Male and Female Stereotypes

Culturally it is interesting the way masculinity is perpetuated. It seems that males are pushed to dominate society from a very young age. “Little girls, therefore, are encourage to think ‘nurse’ and boys to think ‘doctor’” (Kokopeli, Lakey 233). Patriarchy pushes men to be competitive and domianant and it seems that they are much more effective at using these tools compared to women especially in the presenence of women. It makes sense that the males would be more successful around women because women are not pushed to be dominant and competitive the same way that men are. These ideas of women have “weak” qualities is an idea that has been cultured into people from a young age since we live in a patriarchal society. Unfortunately it is hard to be culturally accepted if a female seems to have male qualities and a male has female qualities. Females are not praised for their competitiveness, physical size and musculature, or being dominant. On the contrary, they are ostracized. This is extremely hard for people to cope with especially in the gay community. It is as if our culture has created a male and female stereotype. To go against this stereotype is to become an outcast in society. The trouble with this also is that in our modern society does not suite these stereotypes. Men and women both are finding that they are required to fill different positions in careers that require the use of qualities that would be stereotypical of the alternate sex, which in turn creates cultural strain for these people.