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The development of Social Stereotypes and Darwinian Theory
There are different expectations for men and women that have led to the development of social stereotypes. Most of these stereotypes are linked to Darwinian Theory which argues that gender roles are adapted depending on the conditions of the environment. During the hunter-gatherer era, women were responsible for tending the children and gathering resources. Thus resulting in women to be viewed as “nurturing” and “caregiving”[4]. Women playing the motherly role led them to communicate more efficiently than men. When it comes to humans there emotions work as a communication signal informing them how to approach certain survival related situations [5]. Therefore since women are often left with children there automatic emotional response it to be more sensitive and careful for children to develop.[5]. Women’s emotions let them know to act kind and caring around children, however their nurturing skills is what leads to the stereotype that women are emotional. Women show less anger because anger is “non adaptive for interaction with children”[5]. Therefore, Women’s lack of aggressive behavior results in the development that women are too emotional and are expected to only take care of children.

Men are often portrayed the opposite of women, they are expected to be cold and aggressive. The way men act is also ironically due to their emotions, “each emotion has an underlying neural or hormonal substrate with an adaptive social function.” [5]. In the past men were responsible for hunting food. It required interaction with peers who had the same physical and social development [5] which mainly consisted of men interacting with men. Men were often known for being more angry since anger was commonly associated with aggressive behavior [5]. Men had to be aggressive in order to hunt, they were expected to be strong and macho. Men being hunters led to the stereotype that men are responsible for taking care of the family which leads them to act and be seen as “competitive and aggressive”[4]. It is because of the situation that men and women were back then that has led to these stereotypes to develop.

These old fashion ideals have led society to continue to adapt them and dictate the proper way women and men should act. They’ve been passed down from generation to generation. This concept often begins with children because the environment or situation context that children grow up affects their ability to express emotions [5]. Most children grow up in an environment with social stereotypes which often results in children learning these gender exceptions [4]. Children simply learn by observing these ideals and imitating them. Their goal is to satisfy society's standard and gender ideals by mimicking them [4][5].

Pressure of Stereotypes and Emotional Expression
Women are known for being emotional and sensitive while men are known for being aggressive and competitive. These expectations lead to women and men to act a certain way in order to please these societal stereotypes. In a study conducted by Floyd and Mikkelson about emotional expression, they discovered that women’s facial expressions were stronger while men had weaker facial expressions [2]. Thus resulting in the expectation for women to be emotional since it’s considered normal for them to express their emotions. While men who have weaker facial expression aren’t expected to be as emotionally vulnerable. When it comes to relationships women are expected to display more concern about relationships than men [5].When a relationship fails women experience fear, guilt and negative feelings about themselves. Women feel that they’ve failed with their communicating skills in the relationship and are afraid of judgement and disapproval they’ll receive from others[5]. Women are afraid to be looked down upon by society for not living up to their social expectations.

While women carry the responsibility of being happy, cheerful and emotional men carry the responsibility of having to be cold, competitive and aggressive. The men are expected to have these “manly characteristics such as being heterosexual, competitive, dominant, rational and physically strong”[6]. In Mikkelson’s study, it was shown that men were better at hiding and masking their emotions compared to women[2]. In an interview conducted on military men and masculinity culture by McAllister, it was mentioned that the main focus during the men’s training is focused on their physical and mental strength. If they show any traits of feminine or emotional positioning they are considered too weak to join the military. This is mostly due to the social influence that society has on men [6]. When it comes to men “the reification of emotion” is treated “as something to be controlled and regulated neglects affective context”[6]. Men’s emotions are often ignored; they aren’t allowed to cry, or be depressed. They aren’t expected to express any happiness or sadness because they often face negative backlash for not acting in accordance to their gender expectations [3]. If a man shows any emotions they will be labeled as weak and are often shamed and punished for it.

Controverses
Women aren’t expected to be hostile and aggressive however, this isn’t always true. A study on gender and oscillatory response has actually shown that “females are more relationally aggressive than males” and that “hostility-related difference were more pronounced in females than in males” [1]. Women are also expected to be emotional however, the study also contradicted this since women had and that better inhibitory control [1]. Society often expects almost every woman to have children because they have natural born motherly instincts. However, this isn’t entirely true in a study done by Katherine Young about sensing emotion through voice she showed that female listeners reacted more negatively to the sound of infant cries compared to males [7]. It was expected for men to vocalize more negatively because they don't deal with children but instead it was women who vocalized more negatively. It showed how not all women are born with motherly instincts or are destined to become mothers.

It is ideal that men don’t get very emotional and aren’t as skilled with emotions as women are. However this isn’t exactly true, since it has been “found men to be better encoders of facial expressions than women.”[2]. Men are in fact capable of understanding emotions, they can read emotional expressions just as well as women because they do feel sadness and vulnerability. A study has actually found that “participants who were told they were being observed showed less pain related facial expression than participants who were not told they were being observed”[3]. Men do actually express emotions however, they mainly express what they feel when they are not being watched. They mainly do it privately or when nobody isn’t looking to avoid the shame of breaking social stereotypes.