People naturally differ from each other - they have different skin and hair colors, they belong to different nations and speak different languages, however, the most striking and striking differences are differences in gender - the traditional difference between men and women. These differences affect our lives and our ideas about what is due. But even sexual, biological differences are just the foundation of others, formed by culture and society frameworks, norms and standards. These standards - gender stereotypes - are becoming sustainable as generally accepted beliefs about how men and women should behave and what they should be .
Similar ideas exist in every society, but depending on the type of society, historical period or geographical territory, the established opinions about what the social role and mission of “real” men and women are, vary greatly. The generally accepted stable ideas in any particular society about the proper "female" and "male" behavior, their purpose, social roles and activities are determined by the sociocultural environment and, accordingly, are subject to change. Although our differences can both help and hinder our lives, gender stereotypes most often interfere with personality development, because they form gender expectations that other people judge about us and our behavior and dictate to us what we should and should not do to meet expectations.
Human culture has historically evolved so that differences between the sexes played a greater role than individual differences. Moreover, attitudes were fixed in public consciousness and psychology when certain generalized features and characteristics inherent in a certain part of men and women (not necessarily more) were extended to the entire female or male gender. Thus, a gender stereotype is formed, which transfers biological traits to the behavioral characteristics and social norms of men and women, as well as the relationship between them, and fixes these features as mandatory. For example, if gender differences dictate such forms of behavior that women can breastfeed or give birth, and men can conceive a child, then these signs, due to psychological stereotyping, are also transferred to social behavior. Most of the famous philosophers of the Ancient World claimed gender stereotypes, saying that the masculine is something initiative, active, logical, dominant, and the feminine is passive, passive, accepting, intuitive.
Such ideas led to the traditional perception of the social roles of men as bold, strong, aggressive, ambitious, rational, and women as emotional, weak, submissive, incapable of deep reflection. This imbalance, often pretended to be the natural balance of the sexes, actually generates gender inequality. First of all, women were considered incapable of rational thinking, management and calculation, alien to science and order, as well as everything related to self-control. Secondly, these beliefs justify the imbalance of power that subordinates a woman to a man, both in the family and in society. After all, they describe a woman as submissive to a strong and active man and giving her love as a gift for his patronage, and at the same time as a creature who can neither manage the household, nor the state, nor manage money independently.
Gender stereotypes are often used as an excuse for violence against women, because they form a distorted idea of the psychology of a woman - what she supposedly likes, that she is harassed, beaten, humiliated and even raped. Even Sigmund Freud wrote that masochism is a sign of female nature. Stereotypes in this area cause serious social problems - they cause discrimination of the fair sex, they deprive women of dignity and make them get used to their humiliated role, and as a result, endure violence and not fight for their rights.