The Deeper Meaning Behind Throwing Like A Girl
Let’s talk about gender, but not in a way of angry feminists ranting about the deeply embedded stereotypes that we have grown to know so well in this prideful country (USA), but rather to explore the effects and solution to these over used and out dated stereotypes. Why do we even have gender roles? Gender roles are based off of social norms that have been developing and changing since the beginning of man which one would think to be on the verge of perfection, but still has much work to be done.
From my time in college, I noticed that I’m not the only young lady striving towards a degree that feels this way about gender roles and the objectification of women. Karrstyn Burt, The Unspoken Mind, made a blog post titled “Infatuated with some kind of Beauty” which is where she argues that what the media portrays beauty to be is not accurate because it is impossible to realistically reach the ideal body image due to digital alterations. Also, I agree with her thoughts about women at some point of there lives being infatuated with something they do not or could not have in realistically. Women should not have have to feel this way because it leads to insecurities and low self-esteem.
Stop teaching boys that being a girl is a bad thing.
Start teaching girls that being a girl isn’t something to be ashamed of.
— Michaela Ballie
Michaela Ballie, who appears to be a young female blogger on medium, expresses her thoughts about stereotypes and how serious they are in her blog post “Oh What A Tragedy To Have Been Born A Woman”. Here she brings up valid points and the one that shocked me the most were the jokes about serious matters such as rape, women sexual behaviors, and the traditional stay at home mom. Why should anyone care, these are just jokes, right? Wrong, rape jokes are a form of harassment, and when constantly used brings about a sense commonality which is why it is not unheard of for the victims of rape to be blamed for being assaulted because of the way they were dressed or walking outside in the dark alone. Ballie also acknowledges that rape is not always done by the stranger in the dark by mentioning that “Stranger danger is what they tell you when you’re young, but they don’t warn you about the people you think you know,” which is true because 90% of sexual assault that happens on college campuses the victim knew their perpetrator.
How can we solve the issue involving gender roles and stereotypes? According to Ann Friedman in her blog post “Etsy’s Trying to Fix Tech’s Women Problem. Why Aren’t You?” which was published by the award winning publication, Matter, made a bold point in which “ Girls don’t get interested in computer science because they have few role models and because more bombastic male students suck up all the oxygen in the classroom”. With humor, Ann starts the being of how to solve the issue. The way to solving the issue is not concert which makes it difficult because the starting point begins from birth with the mentality that girl should play in “housekeeping” and boys should play with “building blocks”. Also, a world dominated by men and masculinity would not want to give up this sense of entitlement. Although, there is no solid way in solving this issue, we should start by breaking down these gender norms and reinforce equality among genders.
Overall, we know that gender roles are not equal and that stereotypes have gotten out of control, but we as people can solve this problem together. By not reinforcing stereotypes in the media, changing are mindset on gender, and sharing the sense of “entitlement” for everyone. The last solution may be difficult because who would want to give up something powerful that they were ascribed at birth, not the average person. Yet, sharing this power would benefit men and women equal in the home and work force.
