Pick any time of day, scroll through TV and see how much gender normativity you find. No matter what time of day it is or what channel it’s on, gender roles are obvious. These roles are not real rules about how to be male or female. They are unjustified boxes society tells us to conform to.
Gender norms are not only reinforced by people and media outlets but also by less obvious societal arrangements, namely capitalism. The most common impetus for unnecessary spending is TV. It is the easiest and most accessible media most Americans use to purchase the latest and greatest waste of time. They probably use it more than they should.
Advertisers market everything from manly lawn mowers to feminine aprons on TV. QVC does a fantastic job gendering products. These companies and industries not only sell products but also social normativity. Men do these things and women do those things. How and why does this happen so often?
Some people actually believe in it. Even though it has no logical basis, most Americans still cuddle gender normativity with all their hearts. Gender normativity makes no sense. There are
exceptions to the rule everywhere.
The artist formerly known as Prince is one of the most apparent exceptions. He is a short, scrawny guy who wears heels and sings in a high pitch voice. Yet, he’s made millions.
Many argue gender normativity is a broad rule encompassing all of society. While this is valid in some respects, they miss the “sound argument” mark by miles.
Gender normativity cannot be adequately justified because its premises are fuzzy and full of exceptions. At the point where so many exceptions to gender normativity exist, it’s almost pointless to perpetuate the notion in the first place.
What does capitalism have to do with this? Much like gender and social normativity, capitalism is illogical. To keep production afloat, people have to compete and step on others to get where they need to be.
This is much easier if normative guidelines signal women to secretary positions and men to CEO positions. This way companies don’t need to worry about Executive Order 11246, signed by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, which prohibits discrimination based on sex and other factors which interferes with business ethics.
Capitalism definitely knows what it’s doing, and it does it well. These implicit biases hurt those who do not mesh well with the social mold and the way capitalism is structured means it won’t stop anytime soon.
According the Department of Labor, among the top 25 most common occupations for women are registered nurses, elementary school teachers and secretaries. An image search of these occupations shows it is almost all women. Meanwhile, occupations such as carpentry, construction and traditional roles of “power,” including managers and CEOs, are dominated by males.
If there is a way to strike a balance between status quo gender normativity and individual freedom to be who you want to be, then I’d love to hear it.
Eli Minor is a 19 year-old philosophy junior from New Orleans. You can reach him on Twitter
@eliminor_TDR.