Gender Stereotypes Are Non-Discriminative

Gender Stereotypes are Non-discriminative

Holly E. Blankenship

Radford University

Negative Stereotypes Transcend Both Genders

 Men and women both believe stereotypes about each other. This has come from long-standing ideals, which have been negatively interpreted over time. Such ideals could be, those which concern the roles of women in society or how they perceive men. Negative stereotypes have surfaced more recently from portrayals of gender roles and behavior in the media. In the following essays, I will show how the authors proved their arguments to be ineffective with the use of ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos.

Portrayal of Both Genders in Society

In Noah Berlatsky’s article, “Orange Is the New Black’s Irresponsible Portrayal of Men” provides a creditable source of how society and media influence negative, stereotypical judgements of both traditional genders. I find Berlatsky’s article, that was published in 2014, still relevant today, because he speaks of how woman, even in prison, are still seen always as victims and that men are always predators. Noah states that “According to Orange Is the New Black, though, men in prison are “super-predators” while women in prison are, often, innocent victims, doomed by circumstances and their own painful but touching character flaws” (Berlatsky, 2014, 255), which reveals societies emotional appeal on gender victimization to be incorrect. Berlatsky also references Adam Jones from his book, Gender Inclusive, Jones gives multiple examples of how men are marginalized due to gender bias. One example is the neglect for male safety in nations where men are being killed by the masses; governments in these nations focus more on injustices against women, rather than men (Berlatsky, 2014, 255), Berlatsky explains that these nations logical assumptions are not gender equal. Not only in other nations, Berlatsky also provides incarceration rates for both genders in the United States, he states “In 2012, there were 109,000 women in prison. That’s a high number—but it’s dwarfed by a male prison population that in 2012 reached just over 1,426,00” (Berlatsky, 2014, 254). Berlatsky provides many creditable thoughts that reveal how society ineffectively perceives gender victimizations.

Women’s Role Inside of the Home

Women are often sought out to play the typical house-wife role once they are with child and married. Judy Brady’s article, I want a wife, that was published in 1972, still provides relevancy of how society and men see the role of women today. Brady states that “I am a wife. And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother” (Brady, 1972, 267). Brady exaggerates the phrase “I want a wife” while providing many examples of why she would want a wife, many of the reasons she lists are all stereotypical errands that have formed the role of married women over time. Brady states “I want a wife who will keep my house clean” (Brady, 1972, 268), this is presuming the traditional behavior that women are expected to clean. She also states, “I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a wife who makes love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure that I am satisfied” (Brady, 1972, 269), this reveals the behavior that men play a dominant role in relationships, while women play a submissive role. Although, Brady provides powerful commentary on this kind of thinking, her examples are not sufficiently supported by facts. This is because Brady does not give any empirical evidence to support her claims.

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