Gender Stereotypes in Popular Magazines

  

Gender stereotypes can be found in most, if not all, of the magazines. And obviously, such stereotypes are reinforced in the magazines which respectively cater for specific genders. Much of the content and images featured in these magazines is commonly stressed on issues of sex and sexuality. Women magazines usually emphasize the importance of looking young and seductive, so most models in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Vogue etc. are shown as slender, beautiful and sexually skilled. Most of the models in men's magazines  are shown as muscular and physically strong.

Under the influence of such gender-specific magazines, many people might feel that they ought to meet the unrealistic expectations mass media propagate. Girls might think it is necessary for them to be fashionable and physically attractive while guys might think they have to build up muscles to become manly. The images presented by models meeting certain outer beauty standards can greatly affect young men and women's self esteems negatively. These gender stereotypes fill people's minds with unattainable feminine and masculine standards of beauty and strength, even though hardly anyone fits that mold. This is something all of the people in this society have to reevaluate.

Math is for Boys Not for Girls?

When it comes to math, girls are still lagging in the classroom. Many people deem that boys acquire better logical ability so that they get better grades in math.  The stereotype of gender towards mathematical and science capabilities still retains the negative presumption that males are superior to females. Whether a female university student in math-related majors endorses this stereotype or not, unquestionably influences her future educational and career development. Some people deem that girls are born to be careful people who are good at focusing on the details of everything, so they are not able to rationalize things like boys do.

In fact, I believe that females’ math skills might not be necessarily worse than that of males. Girls’ potential in math is likely to be underestimated because even they themselves believe in the society’s stereotype on boys’ superiority in the subject, which more or less causes them to give up improving their math skills.

Rethinking Gender Stereotypes in Nursing

Gender stereotypes have been very common in the nursing industry. In many people’s eyes, nurses are mild and attentive, so a female nurse is a role expectation that society typically assigns to women. Men are often considered to be rough and careless, so they are not suitable for the tasks which require cautious care. The department of nursing in many universities used to admit only females. Although more males have been admitted to be nurses over past decades, there is still a huge gender ratio difference in the industry.  Moreover, most of the male nurses face gender stereotype problems during clinical practices, especially in obstetrics.

I think there should not be any gender discrimination in the health care industry. As long as the nurses are enthusiastic about their career and they try their best to take care of the patients, we should not deny their passion and devotion by stereotyping them. Only will the society achieve a greater degree of gender equality when people abandon the traditional frame of gender stereotypes. Then both male and female nurses can bring their talent into full play.

A New Form of Marriage and Relationship

Nowadays, more women work outside home and even have their own career; on the other hand, more men tend to be in charge of the things women used to do: doing housework and taking care of the children. The stereotype of men being the breadwinners and women being the obedient housewives is breaking down, and more people are accepting this irreversible trend. Some people even regard it as a means to achieve a happier life and marriage.

I know that the rising status of women has brought a lot of changes and I think these changes might work well if couples know what they are looking for in lives and are willing to understand their own specific family situations. The society keeps changing, so people have to keep up their pace too. It is no longer suitable for everyone to comply with the traditional value that men should always be out for work and women should always be the homemakers. Instead, if couples could reach a compromise within themselves and work out solutions to the problems, why not accept this new way of life?

 

Gender Stereotypes: Females in Commercials

Media may present a rather unrealistic and distorted interpretation of human romance and sexuality, which leads some commentators to raise concerns that youth media is developing and sustaining stereotypical gender-role schemas. In this modern society, women are often viewed as sex objects and depicted as “alluring” and “flirtatious” and sexual obsession is normal for men. We can see many beautiful ladies on TV, internet and magazine advertisements in skimpy outfits. Even this hamburger commercial is no exception. The advertiser emphasizes many close-ups on the young lady’s lips, boobs and butt so as to show the desirable female body shape to the audience. The extremely seductive poses of the young lady display the ideal body image of today’s women. She reinforces the stereotype that females should be sexually attractive and it is their nature to lure men.

In fact, the target product that the commercial tries to advertise has nothing to do the model inside. But I bet most of the people put their focus on the sexy model but not the product. The advertiser just tries to attract potential customers’ attention (especially men’s) by presenting the typical women stereotype of being beautiful and sexy, not by presenting the practicability of the product.