Gender Relations and Affirmative Action

Today in class we reviewed gender stereotypes through short videos that effectively listed off common strereotypes. The third video showed that the listed stereotypes can be gender neutral and implied that our own biases supplied the stereotypes, which are socially constructed. However, I took this message not to mean that neither gender is worse off since both are stereotyped, but that we should keep in mind that the assumptions we make about what qualities are masculine are brought forth by our own biases.
The differences in treatment of men and women in America are, I think, problematic because we have internalized them and often assume them to be true without seriously contemplating them. I think the important thing to remember is where such biased assumptions come from, which is to say, traditional assumptions about different genders that have persisted across much of America's history. I expect it is understood by most reading this that the only group to have escaped legal and social oppression in our country's history have been white males, and I assume it also goes without saying that this is most likely attributable to white males being the leaders until relatively recent history. Now at least we have some precedent that this will not always be the case, but it is my assumption that our oppressive traditions that have extended into very recent history are still present, if only in our subconsciousness. For this reason I think it is important not to ignore the repercussions from assuming that the stereotypes we make are equally hindering to both men and women, or to the traditionally oppressing and oppressed.
This is, I think more demonstrable for race, which brings me to affirmative action. I used to be an opponent of affirmative action, at least conceptually. My reasoning was that as a society we have much improved from our former state, which had institutionalized racism. As such, I thought the best way to encourage people today to stop being racist would be to get rid of any more segregating in the way our government treats different people, which includes affirmative action. I also disliked it on the basis that if less qualified people got jobs or positions due to their race, this could lead over time to their peers associating their lesser performance to their race, which would cause perpetuation of stereotypes. All this may seem like reasonable logic, but I now believe that I was biased by the privilege of my position when making such assumptions. It now seems to be the case to me that it is important to acknowledge the differences in people's races and ethnicities, because the reality is that those differences do exist in people's minds and should be brought into conscious recognition. Ideally, I think, everyone should be treated exactly the same way, but the truth is that we still have many racial and sexual biases, and that most of these are still to the advantage of white males. Simply ignoring them is what allows them to persist. I now fully support affirmative action, with the hope that it will act to counterbalance the influence of bias so common in our collective subconsciousness. I wish it was not the case that people have to be treated differently by institutions, but I think it worse that we ignore the already existing differences that many of us assume to be true. Bringing this back to gender relations, I think it is important to keep in mind that our tendency to stereotype is still prevalent, but that such stereotypes can themselves be more harmful to one group than to another. I don't think the car advertisement would work nearly as well if used in the second video we watched, the one from a woman's perspective; in fact, it is difficult for me to imagine it. The plight of men can be taken more trivially, such as having to take off socks when entering bed. This seems to be the appeal of the ad, that it acts sympathetic towards men and suggests that they are deserving of a new car. The second video, though, brings up such things as women making less money on average. This is no trivial matter and would seem offensive if used as a marketing tool in a car ad. Therein lies the big difference; the "problems" faced by white men can be joked about, but making less money due to discrimination is a very serious matter that should not be taken lightly. We should not treat these differences equally because the harm caused by societal stereotypes is not equal. They are real, and in my opinion they need to be acknowledged and taken seriously rather than ignored or downplayed; this is why I have changed my views on affirmative action.