10 Social Pressures Men Have To Deal With And 10 That Women Face
Whether You're A Man Or A Woman, Social Expectations Are Bound To Affect You
Although society has made a lot of progress in breaking out of toxic gender norms, some expectations persist. For men, it's more about success and abilities, while for women, it's more about looks. While these tropes are fading out of view slowly, they still inform how we interact, date, and view others to some extent. Whether you're a man or a woman, chances are you've grappled with some of these 20 social pressures.
1. Being Successful
Perhaps the biggest social pressure put on men is the expectation of being successful in their careers, thus being able to provide for a family. It's so prevalent in society that their chances in the dating pool are lower if they don't have a flashy job and a lot of material wealth.
2. Being Confident
While being confident is an important quality for both men and women, there's a lot more pressure for men to exude confidence. Women who lack confidence have a timid air that can be seen as cute, but men who lack it are sometimes seen as weak or effeminate.
3. Being Strong
The ideal body type for men which has been promoted in the media for decades is lean and muscular. There's a lot of pressure on men to be physically strong and have that body type, sometimes resulting in body image issues.
4. Being Funny
For men, it's not enough to just be handsome and successful. Having a good sense of humor, being the one cracking jokes, and being able to easily take jokes are things that don't come easy to all.
5. Being Athletic
Being good at sports is another expectation placed on men. With Hollywood pushing the image of the handsome jock who gets all the girls, being the last boy chosen for a sports team can feel shameful.
6. Being Handy
A typical "man's task" is fixing things. According to arhaic gender roles, in order to fulfill their duties as a man, they need to be handy at jobs like construction and mechanics.
7. Being Emotionally Stoic
Another pressure men face is that of being able to control their emotions. The toxic "boys don't cry" attitude stops them from letting their emotions out in a healthy way.
8. Being Assertive
Assertiveness is often linked to being a strong Alpha man. It can be taking control in social situations, being decisive, and having leadership qualities.
9. Being The Provider
Although women are now very much a part of the workforce, the old-fashioned expectation that men should be the main breadwinners in a relationship persists in certain cultures and contexts. This furthers the pressure on men to be successful in their careers.
10. Being Hypersexual
There's an expectation of men to be experienced in the bedroom.
Additionally, there's pressure to have a high libido and to perform well in these intimate settings.
Now that we've talked about the expectations men have to cope with, let's go over the pressures women experience.
1. Being Nurturing
Because mothers are women, there's a strong assumption that all women are nurturing and adept at taking care of people. Not all women possess nurturing qualities, but the failure to fit into this box might make others see you as uncaring or cold.
2. Fitting Into Beauty Standards
It's safe to say, women are more harshly judged on their looks than men. There's a lot of pressure to fit very rigid and arbitrary beauty standards and not fitting them can drastically lower your chances in the dating pool. This puts pressure on women to buy cosmetics and take drastic measures like plastic surgery.
3. Being Agreeable & Happy
Because being disagreeable, showing anger, or being conflict-prone are considered manly traits, women are expected to do the opposite. There's a lot of pressure on women to always be smiling, laughing at jokes, and never engage in a conflict which can prevent them from speaking up for themselves and getting ahead in professional situations.
4. Having A Youthful Appearance
For women more than men, there's a lot of pressure to look "forever young". Beauty is equated to youth and women can feel like there's an expiration date on their visual appeal.
5. Expectation To "Do It All"
For some, being a good woman is synonymous with juggling many things at once and never getting overwhelmed. You have to be a good mother, and wife, great in social situations, and have a successful career. Not excelling at everything all at once can make women feel inadequate.
6. Expectation To Get Married & Have Kids
There's a lot of pressure for women to get married and have kids by the time they're in their 30s. This can cause women to stress and try to rush into things, only to end up on a path they never really wanted.
7. Being Proper
While men have a license to let out a big belch and spread their legs out wide when they sit down, women are expected to always be poised and retain their "ladylike" manners. This causes women to feel too restrained.
8. Being Multi-Talented
Women are expected to be beautiful, talented, and charming, and one skill isn't enough. A truly impressive woman should possess many talents, according to society.
9. Being Put Together
Men can get away with looking a little scruffy, but women are expected to look perfect all the time at the risk of being judged. This pressure causes women to spend too much time in their lives applying makeup and doing their hair as opposed to just living and having fun.
10. Being Pure
In contrast to men who are celebrated for being with a lot of women, girls are expected to be relatively innocent and chaste. Being sexually liberated is still looked down upon in society.
