Stereotypes About Women Argumentative

Girls love dolls and boys love trucks is what we have been taught by our grandparents, parents, and teachers generation by generation and has become gender stereotypes. Women are expect to marry and have children. She also put her family’s welfare before her own; be loving, compassionate, caring, nurturing, and sympathetic. For that female is often seen as a symbol of a weaker gender comparing to male who are bigger, stronger, and financial provider of a family. Because of the stereotypes, female is frequently discriminated by classifying to be a minority in a male dominated society. I will argue that female is experiencing inequality in every stages of life; since she was inborn until their rights and power in politics and economics as an adult in both developing and developed countries.

Stereotypes build up expectation for each gender roles and relationship between men and women. The relationship between female and male has traditionally been unequal in society. Since ancient time, male have a role of protection, fighting in wars for the country and working outside of their home to provide for their family. They have been a bread-winner. While woman have the opposite roles to male which were expected to take care of household works, take care of children, doing household works. As Professor Richard T. Schaefer from DePaul University writes in his Sociology 12th edition book : “While males were portrayed as a variety of characters, female tended to be shown mostly in traditional roles, such as mother, grandmother, or volunteer” (Schaefer 274) In other word, female characters were portrayed as helpless, passive, in need of a strong male caretakers. In which I think gender role segregation is discrimination.

In each stages of life discrimination against gender role has always been happened. The journal “Exposing Gendercide in India and China (Davis Brown, and Danier’s It’s a Girl—the Three Deadliest Word in the world).” by Robin Maria DeLugan observes that there are common female discriminated saying in India and China “A daughter is a burden on her father’s head. (Hindi saying), A thief has come. (Rajistani saying at the birth of a girl), It is more profitable to raise geese than a girl. (Chinese saying), A daughter is a thief. (Chinese saying)” (DeLugan 649) Therefore, these two societies have male preference deeply rooted in customs and values for thousands of years. Where it has developed value of male to be equated to strength, blessing and wealth while women obviously have less power and value which place a low value to the life of girls. For that reason these two countries happen to choose “Female Feticide” practice to accomplish their unethical believe where many girl infants were aborted or killed after birth. There are supported examples examined in curtain area in India and China.

India has a tradition of dowry where the brides’ families are mandatory to pay money and properties to the grooms’ families. That means the more daughters the family have the poor the family will become. To not have a chance of becoming in poverty, a lady in Tamil Nadu, India talking about killing eight of her infant upon birth because they were female. She also stated that her duty is to give her husband a son. There are many simply home methods that used to end the girls life such as suffocation, strangulation and poisoning. (Brown, Danier’s) For me to have my son marry to someone, all wish is for him to be happy not to gain money or properties. Indeed I imagine everybody should think the same way.

On the other hand, China has “One Child Policy” to control the country over growing population. The out-of-balance gender ratio of male and female is 140 males: 100 females. The policy was released in 1979 on top of the deeply embed custom of boy preference. Therefore millions of female fetuses were aborted in China. If not abort, girls might be abandoned and given up for adoption in efforts to have the one desired son. (Brown, Danier’s) In contrast to India, the reason of female feticide in China is not because of economic force but the government’s push policy which comes along with the boy preference believes. Today there are estimated 37 million more men than women in China. In which this imbalance resulted in female trafficking and kidnapping of girls to secure future brides for sons. (DuLugan 650) With this in mind, If the China’s government revoke the family planning policy and encourage people to be happy with having a girl as having a boy. It may help step forward reducing gendercide in China.

In worldwide women are still facing inequality in their societies. As reported by the United Nation: “A detailed overview of the status of the world’s women, issued by the United Nation in 2001, noted that women and men live in two different worlds. In too many nations women are denied equal pay, sexually harassed at work, or dismissed from their jobs because they are pregnant.” (Schaefer 280) United States is an example of a developed country that women are also experiencing this phenomena the same as women in developing nations. In Sociology 12th edition, Professor Richard T. Schaefer states the work of Sociologist Makiko Fuwa: “In industrial countries, women unequal status can be seen in the division of house work , as well as in the jobs they hold and the pay they earn” (Schaefer 280) comparing to women in workforce in the United States.

The statistic reported in Bureau of census in 2007 shows that women accounted for approximately 46 percent of paid labor force in United States, yet they constituted only 14 percent of police officers, 28 percent of dentists and computer analyst, 81 percent of elementary teacher and 95 percent of child care workers. (Schaefer 283) According to Fuwa and the data from Bureau of census determine that women are underrepresented in occupations. Women’s job markets are considered by “service” roles which parallel to the traditional gender role standard like housewives “serve” their husband.

We all have been taught to live in the society by remaining and respecting civil rights. We have freedom to make speeches, press and vote. But in history, American women had not been granted the right to vote until 1920. Not only that, after the grant suffrage did not lead to any other reforms in women’s social and economic position. Until now American women are still living in a male dominated society. However, a century later after the suffrage, American women have made a progression in a political field. As supported statistic, only 17 out of 100 U.S senators were women in 2007. But the ratio that shown is amazingly depressing and it still seems to be a long path for women to reach equality to men.

There are different types of female discrimination occurring every minute in the world. Preference of gender leads to gendercide which is the most regrettable practice that kill millions of innocent souls. Stereotypes are also a great influence which underestimate abilities of women and put women in a second class citizen. However, if we are all encourage each other to value women as we value men, provide paths and opportunities in all occupation positions. It will help create more equality in societies and bring humanity to be living in the ideal society.

Works Cited
DeLugan, Robin Maria. “Exposing Gendercide in India and China (Davis Brown, and Danier’s It’s a Girl—the Three Deadliest Word in the world).” Current Anthropology Vol.54 No.5 (2013): 649-650. JSTOR. Web. 14 Nov. 2014 Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology. 12th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.