Gender Tension in Media

Hi again,

Let's watch Friends! In this episode... I mean post, we're going to look at an episode of Friends to see some gender tension. Spoiler warnings ahead! The episode called, "The One with the Male Nanny", features characters Ross and Rachel looking for a nanny for their baby. While all the female nannies are shown unqualified to take care of their child they eventually find a nanny who is, the catch, he is a man. While he is completely qualified and capable of taking care of their child the male nanny, Sandy, leaves Ross confused as to why a male would take on this job. At some point Ross even questions Sandy's sexuality and later even asks, "What kind of job is that for a man?". Silly Ross.

This perfectly shows gender tension, because even though Sandy is perfect for the job, his gender is what makes Ross doubt his capability and leaves him feeling uncomfortable. On a more serious note, this is exactly why gender tension is a problem. In a show this may be a funny event, but in real life to have someone tell you that you are not qualified simply because of who you are is truly a shame.

Are Stereotypes Correct?

Hey everyone,

Even when stereotypes are fought against, that doesn't mean people think they are incorrect. Even now people still make gender stereotypes without even thinking of it. Just looking at the picture above you can see what colour is most associated with boys and girls. Yet, the truth is a lot of these gender stereotypes are actually quite untrue around the world.

Here are some of the following stereotypes and the how untrue it is:

• Boys wear pink and girls wear blue in Belgium. In addition in the early 1900's it was also the opposite since pink was closer to red (a male colour) and blue was associated to the Virgin Mary for girls
• In Southern Vietnam men take on the women's family name, and to top it off the women also inherit everything as well upon marriage
• Valentine's Day is a day for men to be appreciated in Japan while the women have their own day on March 14th, called White Day
• The act of holding hands can be seen as a sign of affection and males of the same gender don't hold hands but in many Arab countries hand-holding is a common sign of friendship
• Near the western part of Africa females will propose to men, and they actually cannot refuse.

I have now turned your gender related mind upside down. So what was the point of telling you all these facts? Well it is simple, stereotypes no matter how accurate they may seem are simply just personal associations people believe and are not fact.  The world is very different and while gender stereotyping is all around the world they might not even be the same stereotypes.

Earnings Between Men and Women

Hey everyone,

Before I go any further in this topic I think it should be noted that while there are problematic limits due to gender stereotypes, not every issue is related to that point. This is a very helpful video that explains some of the reasons behind different wages between genders. This clip shows that while workforce discrimination is still around us there are in fact other reasons that women do make a lower income then men and how that might be slowly changing. 

Some of these reasons include:

• Jobs women and men choose
• Future work expectations
• Part-time vs. Full-time
• Hiatuses

The purpose of this video was to show that the answer might not always be stereotypes/gender tension. It is of course still a very clear issue in the world and therefore needs to be properly understood what is considered gender tension and what is not.

How Females Communicate

Hey everyone,

I apologize for any orange juice cravings but now we're going to look at female advertisements and the gender talk and tension seen in them. In both these examples the women are scene gathering and talking about a topic in a group.While the characters are the same, each example shows how women are assumed to communicate with each other while in a group discussion. This in turn can show certain communication styles women are believed to have.

Looking at these commercials, the way females talk to each other can be seen as:

• Gentle
• Caring and asking questions
• Passive
• Waiting for each person to finish talking

What does this say about the way women talk? The first thing that was shown was how the women in these advertisements each had their own comment and input and listening when it was not them talking. During this time they asked each other questions, listened patiently, and had no defining leader. Due to these examples, it might be assumed that women work better as a group who is told what to do.

Gender theorists believe that women can't pass the glass ceiling for success because they are less authoritative then men.

How Males Communicate

Hi,

Have you ever gone on YouTube and got an ad during a video, well guess what, a lot of those advertisements use gender talk to appeal to customers. In these commercials you can see a very clear example of gender talk and gender tension being used and always ending with "men should act like men" showing a set way in which males 'should' act. By observing these you can see some examples of gender tension and how men are perceived to act as well as how they might communicate among each other at work.

Using these advertisements, some male communication methods are seen:

• Boisterous
• Assertive
• Talk over each other

All these attributes are prevalent in each advertisement, and show males talk. Now the question is did you notice the gender tension in these advertisements. When you look at these advertisements they all have certain similarities;

• men are working on something, 
• loud talk 
• one man is in-charge and explaining to the rest

Due to these certain authoritative habits gender theorists believe that men are more likely to achieve higher ranked positions.

What is Gender

Hello,

So I've created this blog to talk about gender talk and gender tension and where better to start with some definitions.

What is gender?

Gender refers to the social attributes and opportunities linked with being male, female or other, and the relations between those of the same and opposite genders.

What is gender talk?

Gender talk is the way in which men and women express themselves. In other words how each gender communicates verbally or physically through body language. This can vary depending on whether they are talking to someone of the same gender or someone of a different gender.

What is gender tension?
Gender tension is the stereotype associated with any gender. Their are many different forms of gender tension for each group; 

• males are aggressive
• females are delicate
• gay men are flamboyant.