As a progressive society slowly ambling toward the horizon of change, I find it to be increasingly alarming that both females and males are battling with restricting gender stereotypes. Despite great leaps in legislation, which have broken social barriers, gender stereotypes are omnipresent in our media and regurgitated by our peers.
Too many a times I have stumbled upon a commercial for a common household cleaner which involves a women swooping in to save the day with a squirt of pledge, while her bumbling male counterpart looks stupefied and completely baffled about the strenuous process of cleaning spilled grape juice. Gender stereotypes are not limited to a specific group of people, they affect us all, hurting us in acute ways by boxing us into certain roles that is common for society to expect of us.
Commercials such as the one previously mentioned is once again perpetuating the standard ideal that a women’s calling and expertise lies with duties that surround the home while a man doesn’t have the knowledge to even assist with basic household chores, when this is simply not true. It is increasingly common for many households across America for the wife to be the soul provider while the husband stays at home to attend to the children.
From the time we are brought into the world we are surrounded with certain colors and objects according to our genders. Enter any standard card isle in any grocery store and “It’s a Girl” cards will be shades of petal pink and “It’s a Boy” cards will be a reliable blue.
Gender assumptions limit our potential to be the type of person we wish to be as capable human beings and isolate the individuals who cannot be categorized. As the fresh generation which is increasingly aware of discrimination and unfair prejudices we should focus our attention to eradicating unjust labels which only serve to confuse and limit our ability to forge a better enlightened civilization. After all, we cannot be thrust into certain check-marked boxes, sometimes we fall through the cracks, and that is all right.