Character Gender Fixation: The Memes of Bias and Stereotypes

Research Article
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Character Gender Fixation: The Memes of Bias and Stereotypes

Siqi Wang 1*
  • 1 North China University of Science and Technology    
  • *corresponding author 3248817945@qq.com
Published on 14 February 2025 | https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/2025.20909
LNEP Vol.85
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-83558-957-1
ISBN (Online): 978-1-83558-958-8

Abstract

With the continuous progress of people's thinking, the road to the future is no longer limited to the inherent gender model, and more will be combined with the individual's own characteristics to develop a private model, so as to maximize personal advantages and make full use of them. However, to some extent, it will be constrained by some inherent patterns, men and women put aside the stereotyped image of gender, on the single behavior pattern and individual ability, and can not directly conclude the conclusion, boys also have a gentle and delicate side, girls also have a strong, informal side, the two can be compared fairly in the certainty of gender at the same time. The purpose of this article is to describe the deviation of cognition of men and women in the social environment under the influence of fixed gender roles. All kinds of work, cultural biases and stereotypes. Gender role cognition does not exist in the traditional sense of the inherent conclusion, but about the individual behavior habits and norms of the definition of life style. Analysis breaks this way of thinking and maximizes individual development as much as possible.

Keywords:

Social psychology, role gender, formation of fixed impression

Wang,S. (2025). Character Gender Fixation: The Memes of Bias and Stereotypes. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,85,25-29.
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1. Introduction

With the development of the current era, the continuous progress of science and technology, people's ideas and concepts also progress, making all kinds of new things and advanced ideas continue to emerge. However, the stereotypical impression and view of some things have not changed, and still remain deeply rooted in people's minds. For example, some stereotypes will make the boundaries between men and women very clear, There are even very clear stereotypes about the positioning of couples and lovers, and the prejudice of men in women is deeply rooted.[1]which leads to many new ideas and innovative things are nipped in the bud. People's understanding of gender is formed from the infancy, about 6-7 years old, into the constant stage of gender, it is a comprehensive concept, covering biological, social and psychological aspects. It not only involves the individual's cognition and identity of their own gender, but also includes gender role learning, gender characteristics formation and gender constancy. The development of gender cognition is a complex process, which is influenced by internal motivation and external environment, and finally forms an individual's understanding and orientation of their own gender. So the definition of gender is very esoteric and conclusive. In the theoretical sense, the research of this paper can make people's cognition of gender more clear, so that the public is not limited to the physiological cognition of gender, broaden the public's horizon, achieve a deeper understanding of gender, and make up for the gap in the public's research in this area. The research object of this paper is mostly transgender people. Observation method and case study method are used to study the experimental object, find out the specific problems existing in her (he) for specific analysis, use research data to make solutions for her (he), and use research results to prove that Gender does not limit a person's overall ability to appropriately address societal biases that arise from the fixed gender of roles. In concrete practice, it has improved the prejudice caused by the inherent thought of gender against the profession, promoted the development of society and economic construction, and promoted the development of all walks of life as a whole.

