The effects of gender stereotypes on the stakeholders of a Secondary Educational Institution

Gender stereotyping is a commodity that could limit a person, in the sense that it could limit their options in what profession they would take. Stereotyping can limit an individual's individuality given the fact that a person can be limited in developing their ideas due to the fact that they can be exploited. Thus, making them suppress their desires making them latent rather than evident. This can harm an individual’s personality to a great extent by encouraging individuals to suppress their true personalities in order to fit into the standards of society. Living in a patriarchal society, it is evident how the expectations for a man and woman differentiates.

For instance, in an article called “Wears a Jumpsuit. Sensible Shoes. Uses Husband’s Last Name. ” by Deborah Tannen, it states that women are marked and men are unmarked. This suggests how women have to put more effort in their appearance compared to men. Based on the appearance of the female, it is clearly shown how their appearance can say much about one's class. Thus would make women care more about their appearance. Whereas for men, it is less likely for them to be judged by their appearance. Another example of where patriarchy is shown in society is when females usually inherit the last name of their husband. This can show patriarchy in where females are usually submissive to men. Another example would be in jobs. In order to sound more sophisticated and taken seriously, females usually take on the “male” name of a profession.

For instance, instead of a female saying actress, they would say that they are a “female actor. ” It is surprising how females in our society now often take up the masculine names and ideas in order to be taken seriously. However, stereotypical expectations not only reflect existing differences, but also impact the way men and women define themselves and are treated by others. Although it is good to have some sort of guideline as to what our responsibilities should be as a man or woman, at the same time we should also be taught that it is perfectly fine to not always follow society’s “norm” to an extent.