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Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian  Nice one Bitsy. I really enjoy following this conversation because it tells alot about people. I personally still think that men and women have very different strengths, and just because Steve got there first with the Man list, doesn't mean that he's sexist, or stereotyping, he's a man, and all over the world Men read his blog, and Men connected with it. Whats the problem? |
You, Steve or anyone else can't say with any credibility that men and women are inherently different in personality, behavioural characteristics or 'strengths'. Yes genetics plays a part in determining one's personality, but how big a part it plays is unknown. Whether being a specific gender has any bearing on personality is also unknown. I'd argue that environment plays a bigger role in determining someone's personality. And genetical factors other than gender determine someone's 'strengths'.
Thus, stereotyping or creating 'ideals' or whatever you want to call it can influence someone's personality in the sense that they become socially conditioned or feel pressured into conforming to the stereotype. This could be argued as negative, and pressuring someone to conform to a stereotype of masculinity/femininity becasue they are a man/woman is deemed sexist.
Thus Steve's article, titled 'how to be a man' implies that any behaviour contrary to that listed in the article is not 'manly'. This could be seen as imposing a stereotype of masculinity on men, pressuring them to act a certain way, and pressuring females to act contrary, which I consider to be sexist.