Why are people hell bent on generalising characterstics of men and women and typecasting them?

Question

Why do things have to be "girlie" or "boyish"? Who makes the rules here?

Answer 1

When you are born, the doctor slaps you on the *** and then turn over and says "It's a ...." and it is like that for the rest of your days.

You are wrapped in a blue, or pink blanket, blue signifying that man came first on this planet, supposedly, and blue was the first color of dye. As for the pink, it was fashionable, but; it became a statement of feminine power like no other. Just think about it.

You go to school and sooner or later some kid will stand up and say "Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina.", (Kindergarten Cop), and the teacher will realize that it is time for separate bathrooms.

Next thing you know somebody will say, "She has kooties.", a term popularized in World War I when soldier had lots of sex with women and came back with the clap.( Applause.) At any rate, your children will become even more divided.

A few years later, parents will start wonder how to stop Timmy from touching himself and how long Susie will be able to go with out a bra. The more steroid the children consume the quicker those thoughts arise. Enter the sex talk.

Parents will tell their children what is up and like a moth to a flame children will set out to get burnt. Forget about love, this is sex. "I have got to know what is behind door number two." Why?
Because, it as been a secret up until now.

Girls will get bored with sex. Boys will get obsessed with sex. For the most part. Some girls will get obsessed with it, the popularity, the pleasure, the sin of getting away with it. Some boys will never have it, afraid of rejection, shame, taunting. And then there are the homosexuals. Maybe Timmy liked playing wit himself too much. Maybe Susie did too. Why not find some one who appreciates the same things you do?

Social politics emerges. "It is time to grow up", they tell you, as the schools get around to formalized sex talks. You have to start thinking about what you are going to do for a living. You have to pick a college to go to, an so on. No time for sex. What if you get pregnant? What then?

Competition re-emerges. Boys go out for football. Girls go out for softball. Time to build that transcript.

Sex is still going on, but; suddenly your parents remember that you are probably having it.

In the class room it distracts you. Why should it? the more you think about it the more alluring it becomes.

Oooh the tension, as you balance the scales between Susie and her pretty pink panties and playing for the Lakers!

It is like the game of life, spin the spinner and get a career, spin it wrong and go through the gave making less and driving around with four kids in the back seat, pink and blue.

And then there are those other games along the way like house, girls and boy playing like married couples, and Barbie, the pink goddess of all pre-teen girls, so pink. She teaces girls to get big breasts and wear high heels while living in her pink house, with her pink car and a boy toy named Ken who has no penis and will do anything she says and wear any thing she puts on him. Funny, look at most married men and compare their wardrobe with Ken. It is scarey when you realize it. Boys get GI Joes to play with. They used to be big and pleasant. Now they are small and angry. Could it be that it is because they ar no longer bigger than Ken? I think so.

Go to college, more sex, more distraction, more confusion. Spring Break, drunken revelry. Girls Gone Wild, does any one not know that they send girls to do that? They are getting paid.
And that is a new wrinkle in this, sex for money.

For women it is easy to get paid for sex. For men it is difficult. Women don't have to have an erection. That is why male porn stars are few and far between. And then there are strippers. You get paid to take off your clothes in public. Why? They want to PAY to see you get naked. Why pay? Try walking down the street with a dollar in your hand saying "Hey baby show me your breasts," and see where that gets you, a night in jail and your face on a billboard no doubt.

On to work, what are you qualified for? Nada. So, they hire you. can you feel the sexual tension? Yes you can. You are doing the same things you are just older, more mature, as if that didn't mean the same thing. Deal with it.

Sexual harassment. Yea, right. One bad joke and you are out of a job. Sexual discrimination. Afraid of losing your job you act according. Wham, you're out of a job. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Pretty soon you don't know what to do. You are like Jeckyll and Hyde. You have one side for yourself and another for the world.

