Introduction

We all know that racial, national, sexist, and religious prejudices and stereotypes are not as safe as it might seem – they influence a consciousness and behavior from childhood. These ready templates of behavior, opinions, estimates, which are replacing the understanding of the phenomenon with its identification and classification in the accepted pattern, sometimes are so deeply rooted in an unconscious structure of the human psyche that it’s difficult to deal with rational arguments.

Stereotypes on sex encounter child at birth. The shape and even the color of clothing, toys and games that are offered to children vary by gender and form a different character of boys and girls: Sumptuous dresses and dolls – to educate assiduity and accuracy in girls; trousers and machines – activity and aggressiveness in boys.

Stereotypes of femininity and masculinity do not only form people, but they often prescribe them, depending on their gender, specific psychological qualities: Standards of conduct, occupation, profession, etc.
Severe restrictions imposed on women by these stereotypes often lead to stress and failure.

Of course, we shouldn’t think that gender stereotypes affect only women. The stereotypes of always successful winner, sexual giant, or a taboo on being emotional, cause lots of men, who are unwilling or not able to follow these stereotypes, stress, sense of failure, or even sickness.

However, I decided to choose women and their stereotyped images in the media as a subject of my blog, as I also belong to female sex. This fact makes the subject much closer, understandable and interesting for me.