2. Anchoring of role gender: male and female gender fixation

In the stereotype, people have different attitudes, expectations, emotions, personalities and so on about men and women. Different behavior patterns lead to the inherent role gender as a shackle to individual development. People summarize and summarize the personality characteristics of men and women to form inherent characteristics, which directly affect their perceptions, senses, etc., and form fixed thinking patterns. Many ways to break this situation will be forced to suffer different eyes. This phenomenon can affect an individual's self-perception and social interaction, as well as their social status and perception of their role. Role gender generally refers to that under the influence of social economy and culture, the behavior norms, emotional characteristics and work patterns of individuals indirectly reflect the requirements of society for men or women. Generally speaking, such behavior patterns are constrained by inherent ideas. Under the influence of genetic factors, human ancestors in the choice of a mate is the male to occupy the right to compete, and women are in the rear to raise children and cooperate with men. Therefore, in the inherent thinking, men should be stronger than women, more responsible, while women are more weak, will be attached to men, which leads to many things, men occupy more initiative, women's choice will be less than men. Affected by human emotions, generally in the eyes of the public, women will lack rationality, in the same matter, women will pay more attention to perceptual cognition than men, so that things can not be rationalized to solve. Women's empathy tends to be greater than men's, which is closer to nature. Due to the immobilization of role gender thinking, individuals want to show their contrary and personalized personality in a constrained environment. In the world of both sexes, there is often a gender bias and the existence of dual sex. In this cognitive situation, individuals often blur their gender. It is often their own cognitive biases that can highlight the more special side. This type of individual's cognition of feelings is not conventional male and female, but according to the inner thoughts of emotion, love or sexual attraction. Break through the influence of traditional concepts, so that they can be more bold in front of the public to show their love, even if they are different, they will not appear to be out of step with society. In order to challenge gender stereotypes, some city promotional materials have begun to try to show a diverse gender image. For example, the city of Gavle commissioned Thomas Gunarsson, who is known as a "gender photographer," to create a set of images designed to challenge stereotypes. The images challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes by showing diverse gender expressions, such as dads taking parental leave alone to look after their children and male bosses in provocative poses. The awakening of role gender consciousness is often in the infant period, and the children in this period are in the vigorous stage of brain development, and the ability to receive new things is also the strengthening period. They will take the initiative to observe everything around them and learn to think deeply. Boys will ask, "Why can't girls wear skirts and boys wear skirts?" Girls will think about why men have beards, which is the embryonic stage of individual gender recognition in the role. At this stage, due to the influence of family environment and education environment, gender bias may be caused. Dress, behavior, and grooming can affect gender perception. But it will not become a defect, and with the advancement of people's thinking, the same sex will no longer be a topic to be avoided.[2]

2.1. Memes of bias and stereotype formation

Based on traditional cognition, stereotype tends to generalize and limit the cognition of male and female. This is often established on the basis of social, economic and cultural development[3]. In people's inherent thinking, the characteristics of men and women are clearly divided, and these characteristics are not limited to the difference in physiology or appearance, but lies in some perceptual cognition. Calm and calm is generally a man's words, most men in the face of some emergencies will use rational thinking to deal with, will not be confused to give up reason. In the contact with the same sex or the opposite sex, most men are careless and do not care about everything, so that things can be completed smoothly, which is also the reason why some jobs are willing to recruit male staff. Women are closer to nature, their minds are more delicate, people and things tend to be sentimental, and most women will not reject others directly. Women are synonymous with gentleness and kindness, which are the temperament of most women. Women are more suitable for getting along with people, so the teaching industry is more for women, they know how to care for and protect others. And women are more inclined to family, men are more inclined to career. Women play the role of mother and daughter in the family, and they bear more family responsibilities. On the contrary, they are not recognized to hold leadership positions, and they are not as decisive as men in the critical moment, which is also the bias caused by the formation of stereotypes about women. In the American film Legally Blonde, the stereotype and prejudice of women are interpreted, and the prejudice often comes from many factors such as ability and appearance. The film's portrayal of gender stereotypes and self-identity without external influences is at its most vivid. The female protagonist is appreciated by the company because of her outstanding appearance, but also because the appearance ignores her inner strength, the two echo, undertake the theme, and criticize the stereotypes and prejudices of the gender of the role in a sarcastic way. In modern society, many positions in companies will mark the gender of employees selected. In addition to the selection under necessary conditions, there will be bias in the gender of roles. Not only women, but also men will be treated unfairly in some aspects, but women will be discriminated against more. Not only that, many physical features are labeled inherently, making some products inherently commodities for both sexes, respectively. Red lips, white skin beauty is synonymous with women, pink skirts are girls' proprietary clothing, so beautiful boys will suffer from other people's strange eyes and even gender disputes, which makes these groups dare not pursue their favorite wear, dare not express their true temperament. Aesthetic national style of dance, boys will be said to be "sissy", which greatly stifles the development of individuals. In terms of emotions, these groups have no way to pursue their true love, their love is not understood in real life, and even subjected to abuse, which also increases their risk of mental illness. According to statistics, many of the bullied people in the world are people with sexual orientation problems, and these groups are controversial because of their feelings and other aspects different from normal men and women. They are regarded as different in the group, unable to live normally, and have a huge impact on the development of individuals.