You want to know why we generalize, because; we have to. If we don't people will fire us, divorce us, and make us feel wrong for wanting pretty much the same things they want but to varying degrees. Nobody is going to be honest with you about this, accept me, so enjoy. And remember in a world of "haves" and "have-nots" where everything is first come first serve, the guy or girl holding te pencil makes all the rules, and rule one is "You can't have their job." Rule two is "Be patient and remember rule one." Add that to why you get typecasted. they don't want you to get ahead until they are dead and buried.

Answer 2

It's tradition. Things have happened for so many years that catagories have been made for everything. I'm not saying that I typecast things but that is just how it is.

The funniest part of typecasting is when a femenist bitches about how women should be equal and men are pigs, and then when it comes time to lift something or do some sort of plumbing, they are the first to say and argue that those are jobs for men. Now, if a man were to say to a woman that her job is to do housework and clean, she would have a fit.

Something aint right here.

Answer 3

Oh man, this is one thing thats been pissing me off lately. I've been taking out books on gender studies..

In one of the books I read, it stated that women act "feminine" because it is unacceptable to act masculine, and also they do it to attract men. And women desire "masculinity" in a man because they are not allowed to act that way. This creates a balance between the two. Also, men act masculine to attract women, and in society it is generally unacceptable to act feminine, because then you aren't a real MAN.
This also goes with conforming. Everyone does it to one extent or another.

Anyway, in my Sociology class a year and a half ago, we learned about a tribe in the South Pacific where women were considered to be more dominant, and did the hunting. Men stayed home and took care of the children. It was good to hear about this tribe and how these feminine and masculine aspects are strongly influenced by their society.

I say **** it, act however the hell you want, wear whatever you want, because you only live once.
I surround myself with people who understand this and are supportive of doing whatever you want, and living free without boundaries.

Answer 4

Apparently Dr. John Gray made the rules with his Mars and Venus thingy. And as a rule generalizations are always based in reality, but people fail to seperate generalizations from individuals which leads to....well.....these kind of questions.

Answer 5

Some people are lazy and it is very easy to just generalise. We are not all like this. I don't do this. The group mind or herd is a powerful thing. You can read more about this topic if you like. The philosopher's name is Soren Kierkegarrd. He is a Danish philosopher and talks alot about what truth is. I think it is up your alley.

Answer 6

why are biologists hell-bent on categorizing living organisms?
why are chronologists hell-bent on categorizing periods of history?
why are cientists hell-bent on categorizing substances?

because it's an easier perspective of the world even if it does make no sense whatsoever.

we only feel the senselessness when it comes to human personalities because that's touching on a more personal subject.

that's the way humankind works.... always categorizing... be it events, places, people or objects, anything they come across is processed and categorized by the mind.

Answer 7

Because generalizing is necessary for people to be able to study and control you. And alot of characteristics are generally the same habits in all men or in women. Such as the terrible twos, (generally, most 2 year olds are terrible!) Or even, TEENAGERS!( Generally most teens are going to struggle for control with their parents).

Answer 8

Just a person's need for judgment and control through answers in an un-controlled, illogical, conditional society. Generalization allows for "easy" answers...there are no rules. In a fast-paced society, one cannot give thorough thought and research into all answers...generalization is the shortcut for those who need a sense of structure in their lives...which are most likely unstructured.

Answer 9

Its interesting that you see everything girlie or boyish. We are girls and boys and that is the center of our psyche its inescapable. What is sickening is our rank ignorance of what education can do for people. Our schools let our kids major in football and preppieism. That in itself opens up a can of worms that festers in our society.

Answer 10

Human nature and society make these rules. Humans are hard wired to think in an us vs. them way. It is hard to validate anything without a comparison when it comes to us. Our society being made of humans follows these rules of norm vs. abnormal and the like. This hard wiring is also because of our instincts which we retain from our pasts. We are a tribal people that is how tribes our. Our tribe "us" vs. "them."

Answer 11

It sounds more like your question is why do people choose to see genders differently. The reality is that there's more to being a man than having a penis. Men look, think, and act differrently than women.