The traditional female stereotype described norms for women in that the characteristics were deemed to be "appropriate" for all women. Recent research described three role-based subcategories of women (housewife, professional woman, sex object) which are based on the female homemaking, work, or romantic roles respectively. The subcategories…

Research on gender stereotypes has contrasted males with females, describing males by competency traits and females by traits which denote warmth or emotionality. However, it has become clear that these traits do not satisfactorily describe all members of either sex, since not all men possess only masculine characteristics and not all women…

For some time, the traditional stereotype of women which described them as gentle and dependent was considered normative and the concept that women were a unitary group dominated gender-role stereotype research. In contrast, the social cognitive approach described three subcategories of women: the housewife, the professional woman, and the sex…

Investigates undergraduate students' stereotypic expectations about female behavior related to role characteristics. Findings indicate that all females are expected to be maternal and assertive, but other characteristics vary. Results were inconclusive about which aspects of the stereotypes were normative. (FMW)