The Swiss psychotherapist Karl Gustav Jung believed that human life is a real mystery. Considering the problem of emotional trauma in the relationship of the father and daughter, he noted that such a large number of emotional female traumas, existing at an individual level, mirrors the problem of our entire culture, the problem of a patriarchal society in which femininity is secondary and additional phenomenon.

Many psychologists are concerned that even today femininity is being depreciated by our society and is reduced to certain roles and qualities, prescribed to the woman that do not allow her to be herself and to develop herself according to her creative abilities. Despite the “advanced morals” of modern society, the modern woman still has a low self-esteem, a sense of victim-hood and low priority towards a man.

Thus, certain gender stereotypes have emerged in the process of domination of the patriarchal society and they affect the formation of behavioral strategies and the life scenarios of women. “Gender” means gender as a social phenomenon.

A stereotype is a person’s image formed in certain conditions that is used as a stamp. Therefore, it can be said that the gender stereotype is a product of social norms and expectations, and from the very beginning the person has such a “conductor” that accompanies him all his life, pointing the way, depending on his biological sex. And if the real behavior does not coincide with social norms, then society exerts pressure on the consciousness of a person, using certain sanctions.

In the modern world these sanctions are predominantly psychological: condemnation, negative assessments and so on. As a result, a person feels guilty, shame, internal and external role conflicts. For example, a woman should cook well, clean, have a family, listen to her husband, and if she does not do all this then as a rule she is condemned…

Therefore, in order to avoid unpleasant experiences, a woman tries to satisfy social expectations and in this way she imposes many restrictions on her self-realization and self-expression. And so, how are gender stereotypes being laid?

Young Woman Sits in the Back of a Convertible, Her Arms in the Air, Laughing With Joy

The first “Gender Alphabet” for a child is a fairy tale that performs the translation role of gender, i.e. fairy-tale transfers the experience of interaction of representatives of different sexes from generation to generation. The tale broadcasts the “right” behavior to the child, shows what kind of girl or boy it is necessary to be to achieve success in life. Considering folk tales, we can see the “correct” models of female and male behavior that offers a society of that time, and guarantees victory over problems, as well as a happy long life.

Let’s try to consider what kind of “female” models are offered to us by Ukrainian folk tales:

So we can see that the woman’s role is rather narrow and focused on the biological aspect. By the nature of the actions the woman is passive, and basically she is waiting for someone or something in her life: a son, a groom or freedom. It should be noted that such a dependent position of women is characteristic for the vast majority of ancient world tales. But it’s no a secret that the role repertoire of modern women has gone long beyond the biological function. More and more women are mastering the so-called male professions, as well as occupying managerial positions and becoming politicians.

This disagreement between the internal scenario, transferred from generation to generation to women (from mother to daughter), and the social realities of nowadays creates internal conflicts in the woman’s soul, she loses inner harmony and often can not create a family or realize her creative potential…