Female Stereotypes
For quite a while in American history, males and females have had very specific gender roles. Males were expected to be the bread winner's of the household and work to take care of himself and his family, whereas females were "stay at home" mothers who cleaned, cooked, and took care of the children. However, this did not sit well with many women of the mid 20th century. Many women wanted to pursue careers of their own choosing or go off and get further educated, but this was frowned upon by society at the current time. As a result of this, these daring females decided to make a change.
Common Stereotypes Towards Women
A Women's Place is in the Kitchen
Typically, in the average 20th century household, the woman of the house would be the one in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning. And as this was the societal norm, it was deemed that a women's place was in the kitchen. But again, as the role of a female was under drastic changes, this so called "norm" was to change as well.
Although it is a more modern child's toy, Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven is a perfect example of this stereotype that is still present today. In an effort to break down this common belief, in 2012, 13-year old McKenna Pope launched a campaign to get Hasbro to create a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven. She claims that "[America] continues to enforce this stereotype that men don't cook, they work." Her online petition gained 44,000 supporters, and as a result, Hasbro introduced a new black, silver, and blue model of the oven, and began to feature boys in ads for the oven.
Although it is a more modern child's toy, Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven is a perfect example of this stereotype that is still present today. In an effort to break down this common belief, in 2012, 13-year old McKenna Pope launched a campaign to get Hasbro to create a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven. She claims that "[America] continues to enforce this stereotype that men don't cook, they work." Her online petition gained 44,000 supporters, and as a result, Hasbro introduced a new black, silver, and blue model of the oven, and began to feature boys in ads for the oven.
- Women are meant to be the damsel in distress; Never the hero
This stereotype is and has been one of the most prevalent beliefs throughout the mind of Americans. The male is always in the role of the hero and the female plays the person in need of rescuing. A great example of this are the Disney Princesses. Nearly all of them represent the "damsel in distress" role within their stories. And each of them is saved by, or in Beauty and the Beast's case, saves a prince because of their beauty. In one interview with Sean Aaron, a psychology major, and Clark Callahan, a professor in communicative studies, Callahan refers to a term called 'Disneyfication'. This concept is basically "an idea of taking an environment and creating a fantasy world out of it by sanitizing it and making it devoid of any sort of impurity." This essentially reinforces this negative stereotype especially in the minds of the youth, which is Disney's target audience.