1) Women Can't Drive and Park- This is way too common isn’t it? Just type it on Google and see it for yourself. Why is that so, ever thought of it? Guys out there always say, look at the girls when they drive. It’s as if they are driving through a death hole, these ‘shes’ are always so nervous and sit so not relaxed. And that, women can never park. I agree that’s true but just in some places where this type is focused on. Fathers when buying or handing cars over to their daughters or wives always think ‘OH crap she is going to BUMP it somewhere’. But why? Give it a chance. Just because everyone says it, is the reason why women are so tensed when they drive. They don’t believe in themselves instead believe it that they won’t be able to do it.
2) Girls are fussy about their hair & guys could care less if their hair fell out- How weird is that! Why can’t guys dress up and do their hair and match clothes? I mean if girls want to look good guys can want the same. Why do we stamp a guy with ‘You’re a girl’ when he dresses up a little bit or works on himself, or on his skin or his hair. And especially in this fashion’ista world where every next person follows some or the other trend and if a guy works on himself he’s called a girly.
3) Guys are stronger and better at sports, and girls are destined to cook at home for the family-
No doubt, girls are the ones whose responsibility it is to look after the family but that’s doesn’t make a women less strong. If a girl wants to be an athlete or do something adventurous, people don’t take it into notice, or say ‘that’s not girls stuff, she’s wasting time’ , ‘stop behaving like a guy, you’re weak you can’t do it’ :S For these type of people I have a piece of a FACT. A man’s heart is 60gms heavier than a women’s and a women’s heart is 6 times stronger than a man’s.
4) Girls always cry and guys can’t cry- Helplessly I follow this type. It’s weird when I see a guy crying, I feel that maybe it’s something very BIG that’s happened which has made the guy cry. That’s because it’s set in our minds that guys are strong and can bare anything so they don’t cry. But come on, aren’t emotions built-in and sent in every human. What makes us say that guys can’t cry? Crying has biological theories too; it’s just so very natural.
5) Young boys play with action toys (such as super hero figures, trucks and guns) and young girls play with Barbies and Kitchen tools- Why have our parents or the society restricted young girls from playing with the other toys? This type can be very controversial about kids playing with guns and stuff but let’s not go there. The point is girls can play with the other cool toys too and a young boy can play with kitchen tools. That doesn’t make them any different from other kids.
Anyway, these are some types of stereotyping which turn out to be meaningless and irritating at times. This is the way stuff goes around. And sometimes discussing, changes traditional views.
By Sidra Muzaffar
And you know what the sad part is, this kind of gender stereotyping exists even in the literate class.
ReplyDeleteI guess we should stop calling them literate.
Sarmad.