Gender stereotypes in your culture

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I was rather surprised when some of American women on this forum mentioned they weren't taken seriously because of being female. It's something foreign to me – women in my country are expected to be well-organized and well-informed, perfectly capable of managing affairs.
That's actually something I struggle with but it's a whole different story

I also don't see being ditzy as a sign of attractiveness here. Even the over-sexualized pictures that you can't avoid seeing don't suggest a ditzy character. I would rather say, a woman is expected to intellectually match her partner so hiding intelligence and success would rather spoil one's chances.

Is this just local culture or rather both ditzy sexy doll and fifty shades of grey belong more to fantasy than reality?

Well, we do have some problematic stereotype here: a selfless mother. It's strong, it's prevalent, it's horribly destructive for nobody is really selfless and playing selfless ends up with lots of unmet needs and problems.

Do you notice these kinds of stereotypes around you?

Its quite mixed here, the marriage bar was lifted for women in the 70s and we have elements in our constitution which protects the mother's right to stay home. Some parts of the country would be quite traditional with the mum staying home till the children are in school, but for economic reasons, women's participation in the workforce is necessary.

Employers dont tend to employ ditzy people, so I don't believe that it's a thing here either. Perhaps among adolescent and young adult groups, those who don't need to be employable just yet, it could be a thing there.

The unmarried childless woman is expected to be an unstoppable force of nature. This is the category I'm flailing about in.

Then there are what I call super women... work full time in specialised roles, can drive a minibus and have a gaggle of kids, they appear to have a successful relationship and happy lives. Don't know how they do it, but it sets a high benchmark for other women.

In general I think it's the grounded type of women that men seeking a long-term relationship are interested in. So I guess that's the opposite of ditzy.

Perhaps being ditzy is related to economic status, aka don't need to work, or develop independence... can be reliant on another source to provide. People might be keen to emulate an image of new wealth. I put ditzy in the fantasy category, from my perspective it's not seen as a desirable trait for serious relationships in Ireland.

Just had a thought, could ditzy women be considered attractive for one night stand culture...

I've never been into ditzy women.

Well not sure its necessarily a stereotype but the idea of wearing high heels.

Essentially science says they are terrible for the health of your feet and even your back. But not only do women regularly wear the damn things, it almost seems like its expected. I flat out refuse, but I have gotten crap for it or have people react like I'm some kind of freak for never wearing them.

Perhaps though that is not the stereotype, but rather the stereotype is women sacrifice their own comfort and even health to look good. Like its kind of expected women be willing to put their own comfort aside if it means looking good/providing eye candy to whoever's looking. Then of course some of the standards of 'what looks good' are actually kind of unrealistic so some people go to excessive lengths and become obsessed with the perfect body...some getting plastic surgery to the extent they are putting themselves in danger.

Like this poor deluded woman:

She's likely going to die of asphyxiation someday, pretty sure they talk to her son in the documentary to...and he won't speak to her anymore because its too painful for him to watch her kill herself.

Also not sure this is just a U.S thing but as this is the country I am in I see it here mostly.

I think our culture (US) is going through a transformation. There is new acceptance of gender fluidity and LGBTQ folks, including in the role of spouse and parent. This is mostly among the under-40 set. I think offensive stereotyping is more prevalent in the older generations. Watching that set of trendsetters age out has been satisfying.

I feel American society is very unforgiving of the demands of parenting, often making parents (of either gender) choose between job performance and good parenting. America has a strong, often unspoken, ethic of "rugged individualism" which works against social cohesiveness and community support. This causes a lot of damage to children.

Racial equity is coming along, not always seamlessly, but gender equity lags behind it. The big crop of freshman (freshwoman?) female legislators is encouraging.

High heels? I'm with Sweetleaf. They are horrible. I've been a shoe activist for 30-some years.

This probably cuts across many cultures - I find there's a general expectation that women are good at organising social events, being a good hostess (welcoming and friendly), that sort of thing. It used to make me feel a failure because I was always too self-absorbed and socially awkward to be able to carry off that role.
Possibly that's part of the reason why I see myself as gender-neutral / androgynous, because I don't fit the usual female stereotypes.

My mother told me the other day that not long ago she and my aunt went out somewhere, and my aunt was wearing high heels. My mom could not understand why she would wear shoes like that when they were outside and it was freezing out, and neither can I.

I worry about my daughter. She watches so many American TV series, she's completely addicted to them, and she seems to have picked up from them a highly sexualised idea of what it means to be a young woman. It's all about sexy clothes and make-up and a self-absorbed, entitled attitude to life. There've been studies that show the younger generation are less empathetic and more individualistic, more narcissistic. Intelligence and knowledge doesn't seem to rate with them.
But I think it's a trend affecting all genders, not just girls.

America women gave up their last names when they are married.. unheard in my home culture ..