Women stereotypes

By Valeria de la Torre Monsalve

The word stereotype is defined as a belief about a group or class of people, which can be a positive or negative belief. When we think in stereotypes, we deduce that a person has a range of characteristics or abilities. Usually, when talking about a stereotype, people think of negative characteristics of a certain group, because sometimes it makes us ignore differences between individuals. That’s why we think things about people that might not be true.

Typically, stereotypes are based on illogical beliefs, often inherited from previous generations or imposed by public opinion.

For instance, women have been stereotyped, commonly by men, but also by other women, since many years ago. Beginning with the belief that women can not have good jobs or have a better position in an enterprise. Is that why people believe that the role of women is to stay at home, take care of the kids, cook, and wait for their husband when he arrives after a long day of work. This has been a constant struggle in which women have been “fighting” for many years to have a better position in society. Despite this continuous battle, nowadays there is still a worldwide gender gap due to differences in income, education, health and politics.

Only a small percentage of women around the world hold an important position in a company, represent a country or are considered as an important leader of a group. Maybe this will take some more years, but for now, for example in countries as Albania defenders of gender equality have allied with governments and parliaments to take positive measures, such as electoral quotas, that have been successful. Quotas have doubled the number of women in the Albanian parliament to more than 16 percent. This has been an important progress, but still, it is important to promote equality and equity so that it is no longer a matter of quotas within parliament, but rather that it be something fair and decided in an egalitarian way.

For things like this to continue to happen and for women to position themselves in society as equals and achieve the equity that should exist worldwide, there must be efforts in all institutions, governments, to be an effective measure. It is also important that women believe in their abilities, show them to the world and show that they have the same skills as any man, to gain the respect and position they deserve in society.