Blue is for boys. Pink is for girls. Boys should play with cars, planes and trains and girls should play with Barbies, makeup and dressup. Why are boys and girls taught and raised so differently? Why were we taught that women take care of the family and the man provides for it? What do the words Femininity and Masculinity really represent? If they are just words why do they hold so much power, if it is just a gender how does it hold so much identity? Today I am going to be talking about how I believe gender identity has a negative impact on society- and in particular focus on the effects on young women. 

Clearly, our society has gendered our behaviours, we have been shown this from a young age even as simple as blue being for boys and pink being for girls. “It is suggested that gender is a property, not of people themselves but their behaviours”. During my research, I found a survey that had been done a few years ago which basically shows what traits are valued most and the differences are shocking. 33% of women stated that they valued mens honesty the most, closely followed by financial success where as 35% of men said they value a women's physical attractiveness closely followed by 30% saying empathy and kindness. Even if we are not aware it is proven through multiple studies that the majority of us alter how we present ourselves to match up with what society determines we should be like. When repeated, the message of gendered identity is taken on easily from a very early age.

So what is the effect of these enforced gendered identities? Well I believe that it stops women showing their individuality. To me individuality is shown as something we could all express but are much too scared to because of the stereotypical identity that we have been labelled because of our appearance, popularity and interests, This being very prominent in the school setting. Although some teenagers escape that identity after education a large majority of us don’t, especially as women. The mass media has drilled it into our minds from such young ages that we have learnt to follow the normative female cues, subsequently following exactly what the media, magazines and our society have taught us which leads to objectification and a severe lack of naked individualism. During my research I found a quote which states “she is a visual object, the male gaze in consonance” which explains my point clearly. But slowly we are learning that Femininity is nothing more that a social construct and an unfair gendering of power and identity. 

What is even more worrying is that if you examine the definition and representation of beauty across all cultures you will see that they are actually not that diverse, these internalised expectations of ourselves that we dream of achieving have taken over our minds. Mass media's influence is much more prominent in our lives than any of us could ever imagine, it's just as easily shown as an advertisement in a magazine or a social media post. Post modern media projects disordered eating and the desire to be thinner, this a dangerous belief for many vulnerable female teenagers and young adults who are still struggling to accept themselves and going through many changes as puberty causes insecurity which the media challenges with harmful thoughts and negative internalised image. Social media being the main form of communication and expression for our generation, the fact that this positivity is being diluted by unrealistic expectations and gendered stereotypical image making the users question their worth and damaging their self esteem.

One of the most popular methods of advertising used in mass media is the explosion of women this is used to increase the appeal of the media or a product with no regard to the interest of the women portrayed, this is called the exploitation of women in mass media. Although women also may exploit themselves this issue is mainly prominent among men and could sometimes be associated with the term “eye candy”. I found a quote during my research which states “we don’t need afghan style burquas to disappear as women, we disappear in reverse- by revamping and revealing our bodies to meet externally imposed vision of beauty”. This gives the idea that we must meet societies standards to be valid as women. Even though everyone knows the gender inequality and pay differences the issues are less than briefly discussed and somewhat ignored in society, wage discrimination and sexual segregation are still on going whether it be wages or rank structures therefore women are at an economic disadvantage and have to work harder for success. “pretty not powerful, noticed not respected”

It shocks me that these issues aren’t spoken about more as they are so prominent in our community, Girls are sexualised and objectified almost daily and are taught to put up with it. Therefore media’s idea of “perfect” is nothing more than another mindset used to restrict is and gender is just an idea imposed on us by those who fear not understanding everything and are intimated by our individuality.