vintage indian posters on modern gender stereotypes
DESCRIPTION
Check out these vintage-style sarcastic posters which challenge gender stereotypes about employability - created based on research conducted by our Funky Boyz Media Club in Jagdamba Camp, Delhi.TRANSCRIPT
ON MODERN
GENDER
STEREOTYPES
Prepared by Kid Powered Media
based on research with our Funky Boyz Media Club
In this booklet you will find a set of vintage-style, semi-sarcastic posters advertising these conclusions in thought-provoking ways. Feel
free to print these posters and hang them around your homes, classrooms and offices to spark discussions and debates about gender
stereotypes.
Thanks, Kid Powered Mediafor questions contact [email protected]
1. Ideas of masculinity run deep and central when considering breaking gender stereotypes - men are under more pressure than
women to do certain jobs in certain ways.
2. People are proud and eager to talk about women breaking stereotypes but underneath all the positive examples people know,
women still aren’t free to choose their own careers.
3. Generally speaking, men can do any work for pay, outside the house whereas women can do any work inside the house, without pay.
In today’s world, a real man provides for his
family...
...but can’t provide for himself.
LEARN HOW TO COOK
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1. Ideas of masculinity run deep and central when considering breaking gender stereotypes - men are under more pressure than
women to do certain jobs in certain ways.
Males are less likely to own up to or claim examples of men doing work typically done by women (like washing clothes or cooking) even
though such examples are common.
Males are often teased, or are scared of being teased, for doing girls’ work, whereas girls are proud or inspired by the idea of doing jobs
outside of gender stereotypes.
The students in our all-male media club
were hesitant to admit that they cooked at
home. When we stipulated that it could be
‘just for fun’ they said they did it, but they
didn’t want to take credit for things like
cooking and cleaning if it was suggested as
an official household ‘chore’, despite
knknowing many men who live alone and are
solely responsible for these chores.
Reasons preventing girls from
doing jobs ‘outside the box’ were
cited as strength and safety,
whereas the REPUTATION of
the boy was the major reason
not to partake in stereotypically
‘female’ jobs.
One man, interviewed by club member
Akash, specified that boys can’t “wash
clothes”. Akash asked what the guy would
do if he lived alone. The man clarified,
“boys can wash clothes but they will not
do it the minute there is a woman around
to do it instead.”
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Men can wash dishes for pay..but not for the ones they love.
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Our research has shown that women pursue jobs out of necessity, not
out of desire, usually because their husbands aren’t providing for the
family as expected.
A woman working outside the house is usually a statement about a
man’s masculinity more than it is a statement about the women’s skills.
2. People are proud and eager to talk about women breaking stereotypes but underneath all the positive examples people know,
women still aren’t free to choose their own careers.
People remember and can reference in
extreme detail examples they know of or
have seen of women breaking job
stereotypes. One participant listed the
exact time and place she saw a woman
cobbler, despite it being over a year ago
and in a completely different
neneighborhood.
As one girl, Sujata, bluntly put it: “Women
can’t drive buses because they have no
knowledge of these things.” Women aren’t
encourage to pursue the training required
to do many jobs - if they do work, they are
thrown into jobs out of necessity and figure
it out as they go.
The community and the kids in
our club were all able to give
inspiring examples of women
working outside of their homes,
but in no example was it due to
the free will and desire of the
woman in question.
The one job that NO ONE had
ever heard or seen a women
doing is driving a cycle
rickshaw; there is no alternative
example for people to reference
for this particular job.
She can make chai at home...
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Why can’t she get paid to make it in
a shop?
3. Generally speaking, men can do any work for pay, outside the house whereas women can do any work inside the house, without pay.
Men are expected to be the sole earners in their families; to not be is a negative statement about their masculinity. If a man’s wife or daughter works outside the home, it reflects badly on him and his earning
capabilities.
One of our students, Jony, admitted that his mother runs their family store because his father
drinks all day and can’t manage to do it. His mother working outside the home tells the rest of the community that his father isn’t able to financially provide for his family and therefore he is marked as less of a man; it says little to nothnothing at all about his mother’s capabilities,
business sense or hardworking attitude.
One particiant clarifed: “Women can paint their own house, but they can’t go outside and paint someone else’s house. They would be alone at a stranger’s place and it isn’t safe.” This confirms that even a ‘man’s’ job is open to a women inside her own home. Likewise, participants clarified
that men can do ‘women’s’ jobs for pay - such as wawashing dishes at a roadside eatery or cooking
food at a foodstall.
Often, when a women is offered work for pay, they might choose to do it for
free or at a lower rate instead, therefore not changing the economic dynamics inside their hohouse and threatening
their husband’s masculinity. Specifically,
one student shared an example of his mother getting a ‘job’ cooking food for home delivery aand accepting minimal payment instead of the full amount offered to a
male employee.
His WIFE makes MORE MONEY than him.
Does that make him LESS OF A MAN?
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NO, it gives them DOUBLE THE INCOME!