2.2. An experiment on the influence of role gender bias and stereotype on individuals

There are many reports or film and television works have mentioned that in the case of female husband murder, the label of female weakness has been broken, in the final analysis,[4] it is because of the true character of women, the refutation behavior of repressed feelings, in order to not be oppressed, in order to break free, they have embarked on the road of crime. These influences not only exist in real life, but also discrimination occurs in the Internet. With the development of modern science and technology, the game industry is booming. In the virtual environment, game characters become the symbol of our strength, while some games will be impossible for women to control, and suppress women from thinking and operating ability, so that the original competitive entertainment has become a tool for gender suppression.[5] On the street, we often see the existence of female drivers, car accidents, female drivers are more than male drivers, social opinion will be linked to female personality characteristics, women lack the ability to deal with difficult things, and can not make a correct response to things in time, which makes female drivers called "road killing", which can not be summarized from the perspective of men and women. It has to be admitted that there are many people in the ranks of drivers who are not good at driving, but they cannot be compared with the gender of the role, which is an extremely irrational conclusion. In the emotional above, the topic of homosexuality continues to heat up, gay men will be better than lesbians by the suppression of society, two boys mentioned love will be suppressed by the inherent ideas and even separated. They are under the pressure of life and marriage, in the face of family pressure to get married, have to give up their love, and even some will compromise on this situation, so most of these groups will be very fragile, the heart will be afraid of others, and it is not conducive to individual development.In many cases, these questions can be tested experimentally, with 50 subjects, half male and half female. Select 25 different states to watch the different treatment and evaluation of men and women in the same state. While determining the dependent variable, the experimental results can be better observed. The experiment period was one month. At the same time, the state and individual changes of the subjects were observed, so as to record the experimental conclusions. After a month, it was clear that nearly half of the subjects were treated unfairly in situations that did not conform to the original social model, thus proving that there were still gender stereotypes in society.

2.3. Strategic measures to avoid stereotyping a character's gender

From the biological point of view, human beings are an independent individual evolved from cells. Although each person's physiological functions are similar but not synchronized, at the ideological level, each independent individual will have their own different cognition and ideas. Secondly, ‌ the concept of equality between men and women ‌, whether in the family or in the society, the equal rights and responsibilities of men and women should be respected, and the importance of gender equality should be emphasized. The most important thing is ‌ to show diverse gender roles ‌, to show children diverse gender roles, let them be exposed to successful people of different genders, and form a gender concept of tolerance and respect.

Specific measures. We should accept differences, including different ways of thinking, ways of life, etc., try to look at people and things with a vision of continuous progress, break through the stereotype of role cognition, and hold an inclusive attitude to treat "special".[6] It is because of these differences that constitute today's colorful world. To minimize the impact of gender discrimination on individuals' dignity and self-confidence, as when someone is discriminated against or excluded due to their gender, they may feel helpless, hopeless, and inferior, which will affect their personal development and growth, and also cause irreversible harm to society. Additionally, gender discrimination can lead victims to develop psychological problems, it may engender disorientation regarding its own gender identity, cultivate a distinct performance persona, and progressively develop a cynical demeanor.[7]And will appear ,loss of motivation and hope, and even abandon their lives, thereby increasing the mortality rate. Secondly, gender discrimination has significant negative impacts on education, employment, and economic development. In some countries and regions, women may face problems such as limited educational opportunities and fewer employment opportunities, which limit their personal development and economic independence. Addressing the issue of gender role bias is the key to solving social problems.

