Women's Stereotyped Roles In Society

“The emotional, sexual and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: it’s a girl.”

- Shirley Chisholm 

Woman: a noun used to describe an adult human female, a word acting as an epitome of elegance and a title given to the seemingly ‘inferior’ gender of human society. Stereotype: a word used to describe a conventionalised, overused theme; often proving to be overly cliché. Throughout the centuries, gender discrimination has been an increasingly alarming social issue in which women are commonly regarded as the weaker ones; the ones forced to obey the reigns of men. 

One of the most obvious and degrading female stereotypes as of date is that women are known to be mere ‘breeding machines’ to some members of the public. As bearers of children of the future, a woman’s role is often connected with the sole purpose of dedicating her life for reproduction; nothing more, nothing less. Not only does this mindset violate the rights of women but it also fallaciously educates future generations that women should be regarded as only tools meant for the continuation of the human race. 

Besides that, women are also notably shrouded with an everlasting stigma which states that it is an obligatory practice for them to be the ones who should raise their children instead of their male counterparts. This is because women are allegedly supposed to be the ‘submissive’ ones in a matrimony and in most cases, the wife is forced to abide her husband’s every command; rendering her voice null and meaningless. Similar to men, women should have the opportunity to pursue their careers as well; instead of being held down by the shackles of society that force them to be full-time mothers. In my opinion, the act of nurturing and caring for a child should be equally shared amongst both parents. The full responsibility should not be entrusted to the mother only; the father needs to have a fair share of moments with his child as well. 

Women, who spend time taking care of their children at home, are often linked with housework; thus, the stereotype, which connotes that women should cook, sew and have a set of home economic skills, was born. This idea of women having to learn these skills is most certainly an excellent one as it promotes the aspect of versatility in women but it also simultaneously lowers down the self-esteem of certain female individuals. For example, when a woman doesn’t know how to cook, she is ridiculed, frowned upon and mocked by society; all because she did not acquaint herself with the art of being a ‘true woman’. There are no such laws in any rule books of the world which proclaim that it is compulsory for a woman to study the art of cooking and sewing. Women are not just mere objects that can be personified and labelled by these chores; they have their own interests as well. 

Moving on, another women’s stereotyped role in society is that women are not as strong as men and are mostly never the heroes in any situations. Often portrayed as the ‘damsel in distress’ in most works of fiction, women are always the ones in need of help and they are regarded as the more fragile ones; in which they are usually saved by the ‘powerful’ men. It has been scientifically proven that males have stronger builds than females but this fact should not stand in the way of a woman’s path. Women are as (if not, more) capable as (than) men are. The weakest woman can be stronger than the weakest man and the strongest woman can be stronger than the strongest man. Nothing is impossible.

All in all, there is more to the female gender than it seems. These stereotypes that surround the entity of women should be abolished and no living organism should be typecast with such conventionalised characteristics. Everyone should have an opportunity to explore their own identity in order to discover themselves.