Gender stereotypes are outdated cliches

"Why the hell can’t baby boys wear pink?" and "Why do I need to be a mother after I get married?" These readers share their experiences and issues when it comes to facing gender stereotyping.

This is in response to Carmen Williams's column,Who are these "real men" you speak of?

I identify with being gay and I've recently heard an amazing line somewhere: "Sexual identity and gender identity are not the same thing and should never be confused."

And your line in your article, "... called a moffie because he wears nail polish." reminded me of that. A lot of men make that mistake by misinterpreting a soft nature in a man, as gay or non-manly.

Men and women come in all shapes and sizes, with various sexualities and strengths, and it is shameful that society allows itself to be so polarised about something so fundamental as gender. - Willem

It is 2015 and yet people still need to be reminded that gender stereotypes are outdated clichés.

It is quite sad actually.

One of the biggest stereotypes that annoy me is that all women are supposedly 'complete' when they become mothers. If you choose to remain child-free you are looked at with mixed horror and disbelief.

You can achieve anything, but until that mother box is ticked off, society will judge and shake their heads, and ask when you are going to start a family.

Or you'll get pity looks, because they assume there is something wrong resulting in your child-free status. I was once told "well there is always adoption" because this person couldn't grasp that this was a choice.

Of course pointing this out makes me selfish (another charming cliché), because as a woman I should want to look after others.

I've even been asked if having a sister with special needs was my deciding factor. It wasn't - but thanks for judging my sibling, our sisterly relationship and my choice is the most offensive way you could find.

It is downright insulting and the mindset that once you are married, you have to reproduce is not something I'll have forced upon me.

I say no to gender stereotyping, because everyone deserves to make up their own minds regarding their own lives. The keywords are their lives not yours, your family, friends or your colleagues. 

You only live once and if people spend less time pointing fingers at people who make different life choices, there would be a lot more content.

Love and do what makes you happy. - Tea Addict

I so love your energy and outrage on this one. Even when I was 12, I’d want to punch the lights out of any man who tried to open a door for me.

And as for women who sit in cars waiting for Sir Galahad to walk around to open the door for them?

Barbie has more brains. And why the hell can’t baby boys wear pink?

Like religion and sport, gender stereotyping is just another form of attempted social control, instituted by people who fear the unknown and don’t have the creativity to imagine a world where people are just people.

Who cares about gender, colour, creed or sexual preference, as long as no harm is done.

Oh but wait, I forgot – there are people who feel personally affronted and in some way attacked when their narrow, intellectually and spiritually bankrupt world view is challenged.

Sorry, I get a bit hot under the collar about stupid bigots, who want to control other people’s reality. If only they could see the supreme stupidity of their hypocrisy.

Like the person who called the police to say she could see naked people at Saunders Rock, and when she was asked how, she said she was standing on a tomato box looking out of her window with binoculars. -Lynne Women24