Nowadays law is considered to be an effective instrument of shaping social reality. In this context special attention must be paid to gender equality law and jurisprudence which setting protection against unequal treatment because of someone’s gender intend to make a balance between individual’s identity and social expectations related to his or her role. These social preconceptions based on gender stereotypes must be contested insofar as they serve as an instrument to rationalize inequality between women and men. The aim of the article to explore the gender stereotypes in the anti-discriminatory judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The article claims that the CJEU’s case law is unambiguous with respect to this. On the one hand the Court contributes to eradication of stereotypes based on gender in some cases, on the other – it reinforces them in the other. The article starts with explanation of the role of the gender equality principle in the EU legal system. It also makes some general remarks on stereotypes, biases and discrimination. The second part is devoted to the CJEU case law in which the Court, explicitly or implicitly, avoids applying the gender stereotypes lens to equality issue. The third part of the article analyses those of the CJEU judgments which, unfortunately, can be considered as perpetuating gender stereotypes and as such discrimination based on them.
With participation in social life, all the interpersonal and intergroup relations an individual establishes takes places in accordance with his/her gender roles and gender identity attributed by society. In this respect, it can be suggested that all forms of relationships individuals establish with others are shaped in parallel with his/ her gender identity. Therefore, it would not be wrong to argue that the gender identity an individual possesses in interpersonal relationships has a significant effect on the formation of the relationship established. One of the most important communication barriers confronted in the interpersonal communication process is stereotypes related to gender identity. Gender identity stereotypes emerge according to gender roles taught to each individual who joins society. The presence of these stereotypes turns into interpersonal communication barriers, which, in many cases, show their effects even before communication starts. In this regard, it is considered that addressing the content of stereotypes about the gender identity of the source and recipient as communication barriers in the communication process, is important. For this purpose, emphasis was laid primarily on the guiding effect of stereotypes in interpersonal processes within the scope of the study. Afterwards gender stereotypes were evaluated based on the findings of research conducted in this field, and with reference to characteristics of gender stereotypes.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.