3. Conclusion

In the whole research process, the research method is relatively simple and the quantitative analysis is less. Although it can basically meet the research needs, the accuracy and scientificity may be lacking. Secondly, the number of researchers is small, and the overall research idea cannot be comprehensively summarized, resulting in certain one-sidedness of the research, but it does not affect the overall research conclusion. In the future research planning, the bias and influence caused by the fixed gender role will be more life, and researchers who look for this kind of research will continue to follow up and investigate, lengthen the research time, improve the research results, and find ways to help solve the problem after research, so as to reduce this phenomenon, so as to make contributions to the society.


References

[1]. Duan Fassen, Jia Lizhai. A study on Implicit Stereotypes of marital and family roles among college students [J]. Journal of Shanghai Youth Management Institute, 2008(4):57-60,43. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1008-9470.2008.04.017.

[2]. Wang Yuxuan. Rose Youth, in my heart -- Psychological counseling activity class on the theme of "Breaking Gender Role Stereotype" [J]. Mental health education in primary and secondary schools, 2023(29):28-31.DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1671-2684.2023.29.009.

[3]. Ye Shiming. Gender Role Norms and Women's Political Participation [J]. Fujian Forum (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2011(5):164-168.

[4]. Song Weiqin. The Impact of Gender Role Stereotypes on Female Criminal Psychology [J]. Journal of Changchun University of Technology (Social Science Edition), 2006,18(1):53-55. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-1374.2006.01.018.

[5]. Yang Qing. Gender Roles and Women's Development [J]. Theory and Practice of the Special Zone, 2003(12):53-55. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5706.2003.12.018.

[6]. Jing Jianhua. Using social structure theory to explain gender Angle in foreign countries .Review of research on color formation [J]. Journal of Henan Institute of Education (Philosophy SocietyScience Edition), 1995(2) : 8-13.

[7]. Tang Li, Zhu Ping. Gender Confusion and Performance: An Analysis of Gender Roles in The Sun Also Rises [J]. Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2011(S2).


Cite this article

Wang,S. (2025). Character Gender Fixation: The Memes of Bias and Stereotypes. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,85,25-29.

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Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Psychology and Humanity Studies

ISBN:978-1-83558-957-1(Print) / 978-1-83558-958-8(Online)
Editor:Kurt Buhring
Conference website: https://2025.icsphs.org
Conference date: 14 February 2025
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.85
ISSN:2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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References

[1]. Duan Fassen, Jia Lizhai. A study on Implicit Stereotypes of marital and family roles among college students [J]. Journal of Shanghai Youth Management Institute, 2008(4):57-60,43. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1008-9470.2008.04.017.

[2]. Wang Yuxuan. Rose Youth, in my heart -- Psychological counseling activity class on the theme of "Breaking Gender Role Stereotype" [J]. Mental health education in primary and secondary schools, 2023(29):28-31.DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1671-2684.2023.29.009.

[3]. Ye Shiming. Gender Role Norms and Women's Political Participation [J]. Fujian Forum (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2011(5):164-168.

[4]. Song Weiqin. The Impact of Gender Role Stereotypes on Female Criminal Psychology [J]. Journal of Changchun University of Technology (Social Science Edition), 2006,18(1):53-55. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-1374.2006.01.018.

[5]. Yang Qing. Gender Roles and Women's Development [J]. Theory and Practice of the Special Zone, 2003(12):53-55. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5706.2003.12.018.

[6]. Jing Jianhua. Using social structure theory to explain gender Angle in foreign countries .Review of research on color formation [J]. Journal of Henan Institute of Education (Philosophy SocietyScience Edition), 1995(2) : 8-13.

[7]. Tang Li, Zhu Ping. Gender Confusion and Performance: An Analysis of Gender Roles in The Sun Also Rises [J]. Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2011(S2).