Reflection On Gender Stereotypes

In today’s progressive society, many genders are acknowledged and accepted. Despite this progression, there still remain many stereotypes about certain genders and even oppression of some. Personally, I identify as a cisgender female and I am rather typical of my gender. I enjoy hobbies that are considered feminine, like baking or sewing, and I have always excelled in English and Language Arts classes, which is typical of female student. However, I do deviate from the norm as I do enjoy non-feminine hobbies, including watching and playing various sports. Growing up, I learned that these, among other things, were examples of how a “lady” should act. Although limited, in school we learned that girls should act as a sophisticated lady would act, and that boys would respect us for it. I do not remember ever learning about the expectation of boys in school; however, my knowledge about gender was mostly gained from media and family, so I did figure out the boys typically had less restrictions in terms of how they were expected to behave. Specifically, I remember talking about how the different genders had to dress for a play my high school drama class was going to see. The boys had to dress

Specifically, women often understand one another’s struggles and are willing to help if one sees that another id encountered with a confusing situation. I have often heard of women pretending they know another woman to get her out of an unwanted situation, or offer advice when they see a woman in an unfamiliar place, like a new job. Additionally, there are cases where women use stereotypes to their advantage, by using these antiquated ideals to show the world the struggles of many people. One rather famous example is that of Nellie Bly, when she pretended to be a crazy woman to get information about how female patients are treated in