Historically, stereotypes, gender roles, and social attitudes played an extremely
important role. In fact, their impact on the life of society at large and each
individual in particular should be profoundly researched and tested since the
steaks are really high. It is not a secret that stereotypes, gender roles and
social attitudes to a significant extent define the identity of the individual.
This is particularly important in the modern world when the human community
tends to be globalized under the impact of growing economic, political and cultural
integration. This is why it is necessary to clearly define the impact of stereotypes
and social attitudes on individual and their perspectives in the context of
globalization.
First of all, it is necessary to underline that stereotypes, gender roles and
social attitudes have constituted an essential part of human society throughout
its history and, as O.V. Mitina and V.F. Petrenko underline , they produced
an extremely profound impact on an individual to the extent that they are regulated
on the deep mental level of societal consciousness, and they in turn influence
it. In such a way, stereotypes, gender role and social attitudes associated
with them are produced by individuals and, at the same time, set certain regulations
on their consciousness as members of the community. In such a situation it is
possible to speak about mutual impact of the individual and the society which
eventually live in accordance to the existing rules developed throughout the
historical development of the society and realized by each individual in his/her
lifetime. It is also worthy of mention, that this historically formed mental
level has many different aspects – historical, social, economic, cultural,
religious, etc .
Obviously, stereotypes define human behavior and they basically define the significant
differences that exist between people. For instance, it is not a secret that
the gender roles are defined under the impact of stereotypes, social models
of behavior, cultural norms, and other external factors. In this respect, it
is possible to refer to the research of Linda L. Carli who analyzed the problem
of gender roles and difference between genders . She revealed the evidences
of significant differences between male and female which are the result of the
existing standards, norms, and stereotypes. For instance, she argues that gender
differences in influence depend on a variety of factors such as gender of recipient
of influence attempts, proportion of males and females in the interaction, communication
styles used by influence agent, including competence, dominance, warmth and
communality and other factors. Eventually, she concludes that the ability to
influencing may be different for male and female depending on the variety of
factors.
In such a way, it is obvious that the behavior and even mentality of male and
female is formed by stereotypes, existing gender roles and social attitudes
associated with them. Naturally, the formation of gender roles starts at the
very early age, to put it more precisely from the moment of the birth of a child,
social norms and stereotypes influence him/her and it is practically impossible
to avoid them. Moreover, the impact of stereotypes is particularly strong in
the childhood and, to a significant extent, defines the future life and behavior
of individuals. Notably, Jan M. Ochman underlines that since children continually
gather and integrate information, gender related and otherwise, the information
they receive is crucial to consider because the children’s resultant perceptions
about themselves and their abilities are critical to their success in life .
Consequently, the stereotypes, norms and models of behavior children learn in
their childhood practically define their further adult life.
In this respect, it is noteworthy to refer to the research of Helga Dittmar
and Emma Halliwell who analyzed the impact of the image of dolls, such as Barbie,
on girls and found out that the impact is very substantial and its effects may
be observed even in the adult life of females since dolls like Barbie are cultural
icons of female beauty which are able to define the standards of female ideal
girls strive for even in the adulthood.
However, in the modern globalized world the standards and stereotypes accepted
in one culture can potentially spread on others. For instance, returning to
dolls, such as Barbie, it should be said that they are spread worldwide. It
is possible to presume that, being standard, they may produce the same effect
on representatives of different culture. Nonetheless, J. Paige MacDougal in
the research dedicated to this problem, arrives to a bit paradoxical conclusion
that each culture can perceive the dolls, as well as any other product of another
culture, in a different way. Notably, the researcher states that when products
are displaced from their culture of production, they have the potential to take
on the characteristics associated with the new atmosphere in which they are
situated through processes of consumption . In such a way, seemingly standard
products, which are actually the products of a different culture, tend to be
adapted to the local conditions, norms and stereotypes.
Consequently, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude
that there are certain stereotypes, standards, gender roles and social attitudes
associated with them that shape individual’s identity and, to a significant
extent define his/her behavior since they exist on a historically developed
mental level of individual consciousness which create social consciousness of
the community. As a result, individuals act in accordance with the existing
social norms, standards and stereotypes for they are an essential part of their
own identity shaped under the impact of the community where certain set of rules
and values is established. At the same time, the products of one culture cannot
be perceived in the same way and be totally accepted by another. Practically
it means that there are different cultures having different stereotypes and
social norms and they tend to adapt the products of other cultures to their
own standards and perceive them in the unique way typical for the particular
community. This is why it is possible to estimate that stereotypes and social
norms are of a paramount importance and, being unique for each community, they
are probably the highest stake for each individual since they affect dramatically
the individual’s identity.
Bibliography:
1. Carli, Linda L. “Gender and Social Influence.” Journal of Social
Issues, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2001, pp.725-741.
2. Mitina, O. V. and V. F. Petrenko. “A cross-cultural study of stereotypes
of female behavior.” Russian Social Science Review. Armonk: Nov/Dec 2001.Vol.42,
Iss. 6; pg. 60, 33 pgs.
3. MacDougall Paige, J. “Transnational commodities as local cultural icons:
Barbie dolls in Mexico.” Journal of Popular Culture. Bowling Green: Nov
2003.Vol.37, Iss. 2; pg. 257.
4. Ochman, Jan M. “The effects of nongender-role stereotyped, same-sex
role models in storybooks on the self-esteem of children in grade three.”
Sex Roles. New York: Dec 1996.Vol.35, Iss. 11/12; pg. 711, 25.
5. Dittmar, Helga and Emma Halliwell. “Does Barbie Make Girls Want to
Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body
Image of 5- to 8-Year-Old Girls.” Developmental Psychology, 2006, Vol.
42, No. 2, pp. 283–292.
