Have you ever wondered why gender roles come to exist in society? More important question: have you ever questioned it? No? Well, then, let’s talk!
So, let’s think about this for a second. What if everything we think or do does not come from rationality but is learned? In fact, we know that most things are learned. The person we become is influenced by factors like culture, family structure, religion, and society.
So, what if even children’s movies play an implicit role in our development? Most of us knew Disney movies from a very early age. And we loved them, right? We always have the pretty princess, living a miserable life until the handsome prince, who she most likely only met once but knows he’s the forever-person in her life, fights witches and spells just to save the princess he’s only met once. Well, that must have been one hell of a date!
So you and me learned gender roles very early on—we learned that girls should be what Disney considers pretty and that it doesn’t matter how miserable life gets, there will be a prince to save us. There’s no need to stand up for ourselves—we just have to stay calm and patient. Meanwhile, the guys learn that they have to be the hero of the story. It’s not real love if he can’t rescue the girl.
So, adapting this to today’s love stories, independent women struggle to find Mr. Right. Because they don’t need a hero. But what if the only role left for men is to play the hero in the story? So, if there’s no hero needed, why should a man approach at all?
Oh, I see a lot of faces lighting up now. So, what can we actually do about this?
We need to understand that a lot of our behaviour does come from influences at a young age. If we’re able to identify the tricks that have been played on us—and they have been played for a reason!—we can actually move against them.
However, if there’s a man in your life, acknowledge once in a while that he needs to be a hero. Also, women can be their own heroes; people of all genders are heroes and no one needs to be rescued. Maybe we can learn that movies were made for a purpose and that there’s an outdated statement to Disney movies about gender roles and positions.
One way we can help eliminate outdated gender stereotypes is by not showing children movies that push them in a gender role. Sorry, Walt!