woman doing the job. And we’re all just over here like “it is not the 1950s anymore”. We aren’t saying that being a homemaker isn’t legit, our point is that women can be anything, and ads like that are much more likely to make little girls (rather little boys) feel like their only value is doing the laundry.
3) Speaking of kids, toys are a wild ride in gender stereotypes
Remember when you were a kid and your parents would let you make out your birthday list from Amazon or the Argos catalogue. Well wherever you got your swag from, a hell of a lot of it would have been geared to you based on gender. Most “boy” toys are to do with war, violence, sports or traditionally “male” jobs. Things like laser guns, action dolls, football toys or playstation games are all geared towards boys being boys, and growing up to be men in the most traditional sense of the word. But what about the boys who like to play with makeup, enjoy art, or love animals?
4) In fact, a whole bunch of job roles are still pretty sexist
10/10 we would put money on your school crossing guard being a woman, or your bin men being exactly that – men. That’s because we grow up calling people lollipop ladies, bin men, postmen and milkmen. Even when you’re 12, your first ever job is probably influenced by which gender you are.
Nannies and babysitters are much more likely to be girls whereas those with paper rounds and doing odd jobs for cash are much more likely to be boys. Why? Because women and girls are supposed to be maternal and super in to childcare even from a really young age, and guys are supposed to be strong, athletic, handy and practical.
5) Same goes for relationships
Ever wondered why married women end up being a mrs, but guys get to be mr forever? Yeah that’s all to do with the outdated idea that a married woman becomes her husband’s property. Pronouns are a little more fluid today, and loads of women opt to be a ms, but it’s still a bit rogue that it still exists as even an option.
6) Same-sex relationships also bear the brunt of it
“Who wears the trousers?” “Who’s the man/woman in your relationship?” Yeah these are real questions that real people in same sex relationships get asked all the time. It’s pretty rubbish to be asked this kind of stuff as it basically completely ignores how far society has come, and implies that same sex relationships are not as valid as heterosexual ones because these roles are not fulfilled. The fact is, no one has to fulfill any of these roles in a relationship, because you can make your relationship into anything you want it to be, and that’s the real T.
Basically, we think that it would be much better for everyone if gender stereotypes were cancelled. They put everyone into boxes that will never make them happy, and makes us all have to put up with a little more criticism and negativity in our daily lives.
The only way we are ever really going to bury them for good though is to keep living our best lives exactly however we want to, and the more we do that, the more the rest of society is just going to have to deal with it.
You do you, no matter who you are. We’ve definitely got your back.
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