Confronting Gender & Culture Stereotypes...
I felt that this would be an appropriate topic to follow up with since perceptions of what is and what is not an "A" or "Alpha" type personalities is saturated in gender stereotypes and expectations.
I believe that presently there are too many people in this world who use culture and gender stereotypes to limit evolution. As I see it, gender and culture stereotypes are typically used to establish a sense of normalcy to those who demand to orchestrate said norm. So in turn, all those who identify with gender and culture stereotypes play along, in efforts to create a sense of peace in a world, they may presently feel is, becoming "too far from the norm".
Unfortunately today, gender stereotypes and roles continue to be counter productive to cultural (U.S.) evolution. As we are witnessing today, the United States is required to forcibly evolve, as it is continuously challenged to disband not only racial stereotypes and prejudices but too, gender labels and identities. But despite these (recent and prolonged) fights, in my opinion, the culturally established gender definitions and stereotypes, along with racial stereotypes, have always been a vast hinderance to cultural development and individualism as it relates to our psyche, and it continues to further complicate our ability to relate to one another as human beings.
IS THERE A SOLUTION?
As psychology continues to evolve, I believe we may be able to establish some proactive measures to ensure the everyone has the tools to properly relate to other human beings. As of now, I don't believe that much of the stereotype issues faced in America are due solely to individuals not being able to relate to one another. The issue in America is it's government, and bipartisan values that continue to get further and further from valuing human beings.
Our culture (the American culture) is so far gone that many assume negatives before even getting to know others. We've evolved into a "one cause one identity" culture where we have to stand for the one issue of importance at the time, or our identity will be tarnished for not going along with and outwardly supporting the masses.
Take for instance the biggest cultural issues we are experiencing with Blacks and LGBTQIA communities. Black people have a clear stance of social injustice and there is an expectation of change but there have been very few, if any at all, social justice and policing reform. WHY? Because of the lack of value placed on Blacks in America. And the fact that Blacks are considered an isolated group, so our issues are our issues and are not regarded as important because of the degree of separation the impact has on others. In other words, social justice and policing reform is uncomfortable for white people and therefore it is not easily going to be addressed and or changed.
I can say this because I am Black, and I still face prejudice and racism socially on a weekly basis. And I only say weekly because I spend much of my time in my home, safe, and free from judgment, but I do go out weekly. Rest assured, each week I face at least one inappropriate assumption, a racist and prejudice in some form.
But if you consider solely the LGBTQIA community for a moment, and how quickly they were able band together to get restaurants and corporations to incorporate non gender bathrooms, get states to legalize weddings and marriages and establish pride parades, etc. if you think about it, the LGBTQIA community impacts all races, all genders, etc. and thus action and results are expected to be permitted, as white people (wealthy white people) and wealthy people in general, are too impacted by these changes.
However, despite all the positive change the LGBTQIA community has been able to establish, we still see some aggressive initiatives to counter their efforts. And needless to say, Blacks are confronted with more aggression than justice or change than most. But how America responses to these issues highlights the error in this country's gender and cultural conforming expectations. Therefore, it was equally as important for me to compose this post (in addition to the one prior) to communicate how disappointing it is to see how far we have to go with understanding the negative implications of gender and cultural stereotyping, and what that means for Black people and all women, men, and non-gender specified individuals in this world.
To have an expectation or understanding that women should act one way and men should act another is very limiting, for many reasons. Not to mention continuing to disassociate from the Black community in order to isolate and dispel the Black community, is damaging to the future of this country, because of the racial future of this county. There are so many mixed raced individuals in America, that it should be anticipated that in the years to come, mixed will be the most "checked box". But, if we continue to disassociate ourselves from isolated issues or causes because of how little they impacts us, we are doing more harm to the future of this country than most can comprehend at this time.
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