GENDER STEREOTYPES
I
feel Gender discrimination and prejudice has to the gender stereotypes.
It’s
practically a habit of buying the son a toy car and daughter a doll, to play
with. Being a girl my favourite colour might be blue or black. But no one gifts
me anything in this colour. Perpetuating the gender stereotypes that society
deems as ‘normal’ for boys and girls. But what happens if the son dresses dolls
and the daughter is obsessed with techie toys or action characters. Parents
usually want girls to be teachers and doctors.
A
number of taboos are attached to the birth of a girl child in India. It is the
social structure we live in, responsible for our faulty gender scripts. We need
to change this!
Media
is yet another important agent of gender bias. In various advertisements women
are generally portrayed as weak, homely, doing the household chores.
At
work places too, it has been seen that women are being paid less or face
prejudice from the men folks. The social belief is that the women are required
to marry and be a home maker for a life time. As a result the career ambitious
women often face depression. Gender stereotypical attitude is affecting the
development of the country. It decreases the per capita income of the country. If
women lag behind, it retards the development of the country.
Giving
equal opportunity to both boys and girls, would definitely initiate development,
economic stability and increase literacy rate. As the father of the nation,
‘Mahatma Gandhi’ said be the change you want to see. So we, the young people
stand for the change because we can make a difference.
Samiksha, XI