November 2015: Cover Story
Across cultures, stereotypes of a strong woman limit rather than empower
Passion laces her voice, her limbs are lean and tough, her mind sharp and insightful. She doesn’t apologize needlessly, she’ll never be accused of being too meek, too girly. She’s self confident, and it shows. Strong women fill the halls of our schools, the rooms of our homes, and the offices of our workplaces. For many females, the strong women they know and love in their own lives and in the media are their role models, the people they aspire to be like.
However, when the idea of a strong woman becomes a stereotype, replacing the old standard for being a “proper” female with a new, no less oppressive form of suppression — when a woman is only respected if she adheres to the standards society has decided females must follow in order to be considered “strong” — then it is no longer an empowering term. The stereotype of what a “strong” woman looks and acts like differs with each culture or ethnic group, but the effect is no less negative. As Danielle Campoamor said in The Huffington Post, being a strong woman should be about “no longer looking for validation from a society that will constantly tell you to be something else. It means defining your own strength.”
Sophia McDougall, the author of the Romanitas trilogy, expands on this idea, and explains how women are characterized in popular culture, specifically in the world of fiction in an article in the New Statesman. “What happens when one tries to fit other iconic male heroes into an imaginary ‘Strong Male Character’ box?...they’re not used to this kind of confinement, poor things. They’re used to being interesting across more than one axis and in more than two dimensions…but it’s within this claustrophobic little box that we expect our heroines to live out their lives,” she said.
In addition, McDougall describes how “strong” female characters are often portrayed as unusual, atypical women who live outside the norm. “Of course, normal women are weak and boring and can’t do anything worthwhile. But this one is different. She is strong!” she said.
The way the “strong woman” stereotype is applied to African-American women has potentially dangerous consequences. According to Leah Sinclar from The Guardian, African-American women are often dehumanized because of this very narrow stereotype.
“[The strong black woman stereotype serves to] limit our ability as women to emote, as if the only emotion we can express is anger and our only quality is strength,” she said. In addition, an article by Noliwe M. Rooks from Time magazine says “[the strong black woman stereotype is] a complicated and dehumanizing stereotype — and its debunking seems somehow at odds with feminism. No one wants to project the message that black women are weak and helpless.” However, this article goes on to say that while getting rid of the “strong black woman” stereotype may seem counterproductive as far as women’s rights go, it still is an extremely necessary step to take, because of the way it is affecting real African-American women in society who are not given help because of their supposed super-strength (Renisha McBride is an extreme example: her car broke down, she went to a nearby house to ask for help but the man at the door thought she was a threat and shot her).
In South Asian culture, which often draws from countries like Pakistan, India, and the Middle East in general, the stereotype of a strong woman isn’t as common. However, social media movements from south Asian American women, such as the #mispterz movement which stands for Muslim hipsters have emerged, in an effort to defy negative stereotypes about Muslim women. The Mipsterz movement has received both effusive praise and harsh criticism; critics argue that rather than removing stereotypes about Muslim women, it just replaces them with the stereotype of what a cool, empowered, Muslim woman looks like.
Latin American women are making huge strides towards equality, but their culture is not keeping up. The strong women stereotype doesn’t seem to be as prominent in Latin American culture, although there are many women in public positions (like Argentina, where Cristina Fernández, a woman, is president). “Women have made great progress towards equality with men, especially in schools, workplaces and politics. But social attitudes have changed more slowly. Women’s ambitions are often belittled; hostility towards them is common. Raw statistics tell a story of female advancement; machista culture has yet to catch up,” an article from The Economist titled “Wonder Women and Macho Men” said.
Asian culture also perpetuates this stereotype. As Maria X. Liu said on The Huffington Post, “Even though it seems that the Asian race is often associated with the "model minority" label, and we are often grouped in with Caucasians, these theoretically positive associations rely on a veneer that ignores the raw and lived experience.” Often, the real challenges Asians face, especially Asian women, are overlooked because the stereotypes appear to be positive: the stereotype that most Asians are “mathletes” is a prime example.
Sophomore Julia Wang has seen strong Asian woman stereotypes appear at school: “[People will assume] I’m automatically good at every so called Asian thing,” she said, referring to stereotypes about Asian girls being good at Math and Science. In Chinese culture, Wang says that the stereotype of an “ideal” woman, who is also thought to be strong, fits the role of the perfect mother, or the perfect wife. Wang believes that students at SPA are subconsciously aware of the “strong” woman stereotype, but don’t think about it as much, or give much importance to it.
Senior Maya Smith sees this “strong woman” stereotype pervading popular culture. “I see it a lot in films and on TV,” she said. “Usually either she’s very work-focused or she’s clearly slightly more manipulative than the male characters. There are very few women in power where they just happened to be in power...it doesn’t feel like a normal woman would get that job,”
Sophomore Eva Garcia sees the “strong” woman stereotype present in Latin American culture, and the SPA community. The stereotype she sees coming up most often is that strong Mexican women are passionate, likely to to veer on the side of completely loving or hating the people around them. She believes that women are required “[to be] manly while still being a woman,” and that the students at SPA know what the stereotype is “ but they don't really do anything to stop the stereotypes and sometimes they seen seem to use them,” she said.
