We are in a generation where gender norms have evolved in more ways than anyone could have imagined. Gender norms are social norms defining “acceptable” and “appropriate” actions for women and men in a given group or society. They are embedded in formal and informal institutions, nested in the mind, and produced and reproduced through social norms.
In this generation, individuals are given the freedom to explore their self-identity in their own way. When we talk about gender norms, we talk about more than just females and males dressing or acting differently. In our generation, social media, protests, and more have had a big effect on gender norms these days.
Protests have happened all over the world exposing people’s thoughts on gender norms. There was a recent February protest in Belarus, Minsk where women shattered stereotypes and gender roles. The protest was aimed to gain attention from the president, Aleksander. G Lukashenko, who has openly scoffed at women, saying they were too weak for politics and told them their places were in the kitchens. Women said that the protest was their safe place, showcasing how they thought it was unfair how they were treated even by their own leader.
There is also a global movement in which males wear skirts to school to protest the sexist and discriminatory dress codes. In October 2020, Colin Renaud, a high school student at Villa Maria, wore a skirt to school and a whole kerfuffle ensued. “The movement has two objectives,” Renaud explained, “One is to fight against the hypersexualization of women’s bodies, to allow them to wear what they want, and break the codes of our society — to stop saying there’s a gender for everything, that this is for boys and this is for girls. It’s also to attack dress codes that are deemed sexist and degrading for people who wear skirts, and all parts of a uniform that could be seen as non-egalitarian.” Renaud didn’t think his attire would be a problem. Villa Maria High School has had a mixed uniform policy since 2015, wherein all students are allowed to wear skirts or pants, as they choose. But upon arriving at school, he was reprimanded by a monitor — who asked him if he was transgender or gay — and brought to the principal’s office, where a secretary told him skirts are for girls. Things changed once assistant director Françoise Dubuc was made aware of the situation and Renuad was sent back to class. Social media has also shown huge effects on gender roles. Men are told, by society, not to wear makeup or paint their nails, and now men all over social media are painting their nails and putting on makeup despite the chances of receiving cyber bullying. hate for it.
Celebrities have also joined the fight against gender norms. Some of the celebrities include Harry Styles, Jaden Smith, Miley Cyrus, Olly Alexander, Troye Sivan, Demi Lavato, and more. Styles is known for stepping out of the box when it comes to fashion and it has been strongly supported by fans. With chunky necklaces, nail polish, flowy tops and traditionally feminine prints, Styles seems to wear everything with confidence. Smith was featured in a Louis Vuitton campaign for womenswear in 2016, and he also wore a dress to his high school prom. When Smith was in an interview with Nylon he was asked he wore dresses and skirts by, he responded saying it was so future generations of non-gender conforming children won’t experience bullying. Smith wants to push gender norms boundaries to help future generations. Troye Sivan came out as gay on a YouTube video back in 2013. Like Smith, he also likes to defy society’s gender norms in the way he dresses and presents himself. “I’m done with your gender norms,” he tweeted back in 2019. Sivan’s music videos, for songs such as Wild and Heaven, frequently feature LGBTQ couples in starring roles.
Although I grew up in the United States, I would often go to Jordan and Palestine in the summer. There, I was always told how to act, dress, speak, and even laugh like a girl by my family members. Sometimes, I would be dressed in masculine clothing and be called out on how I should dress more “like a woman.” I was also told what was supposedly the right way for women to live. It was upsetting to hear some of these gender norms because I didn’t agree with them. With their strong opinions, I always assumed that they would want my future to include getting married and staying home cooking and cleaning for my husband and children instead of going to college and getting a degree. I remember my male cousins could always hang out whenever they wanted, but when any of us female cousins would ask to hangout, we would be told to stay in the house because we were girls and we had to help around the house. When my male cousins played sports, I would often have to sit out because I was told “sports were for guys.” This was really upsetting to me because in my eyes, I could do the same things any of the guys could do. In other non-Western countries, these assumptions and expectations are ingrained in the culture of daily life. In the United States, it is easier to stand up to gender norms and protest for equal rights. Although there are more freedoms than in the past, Palestine and Jordan, still seemen are seen as the superior sex.
Gender norms tell us how males and females should feel, dress, and act. But how can emotions or actions belong to females or males? While the world is evolving, gender norms really do seem out of place since gender norms only go directly to females and males. These are only a mere two genders with norms associated with them. Compared to now in 2021, gender is so much more than a 2 sided coin; it is a fluid spectrum.
Gender socialization operates as a concept that is exclusively composed of two parts. In other words, individuals are socialized into being either masculine (male) or feminine (female). Identities are therefore normally constructed along this single parameter. However, some individuals do not feel that they fall into the gender binary and they choose to challenge the male and female binary. For example, individuals that identify as transgender feel that their gender identity does not match their biological sex. Individuals that identify as genderqueer are challenging masculine and feminine stereotypes, and may identify as somewhere other than male and female, in between male and female, a combination of male and female, or a third or so on, or gender altogether. When we live in a society that changes every day, and gender norms start becoming a problem because gender norms don’t include any other genders but female and males. Gender norm identities demonstrate how people think the flow of gender should happen, which is so frequently thought to be biological and unchanging. Gender fluidity also shows how gender norms are either learned or rejected.
At the end of the day, the world is evolving everyday and sometimes we need influences to make people snap out of the fantasy of having gender norms that make no sense and are unfair and derogatory.
