![]() ![]() In our patriarchal society, for instance, we integrate early on that men and women are complementary opposites - that is what we call ‘binarity’ - and that true love is when a man and a woman fall in love. They define what friendship and romance should be like. As we mentioned earlier, they also define relations and relationships. Have you ever noticed how certain characteristics can be seen as positive in certain cultures (ie: leisure in some African regions) and negative in others (ie: leisure in Western countries), but that they are only ever attached to women when they are seen as negative?īut gender norms do not only define how people should behave individually. Hence, the gender norms fixed by the patriarchy discriminate against women and people who do not fit into the cis men* category. They are the ones who make the rules and apply them. This means that society is created by and for men: they are the ones who hold the power (government, police, the military, etc.) as well as the resources (CEO, doctors, lawyers, etc.). Now, the system we live in is patriarchal. If you are a girl, you certainly have been told to study languages instead of sciences, because girls are bad at science. If you are a boy, chances are you have been taught not to cry, because it is a sign of weakness. On the contrary, intelligence, strength, logic, and ambitions are viewed as masculine. For instance, in Western societies, emotions, gentleness, empathy and love are considered to be feminine. But they always set the standards of what is feminine and what is masculine, and teach us not to blur the lines between the two. Gender norms may vary, depending on the culture, the time or the place. We are taught to integrate them, apply them and teach them to others. In other words, gender norms determine how we should behave depending on our gender identity (read: man or woman, because gender norms establish a binary opposition between these two genders, carefully discarding all other gender identities) and how gender relations should be like ( Includovate, 2017). They act as implicit rules regulating our individual and social behaviours. Gender norms are social norms that define what a man is, what a woman is and how they should act. What are gender norms: understanding the binary classification of men and women and what is expected of them *You will find a complete glossary at the end of this article, in case there are any terms you are unfamiliar with. ![]() Do we know how much it can impact the life of women and queer* people? Do we know precisely what are the roots of these norms, and how we can change the system to build a more inclusive society? Follow us as we tell you more about these challenges, where they come from and what we are doing to change the system. ![]()
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