Girls are princesses and boys are soldiers. At least, that’s the stereotype. When they’re young, girls are encouraged to play with dolls. When they’re older, they are encouraged to become them: consigned to the roles of either housewife or slut.

It’s not just women. Men are also steered into carefully-defined gender roles from a young age. They must be “strong” breadwinners, they cannot cry or feel afraid, and they are too useless to be trusted by women with domestic chores.

Nevertheless, the consequences of gender stereotypes are (in terms of economic and political power) worse for women. Women have been underrepresented in leadership positions for years, even though they have long-since overtaken men in terms of education. The gender pay gap remains a fact, with a 16% wage difference between the genders across Europe.

What do our readers think? We had a comment sent in from Monica, who believes that the best place to start is in toy shops, so that young girls can discover new roles and play at traditionally male occupations. Christos thinks that we have so few women in leadership positions because it contradicts common stereotypes of men and women. Are they right?

To get a response, we spoke to Germany’s Federal Minister of Justice Katarina Barley (former Federal Minister for Family Affairs), and asked her how such stereotypes could be changed.

Sexism takes place at all levels: in the family, at school, at work, at play, in the media, in the economy and in politics. Often, sexism overlaps with other forms of discrimination based on a person’s origin, sexual identity, age or disability. Obvious cases of sexism often provoke only short-lived public outrage. Structural changes in the fight against sexism therefore need sustainable measures. These include legal changes such as the ‘No means no” principle that we incorporated into criminal law during the last legislative period, as well as awareness raising on the subject. It has to happen on all levels – in the family, at work and in our circles of friends. I would like to see that, if someone makes a sexist comment, the others present would point it out and object quite naturally.

To get another perspective, we also put Christos’ and Monica’s comments to Birgit Kelle, a journalist and activist who campaigns for a positive image of traditional gender roles in her articles and books. Does she agree with Katarina Barley that we all need to be more active to combat gender stereotypes?

I believe that the reasons why there are few women in leadership positions are very complex. The main reason is that women first entered the labour market later. So that’s purely a historical reason, in that we have lived in a man’s world for a long time. It also certainly has less to do with role models, and more to do with the different priorities of men and women. We see that even with affirmative action, women do not necessarily want top positions. Even in countries like Norway, where women benefit from affirmative action, it is no easier to fill vacancies with women. Of course, we are influenced by role models or so-called stereotypes, but we can also see in Germany and Europe that we are ruled by powerful women. These women have not been deterred by stereotypes, so we need to broach the issue of why women are really in less senior positions. It is a novelty that women work in the labour market. Therefore, without a law or quotas, I assume we will see a very different situation in 20 years. We will by then be 50% represented.

Next up, we had a comment from Thijs, pointing out that even men can be forced into negative gender stereotypes. If men do not have a full-time job and make enough money, they are not “real” men. So, they become reluctant to do their share of domestic work. How can we break down stereotypes for men, as well as for women?

Most men in our society see the need for more to be done in terms of gender equality. In order to succeed, we need more positive role models, especially for employers. It must be taken for granted that fathers spend longer periods on parental leave, reduce their working hours or even staying home when their child is ill. They have to demand this themselves, but nobody should be able to put obstacles in their way.

In addition, there are legislative changes that can make a difference. The best example here is a legal right of return from a part-time to a full-time job. This would benefit above all women, who today still too often get stuck after their education in the part-time trap. But many men would certainly want to reduce their working hours for the family. They rarely do that today because of fears of hurting their careers.

What would Birgit Kelle say about male role models?

So, just because a man earns well doesn’t mean that women cannot also earn well! What does it mean that the man is then ‘forced into a stereotype’? Instead, I find that most men like to fill this role and many women are looking for such a man. Some of these debates are very much kept in a theoretical vacuum, and when we ask people in the real world how they imagine their partner, we often find ‘clichés’ or ‘stereotypical role models’, but – oh, what a surprise – they are happy with it! Why should we change something that makes people happy?

How can we eliminate gender stereotyping? Will the gender pay gap close on its own? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!

IMAGE CREDITS: CC / Flickr – Julius Seelbach; PORTRAIT CREDITS: (c) Steffen Kugler (Barley), (c) Kerstin Pukall (Kelle)