Stereotypes and gender roles in Mexican society
By: Maria Guadalupe Hernandez Nieto
The companies are structured and built their culture around sexual difference that people make, attributing characteristics and meanings to the actions they perform.
This gives rise to concepts of masculinity and femininity, which determine the behavior, roles, opportunities, evaluation and relations.
In Mexico, even conceived the idea in much of the people, men and women are different are obvious course characteristics and attitudes that they ascribed and differentiate, however, is extremely important to also take on how establishing different positions or the role of each in our social system.
The term sex refers to biological differences, physiological, human chromosome that define them as men or women, are particularly those which are born, universal and unchanging.
Gender is considered as the set of ideas, beliefs and social functions are built in every culture and historical moment based on sexual difference.
Lamas (2002), states that “the role (role) Gender is configured with the set of rules and regulations that dictate the society and culture on male or female behavior.”
The important thing is not to take it as a biological difference that can have men and women, but rather see it as a social inequality that is rooted in a biological difference, which can be analyzed at all levels and in all fields, from our daily relationship with family (children, parents, etc..), friends or other links including the workplace.
Stereotypes are preconceived notions about how they are and how they should behave in women and men (Delgado et al., 1998).
Also considered as a generation of expectations or beliefs of an individual based on their membership in a group or category, and that influence our lives before birth.
They can also be seen as a sort of lens that distorts reality, which makes us imagine things that really are not going well, because then when you can compare these images or ideas that we handle, with what actually exists in society, we the distances are observed.
It was understood that gender roles are stereotyped behavior in culture, which can be modified as they are tasks or activities that are expected to make sex a person it belongs to.
The concept of genre is the implicit notion of change, dynamics, concepts, images, stereotypes, roles, associated with masculine and feminine, have changed over time depending on the context.
Although there are variations according to social class, ethnic and generational strata to people within the framework of theories of gender, we talk about social and SizeGenetics sexual division of labor, because basically what arises is that men and women tasks assigned to them and positions in social systems based on their sex.
Some authors suggest that these learnings acquired from childhood, part of the “education” should be to fulfill the tasks that society expects of them in adult life.
In the Mexican culture have been built male stereotypes that characterize men as breadwinners, heads of households and, to some extent, the decision makers.
When the work product is considered man’s own responsibility, it is in a position to control and manage financial and technological resources to which it is strictly linked the exercise of power. By contrast, the work that makes the woman is for immediate consumption, and thus, invisible and not valued economically and socially.
Expectations about the role of gender in adulthood affecting marriage, work and politics.
For men, although heterosexual experience and physical attractiveness continue to provide relevant evidence of masculinity in the middle and upper classes, is increasingly important professional success, which is measured by the category of work performed.
Thus, it follows that the priority area is public men, that is, everything that is on the door of the house out, political, economic, participation in social organizations, and circulation for urban spaces
As for women, marriage and childbearing remain the primary focus of our cultural expectations, although at present it begins to change significantly.
The sphere of woman, would then be the domestic or private, which unlike the men would be all that is in the front door inward, ie deal of care and attention of family members, of social reproduction, which ultimately is the reproduction of the species, and that not only has the task of having biological children but of caring task, socialize, bring them up.
The area where most influence gender roles in the family, and specifically in relationships.
Therefore, the most common stereotypes regarding gender roles considered:
* A man as family breadwinner, providing resources for the family to remain.
* A charge of women as domestic circle (childcare).
Standing out:
* To the family as the ideal image, which consists of the father, mother and children.
On the other hand, include the belief that women are emotional and men arrogant and logical.
Compared to other qualify us as follows: African Americans are dangerous, Asians are smart and lazy Mexicans.
However, stereotypes can be positive, negative or equivocal (emotional).
The significant thing is to remember that these stereotypes involve both positive and negative evaluations of people and, therefore, allows some social groups being given priority when it comes to getting a job, have a relationship, access to the study , medical services, among other things.
Sexual behavior has been largely the effects of stereotypes about gender roles, as in the case of discrimination against women, the equivalence of value, equal opportunities, etc..
While gender roles are changing, it is worth noting that as in other cultures, Mexican culture has been shaped in part by machismo, a strong strain of masculinity. Men have been expected to be authoritarian, aggressive, promiscuous, and women have been submissive, dependent, motherly.
In recent years the role of women has been changing, but has not been the case in the perceptions of male attitudes.
Certainly things are new and innovative experience in this area in recent decades and in general have become more flexible, but still dominant gender roles and stereotypes. The woman then, should assume a more participatory, more proactive. The contribution will enrich your view organizations making them, perhaps, more human.