Is Sexual Stereotyping Affecting Your Relationship?

Sexual stereotypes are everywhere. We see them in commercials, where happy moms dance around their homes in celebration of a functional mop. We see them in movies, where stoic male heroes are still rescuing clueless heroines. We see them on sitcoms, where single women dream of getting their boyfriends to settle down, and lazy husbands just want to watch sports.

It’s true that in recent years we’ve made advances to establish equality between the sexes. Society is reflecting fewer attitudes that support discrimination and inequality between men and women, and most of us espouse a point of view that is liberated from old sexual prejudices that once bordered on racial bigotry. However, even though we are liberated in our beliefs and attitudes, many of our actions are still influenced by misconceptions about men and women that have been passed down through generations. In spite of their stated values, a surprising number of couples relate to each other based on stereotypical views of the sexes.

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It’s easy for us to observe the ways the media is guilty of exploiting the differences between men and women and of exaggerating stereotypes to sell products. Yet, it’s considerably harder for us to identify the way our own preconceptions about gender are impacting our interpersonal relationships.

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Many of us learn prejudicial attitudes at an early age from observing the stereotypical roles that people in our families assume. As we progress through school, these attitudes are reinforced by our classmates and peers. They are also supported by the unspoken biases of our teachers and by the arrangement of educational programs. Sadly, many men and women buy into the stereotypic views of themselves. As a result they are not only the victims of these prejudices but they are co-conspirators in perpetuating the very attitudes that are destructive to them and limit them in their lives and their relationships. In many small and not-so-small ways, people bring these distortions into their relationships.

For example, a woman described how she’d always thought of her husband as strong, solid, and unemotional. At times, she felt this observation to be a source of security. Other times, she felt critical toward her husband, perceiving him as cold or uncaring. Then, one day, her husband got sick and needed to be taken care of. In this state, he became more expressive of his emotions. The woman found herself feeling a mixed sense of relief at his openness and anger at his perceived “weakness.” This contradiction of her reactions made her aware of how the stereotype she had of men had affected the way she related to her husband. Her attitude fit with her husband’s own belief that men aren’t supposed to show emotion. By acting out old attitudes and false beliefs they’d been taught early in life, neither the husband nor his wife were allowing each other to fully be themselves.