THE baby boomers and the millennials They don’t seem to differ too much in the ideas they associate with gender stereotypes, even though they have a whole generation between them (the X). This is one of the main conclusions of the study. Are gender stereotypes still alive in the 21st century?of the Social Observatory of the “La Caixa” Foundation, which affirms, despite these striking data, that these stereotypical ideas are already quite diluted in Spanish society.
Based on the survey carried out, boys and girls of the generation millennium They are the ones who feel most identified with the personality traits traditionally supposed to differentiate the sexes. To the question “to what extent do these traits define you as a person?” ”, participants responded with a score between 0 (not at all) and 10 (completely). They feel identified with “agent” attributes such as competition, risk, leadership or conflict with 0.46 points more on average than them; Women feel more attracted than them – 0.52 points more – by “community” characteristics (affection, empathy, listening, understanding, kindness, etc.).
“The differences between the sexes are not huge, given that it is a scale that goes from 0 to 10, but for there to be no stereotypes, everything would have to be the same” , explains Marta Fraile, researcher at the Institute for Politics and Policy. Goods. Public of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and one of the authors of the study, who attempts to contextualize the results: “On the one hand, it is true that the generation millennium This has the effect of having been educated in democracy, with institutions that have ensured that gender inequality is combated and recognized. On the other hand, some studies have shown that when men and women start families, they tend to reconnect with social gender norms.
According to the survey, women in this age group, for example, felt significantly more empathetic than their peers, with a difference of 1.13 points, and men declared themselves to be competitive with 1.04 points more than them, the highest differential values in the entire original graph (which separated the results into eight “agent” traits and eight “community” traits).
In this sense, the baby boomers They follow very closely, very closely, millennials Regarding the sexual differentiation of this “agent” self-perception, they obtain almost identical results: men of this generation tend to identify more than women with these attributes, with a difference of 0.45 points, or only 0.01 less than those in the age range 26 to 40.
What is remarkable in this study is that the two most distant generations of women (the boomer and Z), share practically the same results: those whose age is between 55 and 75 and young women between 16 and 25 report feeling more detached from the personality attributes traditionally associated with the feminine gender than those who are in the “intermediate” category. generations (X and millennium).
“The common” as something more typically feminine
But there is a nuance, because when they are asked not what qualities they feel represented, but rather if they consider that certain of these qualities are more frequent in boys or girls in general, 17.75% of millennials They consider “agentic” as something more common among men and 31.37% associate “communitarian” as something more common among them, so it’s not even close to unanimity.
The generation in which, in terms of self-concept, we observe the least differences according to gender is Z, with 0.26 points above when identifying with “agentic” values and 0.29 points when above when one identifies with “agentic” community attributes.” However, it is the Zs who seem to have the most “stereotypes” when answering the second question: “Do you consider that some of these traits are more typical of men or women?” 30.88% said that “community” was more common among them and 16.87% associated “agent” with something more typical of them. The author’s hypothesis in this sense is that it is at these ages that we tend to be more hyperaware of ourselves, others and what society expects of us.
In this second question, the perception that varies the most between generations is that linked to traits traditionally considered “feminine”, since the younger generation relates them more to them in these 30.88%, the millennium of 31.37%, the boomer of 22.87%, the difference between the highest value and the lowest value is therefore eight percentage points. However, the difference in perception of all these generations in terms of traits traditionally considered masculine is less noticeable, since the lowest value is held by baby boomersof which only 12.87% say they associate these traits with the male gender, and the highest is Z, of which 16.87% say so. There are four points difference, half.
The older generation, paradoxically, is the one who is doing the best stop in this aspect. Friar hypothesizes that although it is at younger ages that we are most hyper-aware of the expectations of others, at older ages these differences are much less relevant to us.
They are more risky, they are more concerned about their physique.
Risk, conflict and competition are the traits most often associated with them. Physical appearance is most attributed to them, followed by listening, the tendency to value what others think, and empathy.
However, there was no real consensus among respondents on any of these statements, as none of them exceeded 30% agreement.
Where significant differentiation between the sexes was appreciated by those interviewed was in relation to the carrying out of certain activities. 38% of men and 33.5% of women believe that they are better at caring tasks (taking care of young children, the elderly or sick relatives). However, consensus has narrowed significantly when it comes to tasks traditionally associated with men (such as launching a new business idea, leading work teams, or being a spokesperson for a political group). Less than 10% consider that these activities are better carried out by them (7% of boys and 5.48% of girls).
Fraile gives two explanations for these results: “The first is that it concerns the public and private dimensions. In other words, the traits and characteristics associated with femininity, let’s say, are unconsciously associated with the intimate, the personal, and there it is more difficult for stereotypes to fade. The second explanation, she explains, is that “up until now, there has been a lot of this ‘American’ view that part of these inequalities is related to the fact that they are not agentic enough, because that they care too much about others. . That it’s us who “We have to be like men if we want there to be equality, and, on the other hand, all the talk about the qualities associated with femininity has been softer.”
The final conclusion of the study, he assures, is that “we have made a lot of progress in overcoming certain gender stereotypes, but very traditional ideas about femininity and the role that women play in society are still unconsciously underlying.
