Gender essentialism is often used to excuse gender-based biases in society.
Gender essentialism is both informed bygenderstereotypes and reinforces them.
It can have numerous effects on society.
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For example, asking a married lesbian couple, “Which one of you is the husband?”
assumes that the traditional male role is necessary for a successful marriage.
That further implies that one of them must be performing the male role, whatever that means.
Gender Essentialism and Non-Binary Genders
However, gender essentialism is not supported by evidence.
They also reject the notion of gender essentialism.
This is, in part, because many common gender essentialist notions are about sexual behavior.
In contrast, women are taught the opposite.
This puts pressure on men to be sexual, and sexually aggressive.
Simultaneously, women are encouraged to deny theirsexual desires.
They believe that there is no reason such differences should encourage inequalities in opportunity.
Arguments against gender essentialism are supported by evidence that gender expectations differ significantly across cultures.
Such differences are apparent with respect to not only sexual behavior but a variety of other aspects of life.