Freshman Nitya Thakkar believes that the “strong” woman stereotype will have an effect on her life, if it hasn’t already, especially due to her South Asian ethnicity. “It’s going to be so much harder for me to get what I want,” she said. Thakkar’s family encourages her to counter these stereotypes. “In my family being a strong woman means fighting for what you believe in,” she said. Thakkar also thinks that the lack of awareness about the strong woman stereotype in the SPA community is because of the fact that many people don’t notice it, or identify it as negative. “They know about the feminist movement, but they probably don’t know about the extent of it,” she said.
Junior Sarah Murad hasn’t seen the effects of the “strong” woman stereotype in her life, although she can see how it would negatively impact other females. Overall, she believes that the pressure is starting to lessen for south Asian women. “Nowadays that disadvantage [for south Asian women] is decreasing,” Murad said.
Smith vehemently disagrees with the notion that the “strong” woman stereotype is beneficial to the feminist movement. “If someone’s really good at taking care of people, but they’re being really polite and nice about it we won’t consider them strong,” she said. “People tell me I’m too meek a fair bit...I don’t like being aggressive, I like being polite…[but] because I’m polite they think I won’t stand up for myself.”
Smith believes that the “strong” female stereotype is commonplace at SPA, and in our society at large. “I feel like a lot of people think it’s true. More people accept it and believe it,” she said. She sees this issue come up at SPA when she and her female classmates are disregarded when they discuss social justice issues. “[People will] roll their eyes, be less likely to listen,” she said.
Students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School have also seen the negative effects of the “strong” African American woman stereotype. “The angry black woman: that’s what it means to be strong [for African-American women],” junior Kathryn Schmechel said. “[She’s] angry and emotional. If somebody expresses their feelings and they’re African-American, they’re automatically angry in a way. If I get opinionated and annoyed, people will say ‘that side of you is coming out’ or ‘you’re just angry.’”
A huge part of why African-American women in particular are treated in this way is due to pressure from outside sources, sometimes even their own community. “A lot of times people feel like they need to prove themselves, to be a certain type of woman…[like] you have to be one way or else you aren’t strong or powerful. I need to be the strong one, and not upset right now...that’s who I need to be for other people. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the emotionally strong one,” Schmechel said.
Smith has also seen the “strong woman” stereotype affect her own life. “I feel like I would have to work extra hard to be in a position of power...I can’t just be good, I would have to be extraordinary,” Smith said. Since Smith does not see many women in high positions of power in the real world, she believes that she would have to stand out and in some ways and embody the “strong woman” stereotype in order to get where she wants to be.
“All stereotypes are based on a kernel of truth,” she said.
However, when the idea of a strong woman becomes a stereotype, replacing the old standard for being a “proper” female with a new, no less oppressive form of suppression — when a woman is only respected if she adheres to the standards society has decided females must follow in order to be considered “strong” — then it is no longer an empowering term. The stereotype of what a “strong” woman looks and acts like differs with each culture or ethnic group, but the effect is no less negative. As Danielle Campoamor said in The Huffington Post, being a strong woman should be about “no longer looking for validation from a society that will constantly tell you to be something else. It means defining your own strength.”
Sophia McDougall, the author of the Romanitas trilogy, expands on this idea, and explains how women are characterized in popular culture, specifically in the world of fiction in an article in the New Statesman. “What happens when one tries to fit other iconic male heroes into an imaginary ‘Strong Male Character’ box?...they’re not used to this kind of confinement, poor things. They’re used to being interesting across more than one axis and in more than two dimensions…but it’s within this claustrophobic little box that we expect our heroines to live out their lives,” she said.
In addition, McDougall describes how “strong” female characters are often portrayed as unusual, atypical women who live outside the norm. “Of course, normal women are weak and boring and can’t do anything worthwhile. But this one is different. She is strong!” she said.
The way the “strong woman” stereotype is applied to African-American women has potentially dangerous consequences. According to Leah Sinclar from The Guardian, African-American women are often dehumanized because of this very narrow stereotype.
“[The strong black woman stereotype serves to] limit our ability as women to emote, as if the only emotion we can express is anger and our only quality is strength,” she said. In addition, an article by Noliwe M. Rooks from Time magazine says “[the strong black woman stereotype is] a complicated and dehumanizing stereotype — and its debunking seems somehow at odds with feminism. No one wants to project the message that black women are weak and helpless.” However, this article goes on to say that while getting rid of the “strong black woman” stereotype may seem counterproductive as far as women’s rights go, it still is an extremely necessary step to take, because of the way it is affecting real African-American women in society who are not given help because of their supposed super-strength (Renisha McBride is an extreme example: her car broke down, she went to a nearby house to ask for help but the man at the door thought she was a threat and shot her).
