Social Issue Post: What Can I Do?

For my last social issues blog, I wanted to discuss the small things individuals can do to combat behaviors that support harmful gender roles paired with an example.

1. When your friends are stigmatizing someone in a gendered way, call them out!

Stop your friends from calling women derogatory terms. For example, if your friend comes to you venting about a woman who rejected his offer to go out on a date and calls her a “bitch” because of this refusal, tell him it is not acceptable. Allowing people to call women derogatory terms of the like supports the type of assumptions that women are supposed to be the weaker sex and that they should agree with whatever men say. Instead, you should reinforce the idea that women can do what they wish and that they are independent in their own right. This reinforcement should also be used in women’s behavior towards men, such as when a man is not regarded as physically strong and is therefore deemed less masculine.

2. Support films and television series with strong female characters.

While the media is a huge contributor to harmful gender narratives, there are some films and television series that do set good examples of portraying strong female characters. By making these strong female characters more popular and “cool” than those who just act as attractive support, then young girls and even boys will find that desirable - to be or know a strong woman with her own goals. A few examples (I asked some friends, too) are Parks and Recreation, Orange is the New Black, and How to Get Away with Murder. Each of these series contains at least one strong female character who has her own storyline and is supported by other characters.

3. Share your own stories.

By allowing men and women to share their stories, we give room for the narratives of real people to inspire boys and girls. This will slowly weed out media-created stories of girls who need to be a certain prescription of pretty and boys who need to be tough and athletic. Men can let their more feminine qualities show and women can let their more masculine qualities show in order to encourage others to do the same, since there is nothing wrong with having both kinds of attributes. In fact, it is because men are told to hide their emotions that many are unable to express anger they feel and that women are called “bossy” when they are in traditionally male professions or in any way they take charge of a situation or relationship. Let’s allow people to strive for what they want in life and stop telling them they can’t.

4. Use social media to your advantage

Social media is a great tool for sharing information about yourself and the world with others. If you see an article on a powerful woman or discussing the dangers of these limiting gender narratives: share it, send it to your peers, and discuss it. Along with sharing your own stories, you also need to be able to have these conversations with those in your environment.

5. Support those around you.

While it is important to create these conversations in your environment, being there to listen to others is just as important. Show people that you are there to hear their stories.