Postfeminist Stereotypes
"Be a man, son."
Has society finally moved away from the common stereotypes of being a male or female? The answer is no, but we have improved slightly.
The Summer's Eve commercial we viewed in class really caught my eye for I was raised in a traditional conservative white family where my mother was the cooker and cleaner while my dad was the one who brought the cash money in. Watching this commercial reminded me of my childhood and what my father taught me what a man was and what a man did.
According to my dad, the man supported the family. According to this generation, that stereotype has gone to the dumps for more and more women are entering the work place.
In the Feminine Mystique, Friedan states, "Millions of women lived their lives in the image of those pretty pictures of the American suburban housewife, kissing their husbands goodbye in front of the picture window, depositing their stationwagonsful of children at school, and smiling as they ran the new electric waxer over the spotless kitchen floor” (18) Women were always considered the cleaners of the house but this generation is moving mountains to change that.
Commercials like this Summer's Eve commercial try and enforce the idea that men support the family while women cook and clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Gst1-iDQ0
From what I've seen, this isn't the case anymore, but we need to do a better job in crippling this stereotype.
Men are considered to be tough, strong, and emotionally stable. If we keep feeding this stereotype then the stereotype remains. Women are entering the work place more and more everyday.
Who says women can't be tough, strong, and emotionally stable? -- They are.
If we raise our children and tell them that men are the workers, men are tough, men are strong, and men are emotionally stable then women will accept this idea and live by it.
We need to raise our next generation to know that men and women are equal.
Women and men are tough.
Women and men are strong.
Women and men are emotionally stable.
References:
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W Norton &, 1963. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
I think this is extremely important. Women are often told that they can't do certain things and that sticks with them. If they knew that they had a equal chance at the same opportunities we get then that would probably change the notion that men are the bread winners.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our generation as millennials should be more self aware that we are all humans that happen to have rough days sometimes where we feel weak. However, why do we all need to feel strong? Why are feelings seen as weakness? The funniest part of the commercial for Summers Eve is that depict men desperate to do anything in order to keep their "masculinity" intact.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me about the commercials like the Summer's Eve ones are that they are still allowed to run even though they are sexist. The message that we need to be spreading is the one you supported in your post. As much as I believe in supporting women I want to make sure that we are doing it correctly. Power is viewed as a male dominated thing and we run into a hard situation where we want to empower women but we want them to feel comfortable being powerful women and not having to assimilate to traditional male dominated power roles.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree we have not moved far enough away from man and women stereotypes. I also agree that the summer's eve commercials while targeting women still try and show the things that make men masculine. I feel there have been strides in the workplace far as employment positions, but the wage gap still persists. I am a man and i feel sex should not determine wage income, this should be based on education and experience for positions of employment. Going forward women will continue to achieve employment and educational goals. The question is will they be compensated based on their achievements as employees and not which sex they happen to be.
ReplyDelete