Stereotypes- On The Basis Of Feminism

By Radwa Munir

A boy wearing a pink shirt is often assumed by people as someone representing a different group of gender. A man with long beard is considered a religious fanatic by many people. A tattooed person is commonly identified as a criminal or a gangster. Well, Pink might be the color mostly chosen by girls, most of the religious representers (specifically Islam) might have long beards, Gangsters are usually fond of tattoos. But does it necessarily mean that a male cannot wear pink, that someone apart from being a religious personality cannot grow long beard and that normal people cannot have tattoos? These are some stereotypes that take

Place in people at one point of their lives concerning people who they view as outsiders.

Stereotype is basically an unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic. If someone is stereotyped as something, people form a fixed general idea or image of them, so that it is assumed that they will behave in a particular way. Stereotypes are generalizations that people have formed about other people who belong to other groups or class. These generalizations maybe reinforced by the society or environment. People stereotype others for example on the basis of region, race, gender, religion and so forth. However, the most criticized people who standout concerning stereotype are the Feminists.

Feminists are women who fight for the emancipation of women. Consequently, this has put them on a clash with the society as they are often considered as men haters. This is because they advocate for women independence. They are often called radicals who do not shave and are said to be trying to imitate men or take over the man’s world. But all they actually want is to empower women and stop women from depending on men for their survival.

There is a stereotype that feminists are hardcore and angry and want to be treated special in the eyes of the law. This stereotypical thinking against feminists has led to shift the movement from its core purpose of advocating for fair treatment of women to other issues such as competing with men.

People also have a negative image about feminists and see their work as baseless because they seem to disrupt the social order in which women are submissive and come second to men. On the other hand, some are sympathetic towards them and consider them as victims of oppression.

The stereotypes associated with feminists are often not true. However, some feminists maybe radical and denounce men but this does not make all feminists bad people. Even though some of the feminists may have portrayed an image of ‘macho’ women who can live independently of the men. But it is not true to say that feminists are aggressive and arrogant about womanhood. There are some humble women who have normal relations with men. Moreover, not all feminists are women as there are men who advance the feminist course. Thus, stereotyping all women, as arrogant feminist would be wrong.

I believe, stereotypes are mostly used for selfish reasons by people who think they are better than the groups they stereotype. It is wrong to generalize and judge certain people just because they belong to a certain group that had forebearers with certain characteristics. Doing so will be failing to treat each individual as a unique human being.

It is true that people will always be placed in groups however; it is better to know an individual beneath the label that the society has placed on them.

By Radwa Munir