There is a rather strong debate currently on whether or not women and men are biologically different in a way that would justify a patriarchy. I won't bother listing the arguments FOR this, because they are rather well presented in our news. However, there is a big list of arguments AGAINST this, which was new to me until I started researching it.
A big range of studies on toddlers suggest that instead of what is widely believed (boys show a greater interest in exploring the world, girls are more interested in building a relationship with their parents), both genders are interested in both activities almost equally. There is a greater variety in most of the studies within one gender, than when comparing both genders. The variety in personalities and interests of humans is not divided by gender, at least not as much as we think.
Then why do we find very different traits in grown ups? Because our society conditions us to fit into these stereotypes. Women are found to do worse at maths tests, if the test asks for their gender first. When gender is not mentioned, or when it is only mentioned at the end, they do equally well as men. I've found this fact quite astonishing, since it really shows how greatly we are influenced by gender stereotypes.
"Until we treat men and women the same socially then we have no way of telling what natural differences there may be between them." (Theorizing Gender by Alsop, Fitzsimons, Lennon)
In what ways can we influence our society to get a more equal attitude towards men and women? Media content has a great influence on our society and our values, and I've found in my own research that there is an interdependency between the values displayed in media and the values of our culture. Therefore, it should be possible to change the values of our society bit by bit through changing the media content.
If we create media content that simply showed a different attitude towards men and women, and doesn't place too much importance on gender, than slowly but surely discrimination against gender will disappear, because creators of content are able to teach people, influence their attitude towards a subject, and simply provide them with a different view point. Film in particular is a very strong and broad medium and is well suited for this.
(I will provide references and footnotes for this, soon, I promise)
Charlie Crxsh
A big range of studies on toddlers suggest that instead of what is widely believed (boys show a greater interest in exploring the world, girls are more interested in building a relationship with their parents), both genders are interested in both activities almost equally. There is a greater variety in most of the studies within one gender, than when comparing both genders. The variety in personalities and interests of humans is not divided by gender, at least not as much as we think.
Then why do we find very different traits in grown ups? Because our society conditions us to fit into these stereotypes. Women are found to do worse at maths tests, if the test asks for their gender first. When gender is not mentioned, or when it is only mentioned at the end, they do equally well as men. I've found this fact quite astonishing, since it really shows how greatly we are influenced by gender stereotypes.
"Until we treat men and women the same socially then we have no way of telling what natural differences there may be between them." (Theorizing Gender by Alsop, Fitzsimons, Lennon)
In what ways can we influence our society to get a more equal attitude towards men and women? Media content has a great influence on our society and our values, and I've found in my own research that there is an interdependency between the values displayed in media and the values of our culture. Therefore, it should be possible to change the values of our society bit by bit through changing the media content.
If we create media content that simply showed a different attitude towards men and women, and doesn't place too much importance on gender, than slowly but surely discrimination against gender will disappear, because creators of content are able to teach people, influence their attitude towards a subject, and simply provide them with a different view point. Film in particular is a very strong and broad medium and is well suited for this.
(I will provide references and footnotes for this, soon, I promise)
Charlie Crxsh
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