Gender Stereotypes; Are They a Good or Bad Thing?

I honestly think that gender stereotyping is quite an outdated concept. It's a similar problem to believing that certain age groups should only enjoy certain things. As a 17-year old guy, I enjoy playing Netball (commonly considered a female sport), I like shows that are generally considered girly (My Little Pony), and I often find things extremely cute and express that.Consequently, my sister has a love of both Basketball and Hockey (both very physical sports), and she loves very action based shows and movies (Gotham, Arrow, GI Joe, Avengers). In fact, my sister and my mum to a certain extent are nowhere close to your stereotypical girly girl. They don't were dresses everywhere, they often wear clothing that is very quirky, and my sister wears a lot of clothes that a stereotypical girl would not be caught dead wearing, but a guy would definitely wear.

The thing is, there is an age where the stereotypes work, but around your tweens you need to learn that these stereotypes are not correct and are only the minority.

 

I think certain gender roles and stereotypes have developed in society for good reason. Stereotypes always have to come from somewhere and get reinforced somehow, and there's usually some extent of truth in them. However, I don't think that the stereotypes and roles are things that should be used to judge other people, nor do I think that there is anything wrong with not following this stereotype.

I have a little bit of experience with gender stereotype in my personal life. I'm a brony, and some days I just really want that Twilight Sparkle plushie sitting on the shelf in the toy isle when I'm at the store. But I know from experience that if I decide to grab that plushie, the cashier will probably crack some joke about it or ask who the lucky little girl to get the toy is. Normally I don't give a crap what people say about me, but for some reason that in particular makes me extremely uncomfortable. While the stereotype only affects me in small ways, it still is frustrating to see the amount of people who now dislike me just on the principle of me not being manly enough or something. I'm plenty manly in other ways, like in my beard.

I think advertising our toys in a way that makes them seem gender exclusive is reinforcing those negative stereotypes, and it's the most frustrating and saddening part of the gender stereotype to witness. I hope to never have to hear the phrase "but that's a girly thing" said to a child again.

 

I personally have little issue with them; I've talked about this before, actually, and it's quite an interesting debate. For me, I consider them to be a good thing, when done properly. It helps to organize roles, jobs, and lifestyles for people that might not be able to do it themselves. For example, a guy that is fairly athletic, a decent academic, and is good with his hands and following orders, might be good in the construction industry. As it is considered a masculine occupation, he would already be feeling some push towards it (I know I used to).

However, it's when people begin to judge others solely on gender stereotypes and attempt to preach them as the Word of God (in some cases, it is) that things get nasty. Gender roles and stereotypes are, honestly, perfectly okay. As I said before, it helps to provide order and a path for people to follow. However, the option should ALWAYS be available for people to do their own thing. A woman likes to work hard and do tough physical jobs? She could be a good construction worker as well. I cannot stress this enough. Gender stereotypes are only considered by many to be "bad" because that's what people made them. I personally would be surprised to see a buff girl working on the apartment complex next door, but you know what? It's not like I'd really care. I'd be like "Oh wow, you don't normally see women in that line of work. That must take dedication." or something along those lines. (I won't deny that I've had debates before about this subject, particularly on youtube comments. It's just so irritating, seeing the idiocy on that site... Unfortunately, these debates often occur with what people are now calling "********s". I won't go further on the subject. Let's just say I have some experience in this field of debate.)

So, those are my thoughts. Now, what are your thoughts, on my thoughts?