Gender segregation is almost always justified in various societies as a way of maintaining behavioral norms, reproductive values, ethics, protecting cultural sets of values, or in preventing socially inappropriate relationships. Some segregation between boys and girls is acceptable in some religious, cultural and practical situations; however, too much and too unnecessary can lead to unanticipated social and psychological consequences especially in their formative years. Instead of mutual respect, it can lead to ignorance, stereotypes, social anxiety and mutual mistrust.
This piece considers the definition of healthy relationships between men and women to be a move toward increasing spaces for interaction between men and women without causing harm that is deliberate, intended, or foreseen with the expression of consent. The psychological, educational and sociological literature points to the fact that meaningful contact positively influences prejudice reduction, empathic growth, and healthy social orientations.
Human Beings Fear What They Do Not Know
It is well documented in the social psychological literature that prejudice is likely to develop when one is unfamiliar with the target of the prejudice. In 1954, Gordon Allport proposed the Contact Hypothesis, which held that positive interactions among various social groups would diminish prejudice, particularly when it occurred with equality, co-operation, and common goals, and was followed by hundreds of empirical studies that supported the theory.
In his analysis of 500+ independent studies with some 250,000 subjects overall, Thomas Pettigrew and Linda Tropp (2006) found that intergroup contact is a consistent and powerful force for the reduction of prejudice across cultures and social categories.
While most of this research is based on ethnicity, religion and race, the psychological mechanism works the same way with gender also. Boys and girls don’t talk to each other very often outside of family gatherings, and they would make assumptions bases on little to no experience. Where there is the lack of interaction, stereotypes fill the void.
Segregation Encourages Stereotypes
It’s important for children to ‘learn through repetition’ social connections. In developmental psychology, it is believed that direct experience allows one to overcome the starting point, which is some primitive stereotype, and develop more complex perceptions.
Boy-girl segregation, at least when prevalent, often builds extreme schemas of the other group. Girls are often characterized as enigmatic, weepy and victim. Boys are often perceived as hostile and impersonal or as threatening in and of themselves. Typically these stories are not from direct experience but through culture and stories and peer groups and media.
Social cognition studies show that lack of personal contact has been shown to lead to an absence of discrimination and instead our minds default to mental shortcuts when dealing with the unknown, which is what stereotypical thoughts are.
Respect Comes from Understanding, Not Distance
Distance is the most popular line of reasoning for segregation—once people are separated, they feel obliged to respect each other. Research, however, indicates that respect is more related to familiarity, empathy and understanding than to physical distance.
Across nations, countries that stimulate respectful gender interaction in school, university, work places and public institutions tend to have higher levels of gender equality, women tend to be more involved in higher education and economic activity, and there is less acceptance of strict gender stereotypes.
As per the report of UNESCO, there are almost equal number of women students as men in the universities worldwide. Similarly, International Labour Organization (ILO) statistics reveal that societies with high female educational and employment levels have higher rates of economic growth, higher household earnings and higher innovation.
It’s not about the interaction, it’s about how you interact!
Psychological Costs of Social Isolation
Too much gender segregation can also lead to social anxiety and lack of interaction skills.
Young adults who may have grown up with limited exposure to the opposite sex may experience more discomfort in the work place, lack the ability to communicate with confidence, and have unrealistic expectations of the relationship.
Psychologists explain this with the principle of social learning: ‘social competence becomes formulated in the course of routine interpersonal experiences over time, not by giving up everything and “all at once” in adulthood.
Normal communication is not encouraged and common communication can be unnecessarily emotionally charged, as it is foreign.
Boundaries Are Compatible with Interaction
A significant obstacle to the adoption of less unnecessary segregation is such a widespread misunderstanding and presumption by critics that less segregation equates with no moral and/or cultural values. It’s a fallacy.
Healthy societies make a distinction between interaction and intimacy.
Men and women cooperate professionally in schools, universities, workplaces, and public institutions of many parts of the world and observe clear-cut ethical guidelines, institutional rules and cultural norms. Respectful interaction does not mean to sacrifice modesty, professionalism and personal values.
Educational objectives should not be seen as being ‘free mixing’ but an appropriate interaction that is characterised in terms of dignity, responsibility and respect.
The Economic and Social Case
There are also measurable economic benefits when it comes to gender inclusion.
By not allowing 50% of people to participate in productivity using their skills and talents, the World Bank estimates that economic losses created by gender inequality serve to reduce productivity in many countries. Likewise, the McKinsey Global Institute has calculated the potential global GDP gains that gender equality initiatives could create in the next decade from increased labor-force participation and higher productivity when women are able to participate equally.
The outcomes require not only legal equality, but daily social contact, cooperation, networking, mentorship and professional development.
Addressing Common Counterarguments
Those who advocate for strict gender segregation have claimed that it helps prevent harassments and maintain morality. But empirical research suggest that weak enforcement of the law, unequal power and attitudes in culture play a much stronger role than mere physical separation in determining rates of harassment.
Education, reporting structures, and accountability are relatively well developed in countries/institutions that generally perform better in reducing harassment than countries with predominantly segregation.
Similarly, moral issues are more about character and institutional responsibility and less about architecture. Physical distance is not a truly effective method of maintaining ethical behavior.
