Day 42 – Q 1.What do you understand by gender stereotyping? What are its socio-socio-economic implications? Examine.

1. What do you understand by gender stereotyping? What are its socio-socio-economic implications? Examine. 

जेंडर स्टीरियोटाइपिंग से आप क्या समझते हैं? इसके सामाजिक–आर्थिक निहितार्थ क्या हैं? जांच करें।

Introduction:

Stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about attributes or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by members of a particular social group or the roles that are or should be performed by, members of a particular social group. 

Gender stereotyping is the practice of ascribing to an individual woman or man specific attributes, characteristics, or roles by reason only of her or his membership in the social group of women or men. A gender stereotype is, at its core, a belief and that belief may cause its holder to make assumptions about members of the subject group, women and/or men. In contrast, gender stereotyping is the practice of applying that stereotypical belief to a person.

Gender stereotypes can be both positive and negative for example, “women are nurturing” or “women are weak”.

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Socio-economic implications of gender stereotyping 

• It limits women’s or men’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives and life plans. Both hostile/negative or seemingly benign stereotypes can be harmful. It is for example based on the stereotype that women are more nurturing that child rearing responsibilities often fall exclusively on them. 

• Women’s role within the family leads to a division of labour within households that often result in time poverty for women and lower levels of education.

• It results in a violation or violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. An example of this is the failure to criminalize marital rape based on the stereotype of women as the sexual property of men. Another example is the failure of the justice system to hold perpetrator of sexual violence accountable based on stereotypical views about women’s appropriate sexual behaviour.

• Traditional attitudes by which women are regarded as subordinate to men perpetuate widespread practice involving violence and coercion.
• Investigation of cases of violence and the sanctioning of perpetrators are underpinned by patriarchal notions and stereotypes that negatively affect their objectivity and impartiality.
• A range of UN human rights mechanisms have highlighted how stereotypes about women’s role can be incorporated in discriminatory legislation, for example preventing women from acquiring ownership of land since only the “head of the household” is authorized to sign official documentation.
• Economic Implications
  • Female labour force participation rate ~ 26% (Niti Aayog)
  • Gender pay gap ~ 34% (ILO)
  • Glass ceiling
  • Feminization of informal sector and de-feminization of formal sector.   

Conclusion

“Moving beyond recognition that gender stereotyping is an obstacle to women’s rights to meaningful progress in implementing human rights obligations to address harmful stereotypes and wrongful stereotyping will require all of us – treaty bodies, special procedures, States Parties, civil society, academics and many others – to give this issue the serious attention it deserves.” OHCHR commissioned report – ‘Gender Stereotyping as a human rights violation’