Double Standards: How Gender Bias Shapes Men’s Attitudes Toward Women

Gender bias isn’t just a women’s issue as it deeply affects how men perceive, interact with, and respond to women in every aspect of life. Female gender bias reinforces stereotypes about what women “should” be, which in turn influences men’s assumptions and attitudes toward women at work, in relationships, and across society. We’ve been told that women are more nurturing, passive or accommodating. Therefore, if they display ambition, assertiveness, or independence, they are an aberration and no man in his right mind should want this freakish outlier. And a woman isn’t really a woman if she isn’t content being a stay at home mom or even more horrifically, declares that she doesn’t want to have children.  On the other hand, gender bias has declared that men don’t cry and must be the “stronger” sex.

For centuries, cultural traditions placed women in roles defined by domesticity, dependency, and submission. Although the “perfect woman” personified in the 50’s TV shows depicting mothers like June Cleaver  in “Leave it to Beaver” and Margaret Anderson in” Father Knows Best” no longer exist, these stereotypes still echo today. Present day media reaches much further than what was prevalent years ago. In addition to Traditional Media, there is an entire ecosystem of communication tools, including Digital Media and Interactive Media like Virtual Reality, Video Games and AI driven content. These channels of communication still overrepresent women as caregivers, romantic interests, or objects of desire and condition men to view women through a narrow lens. The National Library of Medicine’s study published May 2023, explores scientific research on the relationship between media representations and gender stereotypes, objectification and sexualizatio The National Library of Medicine’s study published May 2023, explores scientific research on the relationship between media representations and gender stereotypes, objectification and sexualization, focusing on their presence in the cultural context. Results show how stereotyping, objectifying and sexualizing representations appear to be still very common across a number of contexts. It reports that ,” exposure to stereotyping representations appears to strengthen beliefs in gender stereotypes and endorsement of gender role norms, as well as fostering sexism, harassment and violence in men and stifling career-related ambitions in women. “mon cross a number of contexts. It reports that ,” exposure to stereotyping representations appears to strengthen beliefs in gender stereotypes and endorsement of gender role norms, as well as fostering sexism, harassment and violence in men and stifling career-related ambitions in women. “

Today women make up nearly half of the labor force and yet many men still harbor the subconscious belief that women are “naturally” less capable leaders or decision-makers. In the workplace, female gender bias often results in men underestimating women’s abilities, interrupting them in meetings, or doubting their leadership potential. Research shows that women must often prove themselves repeatedly to earn the same level of respect granted to men automatically. An article published October 24, 2024, by Anjli Raval in the Financial Times stated that “an “invisible barrier”, dubbed the authority gap, remains pervasive in working life. It is defined as the disparity in how authority is perceived, acknowledged, and respected between different groups in the workplace, based on gender, race, class or other differentiating factors.  Women, in particular, are often viewed as less competent or authoritative, even if they hold the same position or have the same qualifications as male counterparts.” And women who are assertive are labeled “odd.”

Nature or Nurture? It seems foolish to think that a little baby boy who is cooing with happiness is organically driven to have beliefs about a woman’s role in society. Isn’t it more likely that their opinions have been shaped because they have been bombarded with gender bias throughout their lives. While nature shapes our eyes, nurture can reshape our views, if we challenge the bias that we have learned.

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