Gender stereotypes: how they reproduce inequality

The creation of very rigid forms of identity and behavior are related to sexism.

The mirage of gender equality that we find in today's society in which we think that inequality is a thing of the past or of other countries, despite the existence of gender violence (the maximum expression of such inequality), the wage gap, the unequal distribution of household chores and child rearing, the economic and political spheres that continue to be mostly male...etc, show the continuity of this problem and the need to analyze the factors that cause and perpetuate such inequality.

At the base of gender inequality there are, among other aspects that perpetuate the problem, gender stereotypesas we shall see.

How is gender inequality inherited?

One of the theories that analyzes these aspects is the theory of differential socialization proposed by Walker and Barton (1983), which explains how people, in their process of initiation into social and cultural life and from the influence of socializing agents, acquire differential gender identities that entail attitudes, behaviors, moral codes and stereotyped norms of behavior assigned to each gender. of behavior assigned to each gender. In other words, differential socialization based on sex generates gender inequality.

Such differential socialization employs the various agents of socialization to transmit stereotypes that contribute to maintaining gender inequalities. Moreover, these stereotypes persist, as they continue to be transmitted in the process of continue to be transmitted in the socialization process at all stages of development. at all stages of development.

During primary socialization, in which the child's own identity is constructed, the child observes through family models how the father plays certain roles while the mother plays others, while at the same time he or she will be incorporated into a reference group according to his or her sex. will be incorporated into a reference group according to his or her sex, thus building his or her own identity.and thus constructing his or her own identity. After this initial socialization, the socialization process continues at school (secondary socialization), when the differences in the socialization of men and women begin to consolidate, which in turn contribute to the maintenance of gender stereotypes.

Thus, belonging to one or the other sexual category will determine both the differences in the identity of each person and the differences in their gender identity. differences in one's identity as an individual and the as an individual and the different social realities that occur in interaction with others. Both determinations will condition future behavior, i.e., future life choices, and of course subsequent professional performance.

Thus, women will assume the family functions of maintaining the home, caring for children and the elderly.care of children and the elderly, tasks which, given the differential socialization, she will have to combine with her work.

Gender schemas

The term "mental schema" refers to refers to the organized structure of knowledge or information that is built due to the existence of a need for knowledge as an evolutionary form of adaptation to the environment. Its elaboration and development is closely related to socialization processes.

For this reason, when we speak of gender schemas we refer to the set of knowledge through which shared traits and those that are differentially assigned to women and men are organized.

Gender schemas, like the rest of cognitive schemas, have an adaptive function since they provide information about the environment in order to cope with it and adapt behaviors to it. However, all cognitive schemas, including gender schemas, involve a process of schematization of knowledge or information that simplifies and loses nuances of the environment. simplifies and loses nuances of reality, given that the basis for its organizationThe basis for their organization is centered on two rules: distortion and accommodation.

Thus, authors such as Monreal and Martínez (2010) indicate that such gender schemes contribute to the maintenance of differences between men and women through three dimensions:

• Sex rolesGender roles: these are the attributions that are made based on the consideration that there are quantitative differences in the performance of activities between men and women.
• Gender role stereotypesGender stereotypes: refer to those beliefs about which types of activities are more appropriate or adequate for one or the other sex.
• Gender stereotypesGender trait stereotypes: those psychological aspects that are attributed differentially to men and women. These three dimensions contribute to the maintenance of inequalities because gender schemes are based on stereotypes that assume the order established in patriarchal society.

Gender and sexual stereotypes

Scientific research prior to the 1970s considered sexual differences based on stereotypes, considering masculine characteristics attributed to men as positive and those characteristics considered feminine, attributed to women, as negative. However, authors such as Bosch, Ferrer and Alzamora (2006) show that from the 1970s onwards, this consideration of sexual differences began to be questioned and criticized for various reasons:

• The existence of multiple research studies that yielded results showing that the similarities between the sexes are greater than the differences between the sexes..
• Women's access to the labor market, which allowed them to demonstrate that they can perform tasks that were previously performed exclusively by women. perform tasks that were previously performed exclusively by men..
• The contributions of the feminist movement such as the concept of gender.
• The explanations of the social learning theories or cognitivism on sexual typing. sexual typing.

Based on these contributions, the presence of stereotypes began to be considered and detected in the various research studies. The term stereotype refers to the system of beliefs about certain characteristics or attributes common to a given group or society. Specifically, sexual stereotype refers to the set of socially shared beliefs that attribute certain characteristics to each person based on his or her belonging to one sex or the other.

The sexual stereotype includes personality traits, behaviors and occupations that are considered to be characteristic of women and men. that are considered to be characteristic of women and men.

The stereotype of the feminine

Traditionally, the feminine stereotype has been shaped by characteristics that attribute inferiority to women with respect to men, based with respect to men, based on the argument that women are morally, intellectually and biologically inferior.

Although such argumentation lacks scientific basis, it is used culturally and socially in order to maintain the patriarchal system in which women continue to be considered according to the feminine stereotype assigning them roles and behaviors proper to the private sphere, maternity and care tasks.

Monreal & Martínez (2010) explain how stereotypes originated in earlier times and transmitted through education maintain inequality because stereotypes have a prescriptive and normative character. prescriptive and normative character shaped in society by which people will guide and adapt both the representation of the self as a man or woman, their identity, expectations, beliefs and behaviors.

This character of stereotypes allows for their perpetuation, since in cases where the person conforms to the normative gender stereotype, that is, to the imposed and internalized social norm, the stereotype is corroborated, and in those cases where the person does not conform to the imposed gender stereotype, he or she will receive "social punishment. will receive "social punishment" (reprimands (reprimands, sanctions, lack of affection...).

Inequality today

Today, reality and the social situation have been modified through various structural changes that attempt to eliminate gender inequalities. However, stereotypes have not been modified and adapted to the new social situation, which produces a greater gap between the latter and the stereotypes.

The gap between the stereotype and the social reality increases due to the self-fulfilling effect and the strong resistance to change presented by the stereotypes. the strong resistance to change that stereotypes present.. Therefore, the differences between both genders continue as men and women automatically internalize their own stereotype, with the corresponding values and interests of each gender, values that will be reflected in the roles they perform.

Although stereotypes fulfill an adaptive function that allows us to know the reality and the environment that surrounds us in a quick and schematic way, they are characterized by attributing the feminine and masculine as two excluding groups, in a dualistic way, as two dimensions represented in opposite poles in which the masculine exerts its dominance over the feminine producing clear maladaptive effects.

Thus, both gender schemes and gender stereotypes produce a vision of what can be considered a man and a woman, influencing from the identity and decisions of each person as well as their vision of the environment, society and the world.

Despite the characteristics of the aforementioned gender schemes and stereotypes, their influence is not deterministic and immovable, so that by modifying the socialization process and its transmission through the agents of socialization, a process of change could be achieved with which to adapt the stereotypes to society, allowing the current mirage of equality to become a social reality.