Conclusion to Essay Series: We need to break down the myths that trap women and men so everyone enjoys full human rights.

Our society creates unnecessary problems for everyone by creating and maintaining sexist stereotypes that devalue women and men. These myths, which we all grow up with, often limit our human rights, capabilities, and life choices. We can take steps to counter these societal assumptions and restrictions as individuals and in communities.

If we dismantle stereotypes, we can have more fulfilling lives and relationships. Women and girls could feel freer to live their lives as they choose by controlling their reproductive choices, having access to better health and reproductive care, and having better access to financially rewarding education and jobs. Men and boys could have fuller emotional lives and more real choices about career paths and family roles. Success in overturning sexist myths could lead to everyone experiencing less violence in their lives.

The Impact of Myths about Women

Society’s myths create traps for women by saying that they are weaker physically and mentally than men. They are supposed to be emotional and illogical. Women are supposed to be best off when serving their husbands’ and children’s needs, without regard to their own. Women are assumed to accomplish little outside the home.

This set of essays documents how these stereotypes create problems for women. Society often erases women’s accomplishments and lowers expectations about their capabilities and achievements. Sexist myths contribute to women experiencing sexual harassment, rape, violence, and loss of control over their bodies. The health care system causes women to experience avoidable health and reproductive problems, which can lead to disability and death. Women’s disadvantages in the unpaid and paid work worlds contribute to women having lower wages, fewer promotions at work, and less financial security than most men.

The Impact of Myths about Men

Society asserts that men are naturally dominant, logical, stoic, unemotional, sexually aggressive, and competitive. The privileges that most men enjoy include people believing them more often when they speak and most men being able to move about with little fear of being raped or sexually assaulted. Men also have workplace advantages in income, power, promotion, and prestige. They also benefit from receipt of women’s unpaid domestic, logistical, and emotional labor.^624,625

Stereotypes about men can cause them to experience much violence. Men experience violence, disability, and death during civilian fighting and participation in wars. Bullying and peer harassment cause much of non-war-related violence.⁶²⁶

In addition to physical violence, men often experience emotional violence and limitations. These limits can cause emotional deserts within their relationships and a lack of socially acceptable outlets for their mental anguish or emotional problems. Some of these limits lead men to have much higher suicide rates than women. Finally, men can face ridicule and peer pressure if they aren’t the primary income earner in their households or are dependent on others financially.⁶²⁷

Wealthy White men in the United States are the ones who benefit most from men’s privileges because stereotypes push men into a hierarchy that divides them by income class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and immigration status. Men’s suffering under this hierarchy varies by their status.^628,629,630

What sustains these societal stereotypes?

Today’s societal institutions help keep the stereotypes going. These institutions include many religions’ leadership structures, men being the predominant political leaders, and some civil rights movements ignoring women’s needs. Government, nonprofit, and private sector institutions also privilege men over women. Individuals, including some women, also perpetuate subordination of women and denial of their full human rights.⁶³¹

Men’s domination can’t continue without the cooperation of women.⁶³² Women’s cooperation can result from indoctrination, lack of education, and internalized misogyny. Women also can be controlled through threats, force, and violence.⁶³³ Threats can involve sexual harassment, and violence can involve rape, child abuse, domestic abuse, and murder.⁶³⁴

How can we achieve full human rights for everyone?

Women and men must work together to ensure that everyone has full human rights.⁶³⁵ A first step is for everyone to learn about the damage societal stereotypes cause girls, women, boys, and men. This set of essays can help.

Ensuring that women can exercise their full human rights isn't sufficient.⁶³⁶ Men need liberation too. Current societal stereotypes often prevent men from achieving the emotional depth and genuine connections that all humans need. This means that women and men need to examine and change their own attitudes and behaviors.

The next steps are to actively refuse to sustain stereotypes. This means:

1. Considering use of different terms. Some examples include: refraining from using the terms girls and boys when referring to adult women and men, using the term humanity instead of mankind, and using workforce instead of manpower. Changing language can be a form of “microfeminism” that may help change attitudes.

1. Avoiding talk and jokes that reinforce sexist stereotypes of women or men, in person or on social media. Respectfully challenge such talk when it is safe to do so.

1. Choosing not to purchase or consume media that degrades women, girls, or anyone else.

1. Supporting companies with equitable workplace practices and avoiding products that promote harm sends an economic message that these issues matter.

1. Refusing to participate in sexual harassment or violence, and challenging such behavior when it is safe to do so.

1. Treating all people with equal respect, regardless of whether they conform to traditional gender roles or not.

Some behaviors require institutional responses. Threats of violence and committing rape are crimes. When legal authorities receive reports of these crimes, they need to act on them and not ignore or denigrate the people making the reports. The legal system needs to prosecute perpetrators. The media needs to take the violence, which men direct toward women and other men, seriously and report on it extensively.

Structural change requires advocacy for human rights. People need to actively support legislation, organizations, and candidates at the local, state, and federal levels that work to ensure equity and full human rights for everyone. People can contribute their time, talent, or funds to organizations and candidates that promote human rights for everyone.