Social Psychology defines Stereotyping as “a fixed, overgeneralized belief about a particular group or class of people”.(Cardwell, 1996). One of the big disadvantages of stereotyping is that it makes us ignore differences between individuals, therefore we tend to think things about people that might not be true.
In her article, “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles,” Emily Martin highlights the gender stereotypes that exist in scientific descriptions of reproductive biology. She reports the expressions used by acclaimed biologists in their research and focuses on the stereotypical language used in them, expressions such as “strong, independent, and bold” are used to describe the sperm whereas the egg is described as “weak, dependent, and helpless”.
Although Martin may have shed light on the metaphors that initiate stereotyping in scientific journals, we might ask whether these stereotypes are still prevalent today. Has the extent of stereotyping changed? If we analyze recent articles on women, we might notice differences in the way they are portrayed in society, today women are being mentioned in the same breath as men and are accomplishing tasks that have left the world stunned, however, that’s not to say that stereotyping is dead. “Certain articles cannot help projecting cultural imagery onto what they study”, as observed by Emily Martin herself. Drawing on articles and related texts, this paper will look at how modern stereotyping portrays women.
“Male ego requires constant stroking. Every task is an achievement, every success epic. That is why women cook, but men are chefs”. (Magnanti, 2005). This line from Dr.Brooke Magnanti’s “Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl” typifies the modern world that we live in, where women, regardless of breaking the glass ceiling and re-defining their gender are still looked down upon and cast as mere sex objects. It is a classic case of gender stereotyping, bordering on sexism, and something that generation after generation never ceases to change, thanks largely to the way women are portrayed in articles, magazines, journals, advertisements, etc.
“Is this really what women want? An analysis of Fifty Shades of Grey and modern feminist thought.”, an article that was written by Van Reenen and Dionne analyses the unprecedented sales of the book while also looking at how it failed to eradicate patriarchal stereotypes that persist today. Their study highlights among other things the over-sexualized image of women and how authors like Andrea Dworkin express contempt towards the portrayal of women as objects….“ pornography says that women want to be hurt, forced, abused…raped, battered, kidnapped, maimed…humiliated, shamed, defamed…’’ (Dworkin 1988: p. 203). It seems that the way women are being depicted in popular culture keeps getting worse, bearing in mind that the book “Fifty Shades of Grey” was published in 2011, it just goes to show that women are still being stereotyped as “pleasant delicacies”. The authors are descriptive and convincing in their article about the role novels and books play in creating wrong impressions about gender.
Women have re-defined themselves in the way they can operate and perform any task, from fixing automobiles to scaling Everest, from breakthrough discoveries to curious inventions, they have come a long way from mopping floors and washing dishes, breaking the gender-related stereotypes, however, they are never fully acknowledged for their achievements, as described in the article “6 Women Scientists who were snubbed due to sexism” penned by Jane J. Lee. (19 May 2013). Lee mentions that former acclaimed biophysicist Rosalind Franklin who was responsible for discovering the structure of the DNA along with fellow scientists James Watson and Maurice Wilkins was never recognized for her contribution because Watson mistook her for being an assistant and not a fellow researcher therefore her contributions were overlooked, the common consensus was that “The picture people had at the time of the way that science was done was that there was a senior man — and it was always a man — who had under him a whole load of minions, junior staff, who weren’t expected to think, who was only expected to do as he said,” (Burnell, 2013).
Women are victims of sexism through stereotyping, and while their achievements cry out for recognition, prevalent stereotypes are responsible for overlooking that, this article captures the essence of ignorance suffered by women who have been undermined for their abilities just because of the way they appear. “Meek, helpless and desirable”, are some of the adjectives describing women, they are expected to be “Dominated”. Such misconceptions are responsible for a majority of crimes being committed against them, right from sexual harassment to rape, to torture, and all other crimes are happening because of the way women are falsely portrayed in the media.
In the last few decades crimes against women have become common, as discussed at length by Marian Meyers in her book “News Coverage of Violence against Women: Engendering Blame”, Meyer explores evidence that shows that news coverage in North American cities routinely depict criminal violence against females differently from the way it depicts violence against males. She argues that this serves to perpetuate traditional, in-egalitarian gender stereotyping. In her book, she mentions how the news coverage of crimes against women is portrayed differently than normal, succumbing to the gender stereotype, “Of course, news coverage of violence against women cannot be divorced from news coverage of women in general. That coverage, according to feminist scholars, is the product of a male perspective that perpetuates stereotypes and myths about women while ridiculing and trivializing their needs and concerns”, (Mills,1988; Molotch,1978; Sanders & Rock.1988; Tuchman,1978;Tuchman, Daniels & Benet,1978).A line that I prefer in this book is the way “News and media warn women about what actions are unsafe, influencing decisions about what to wear, where to go, and how late to stay out. It tells all of us how society views male acts of violence directed at women, delimiting what may be acceptable or unacceptable behavior for both women and men”, thereby summing up how society depicts appropriate behavior according to the hugely influential patriarchal system.
While I had started this article keeping in mind to find out the effects of modern stereotyping on women and to see the extent to which it has changed, I can say that the results have been insightful, to say the least. Stereotyping against women is at an all-time high, a testament to the extracts cited above. Women are being neglected for their achievements and subjected to various kinds of discrimination, be it on an economic, gender, social, or cultural level.
Media is hugely responsible for the way we can look and perceive our surroundings, it should be guiding us in understanding differences between genders and not admonishing them based on prejudice.
Works Cited
Van Reenen, Dionne. “Is This Really What Women Want? An Analysis Of Fifty Shades Of Grey And Modern Feminist Thought.” South African Journal Of Philosophy 33.2(2014): 223–233. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 November 2022.
2. Lee, Jane. “6 Women Scientists who were snubbed due to Sexism”. National Geographic. 19 May 2013. 17 November 2022.
3. Meyers, Marian. “News coverage of violence against women: Engendering blame.” Sage Publications, 1996. 17 November 2022.
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