In South Asian culture, which often draws from countries like Pakistan, India, and the Middle East in general, the stereotype of a strong woman isn’t as common. However, social media movements from south Asian American women, such as the #mispterz movement which stands for Muslim hipsters have emerged, in an effort to defy negative stereotypes about Muslim women. The Mipsterz movement has received both effusive praise and harsh criticism; critics argue that rather than removing stereotypes about Muslim women, it just replaces them with the stereotype of what a cool, empowered, Muslim woman looks like.
Latin American women are making huge strides towards equality, but their culture is not keeping up. The strong women stereotype doesn’t seem to be as prominent in Latin American culture, although there are many women in public positions (like Argentina, where Cristina Fernández, a woman, is president). “Women have made great progress towards equality with men, especially in schools, workplaces and politics. But social attitudes have changed more slowly. Women’s ambitions are often belittled; hostility towards them is common. Raw statistics tell a story of female advancement; machista culture has yet to catch up,” an article from The Economist titled “Wonder Women and Macho Men” said.
Asian culture also perpetuates this stereotype. As Maria X. Liu said on The Huffington Post, “Even though it seems that the Asian race is often associated with the "model minority" label, and we are often grouped in with Caucasians, these theoretically positive associations rely on a veneer that ignores the raw and lived experience.” Often, the real challenges Asians face, especially Asian women, are overlooked because the stereotypes appear to be positive: the stereotype that most Asians are “mathletes” is a prime example.
Sophomore Julia Wang has seen strong Asian woman stereotypes appear at school: “[People will assume] I’m automatically good at every so called Asian thing,” she said, referring to stereotypes about Asian girls being good at Math and Science. In Chinese culture, Wang says that the stereotype of an “ideal” woman, who is also thought to be strong, fits the role of the perfect mother, or the perfect wife. Wang believes that students at SPA are subconsciously aware of the “strong” woman stereotype, but don’t think about it as much, or give much importance to it.
Senior Maya Smith sees this “strong woman” stereotype pervading popular culture. “I see it a lot in films and on TV,” she said. “Usually either she’s very work-focused or she’s clearly slightly more manipulative than the male characters. There are very few women in power where they just happened to be in power...it doesn’t feel like a normal woman would get that job,”
Sophomore Eva Garcia sees the “strong” woman stereotype present in Latin American culture, and the SPA community. The stereotype she sees coming up most often is that strong Mexican women are passionate, likely to to veer on the side of completely loving or hating the people around them. She believes that women are required “[to be] manly while still being a woman,” and that the students at SPA know what the stereotype is “ but they don't really do anything to stop the stereotypes and sometimes they seen seem to use them,” she said.
Freshman Nitya Thakkar believes that the “strong” woman stereotype will have an effect on her life, if it hasn’t already, especially due to her South Asian ethnicity. “It’s going to be so much harder for me to get what I want,” she said. Thakkar’s family encourages her to counter these stereotypes. “In my family being a strong woman means fighting for what you believe in,” she said. Thakkar also thinks that the lack of awareness about the strong woman stereotype in the SPA community is because of the fact that many people don’t notice it, or identify it as negative. “They know about the feminist movement, but they probably don’t know about the extent of it,” she said.
Junior Sarah Murad hasn’t seen the effects of the “strong” woman stereotype in her life, although she can see how it would negatively impact other females. Overall, she believes that the pressure is starting to lessen for south Asian women. “Nowadays that disadvantage [for south Asian women] is decreasing,” Murad said.
Smith vehemently disagrees with the notion that the “strong” woman stereotype is beneficial to the feminist movement. “If someone’s really good at taking care of people, but they’re being really polite and nice about it we won’t consider them strong,” she said. “People tell me I’m too meek a fair bit...I don’t like being aggressive, I like being polite…[but] because I’m polite they think I won’t stand up for myself.”
Smith believes that the “strong” female stereotype is commonplace at SPA, and in our society at large. “I feel like a lot of people think it’s true. More people accept it and believe it,” she said. She sees this issue come up at SPA when she and her female classmates are disregarded when they discuss social justice issues. “[People will] roll their eyes, be less likely to listen,” she said.
Students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School have also seen the negative effects of the “strong” African American woman stereotype. “The angry black woman: that’s what it means to be strong [for African-American women],” junior Kathryn Schmechel said. “[She’s] angry and emotional. If somebody expresses their feelings and they’re African-American, they’re automatically angry in a way. If I get opinionated and annoyed, people will say ‘that side of you is coming out’ or ‘you’re just angry.’”
A huge part of why African-American women in particular are treated in this way is due to pressure from outside sources, sometimes even their own community. “A lot of times people feel like they need to prove themselves, to be a certain type of woman…[like] you have to be one way or else you aren’t strong or powerful. I need to be the strong one, and not upset right now...that’s who I need to be for other people. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the emotionally strong one,” Schmechel said.
Smith has also seen the “strong woman” stereotype affect her own life. “I feel like I would have to work extra hard to be in a position of power...I can’t just be good, I would have to be extraordinary,” Smith said. Since Smith does not see many women in high positions of power in the real world, she believes that she would have to stand out and in some ways and embody the “strong woman” stereotype in order to get where she wants to be.
“All stereotypes are based on a kernel of truth,” she said.