Change is up to our generation

Gender stereotypes are so entrenched in society that although they are untrue, many are still seen as fact. Women are emotional. Men are tough. Women are supposed to be homemakers. Men are supposed to be doctors and lawyers.

These stereotypes misrepresent large portions of society and without change they will not only continue but become a larger part of society. While some strides have been made — such as the increased election of women in the midterm elections — it is our generation’s job to break these harmful social norms.

Currently, a male and a female of equal intelligence, capabilities and work ethic could be pushed into two completely different fields based solely on their gender. This makes absolutely no sense. The world should based on a person’s ability not gender.

A woman should be able to be an engineer and a man should be able to be a teacher without that being seen as abnormal. Without our generation taking a stance, we are encouraging the problem to continue getting worse. Our generation has the ability to be the most forward thinking towards gender roles. Everyone, no matter how open-minded, has some sort of predetermined judgment toward one gender or the other.

All of these societal changes seem like they would take a lot of work, but that is entirely false. While eradicating all gender stereotypes is going to be incredibly difficult and will require lots of work, any steps, like looking at your own biases and working to fix them, can make a world of difference.

Even just focusing on abilities instead of gender can help make the situation better. Sadly, our grandparents and parents generations are not fixing these problems. This makes it even more important that our generation acts to fix these issues. Even if it is difficult and may some days look like an unwinnable fight, it is our generation’s job to help fight these gender stereotypes.