Gender Stereotypes Paper

Words: 1300
Pages: 6

The sex segregation of the U.S. labor force is a perplexing and tenacious problem in our society and is caused by gender role expectations of what men should do and what women should do in a professional context. When women enter a career field that is normally viewed as a man’s job she has to behave in a manner that conforms to existing male behavioral norms in that position. Such as female police officers (often called policewomen), who must emphasize being professional, dedicated, aggressive, and controlling even though this means acting “unladylike” and being labeled as a dyke or bitch. If they were to emphasize their femininity and adopt a less assertive policing style they would consequently fail to meet work-related expectations (Sacks, …show more content…
These stereotypes can also obstruct women from advancing in the organizational hierarchy as they pursue management and executive level jobs because these positions are considered to be masculine roles (Heilman, 2001). Gender roles and stereotypes are communicated in a variety of different ways depending on the organizational setting, culture and context. The study of how these gendered stereotypes are communicated in various organizational settings is an important step to making changes to these gendered …show more content…
Women say things such as, "don't you think" following the presentation of an idea, "if you don't mind" following a demand or "this may be a crazy idea, but" preceding a suggestion (Padavic & Reskin, 2002, Lakoff & Bucholtz, 2004). Men use more assertive statements such as "I need your sales figures by the end of tomorrow," which conveys strength (Lakoff & Bucholtz, 2004). When women use more assertive language in the workplace employee often refer to them as “bitches,” (Padavic & Reskin,