Human beings are social animals. We have an innate need to connect and belong to a group. This drive to fit in is what allowed our ancestors to survive in the ancient world; it made it possible for men to work together to hunt down antelope or for women to gather berries. But now, it seems as if it is the root cause of stereotypes--namely, gender stereotypes. We have all at one point experienced them in our lives. Women are expected to be beautiful in order to find themselves a good husband, or women are more emotional than men. Likewise, men need to be strong and prove their masculinity by playing sports. These are only some of the many gender roles imposed by our society. But is it really fair to blame society? What if we were programmed to be this way by our genetic code?
It comes down to the classic case of Nature vs. Nurture, and this op-ed will examine both views via the histories of three popular gender stereotypes.
1. "Women are supposed to look pretty"
Time and time again, this gender stereotype has been infused in almost every culture. Women don’t need smarts, they just need to "stand there and look pretty." This sort of gender typing is imposed at an early age via social environment. Little girls are given Barbie dolls to play with and watch wide-eyed as their mothers put on makeup and high heels in the morning. They want more than anything in the world just to be a "grown-up." At first it’s innocent, purely observation and imitation (social learning theory). However, as they mature, these girls start to acquire their own thinking and reasoning in conjunction with the environment, forming their mental framework (schemas). Either consciously or not, they base their behaviors on their gender schema. They start shopping for clothes, jewelry, painting nails, etc.
However, it is not only society that is to blame, it’s also natural selection. From an evolutionary perspective, men chose women who have large hips, healthy looking skin and hair, because these traits all essentially guaranteed childbearing for many years to come. This is important for men who want to pass off their genes. Since our ancestors lived in agrarian or tribal societies, children were important for labor or leaders. In the end, however it’s a two-way street--men need to be just as "pretty." Women choose men based on their male-parental investment (MPI). A man who is stable, mature, and wealthy will be most likely to provide and care for the vulnerable child.
2. “Women are so much more emotional than men”
There is this myth that women are the only ones who experience mood swings because of menstruation or PMS. Physiologically-speaking, women produce varying amounts of estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen influences “feel-good” neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin and endorphins, which impact the emotion centers in the brain. What many people fail to realize is that men, also in a way, go through their own menstruation cycle. (Apparently, it’s called irritable male syndrome!) Not only do men produce the same estrogen that women do (albeit in smaller amounts), they also produce androgens such as, of course, testosterone; and when men have low levels of testosterone, they feel fatigued and depressed.
Besides the biology behind men’s mood swings, they can also be explained by society. While we may be hardwired to think that women are more depressed than men, this is not the case. Statically speaking, men are four times as likely to commit suicide or to suffer from alcohol dependency. Although it may seem backwards at first, it really makes sense in a world where men are supposed to be the procreators and the providers of the family. The idea to fit into this traditional gender-role in society can cause stress, weight gain, and irritability. Thus, the idea of losing a job can seem catastrophic to a man who feels like his family is dependent on him. Furthermore, for the man, who is supposed to be strong and "manly," it’s difficult to recognize and admit something is wrong.
3. "Men play sports"
Just as women are "supposed to look pretty," boys are "meant" to be athletic. Rather than this stereotype being a consequence of parenting, it has to do more with peer influence and social connectedness. For example, boys typically play in large groups with emphasis on competition, whereas girls usually play in smaller groups, often with one friend, with little to no activity focus.
From an evolutionary standpoint, when we lived in a hunter-gatherer society, men were the ones who needed to concentrate on big game hunting, which required speed, stealth, and agility. Furthermore, a man needed to be aggressive if he wanted to compete for a woman. Physiologically-speaking, the testosterone that men produce also gives them muscle mass, which makes them physically stronger than women. As a result, society treats men differently as a response to this biological appearance–as they are often required to do more physical activity, like sports. So it’s both the interplay of nature (the steroid hormones) and nurture (the indirect inference of social experiences) that form such stereotypes.
