ABSTRACT
Sex-role stereotyping must be an instance of partial discrimination, because it seems as if we are saying purely and simply, 'the mere fact that a human being is male is sufficient reason for initiating him into such and such a role, and similarly, mutatis mutandis, in the case of females'. The claim that males and females are by nature different, whatever the extent of its truth, would be inadequate to justify the further claim that they ought to be brought up differently. The truth of the matter is that, wherever one is disposed to place the emphasis, the individual child, brought up in an atmosphere where example, exhortation, books, television and peer group behaviour offer no clear stereotypes. The uniformly present female and males roles as identical or indiscriminately mix them up, is no more free, autonomous or able to choose his role than the stereotypically brought up boy or girl.
