How deceitful sexism is, to nestle in the most ordinary details of our lives. To the point of insinuating ourselves into our best intentions and even coloring our " good resolutions ".
No kidding ? Are there gender asymmetries in the way we want to give new inflections to our existence ? Well yes, and it's all the more insidious because for once, it's (apparently) not others or the environment that impose them on us, but ourselves who adhere to gendered injunctions to " do our own good " !
Slimming down and moving : priorities for women and men, but not in the same order
A 2018 Newpharma study opened the issue of the genre of good resolutions by indicating that the first intention of women at the beginning of the year is to lose weight (41% of respondents) while this goal comes in second place for men (34% of them intend to lose weight). For men, sport comes out on top, while it is a second challenge for women. So far, there have certainly been gendered differences in priorities, but overall there is a shared concern to move more to refine your figure.
It is then that the markers vary more significantly : women aspire to develop their ability to " think positive " in third place, while men continue to think about their bodies by deciding to eat healthier.
Empowering women to progress professionally : a key issue for women
Another study, produced by Qapa, focuses on French people's resolutions concerning more specifically the relationship to work. And here, real gaps are apparent : 67% of women compared to 51% of men want to make the new year a stage of professional progression.
In detail, twice as many women are motivated to try to obtain better remuneration. This is not surprising when we know that they are still paid less than their male colleagues while being increasingly aware of the need to reduce inequalities.
Keeping your resolutions alone ? Women more in need of support !
Another interesting data revealed by this same study : more women than men think that in order to keep their good resolutions, they need support and they are in the majority to consider that the company is justified in offering programs to support the evolution of individual lifestyles based on employees' resolutions, Whether it is personal development (strengthening one's soft-skills, approaching difficulties with more serenity, gaining confidence, daring to ask...), life balance (spending more time with family, reducing screens, eating better, limiting addictive behaviors and other risky behaviors...) or more directly a professional project (changing jobs, negotiating a raise, preparing for changes in the work context, etc.). More women (63% compared to 58%) admit that they are unable to keep their good resolutions !
When the health crisis accentuates the gaps in the face of " good resolutions "
And what has the health crisis changed? The 2022 IPSOS sports and health barometer shows a general slump in new year's self-demands for the entire population... Except for the desire to do more physical activity and to devote more time to family life (+8 points between 2019 and 2022). These two needs are expressed much more by women than by men.
As far as physical activity is concerned, it should be noted that a sedentary lifestyle has affected women more with the CoViD crisis, due in particular to the gender gaps in terms of alternating teleworking and face-to-face work (women have indeed returned to the workplace later after the lockdowns and are settling into the practice of remote work for longer weekly hours), of leisure behaviours during and after the phases of travel restrictions. Fewer women have indeed been able to preserve time for themselves and to maintain their sports practices as well as to allow themselves to leave closed spaces...
It is the UN Women policy brief published in 2020 that alerts us to a " return of women to the home " effect on a global scale. Is it in this light that we should also read the 2022 resolution to spend more time with family ? First of all, it must be seen, without distinction of gender, as an accentuated need to be closer to one's loved ones in times of crisis and more precisely to find quality intimacy after the blurring of the boundaries between professional and private life that confined teleworking has entailed. But the fact that this need is expressed more by women than by men forces us to question a certain withdrawal into traditional landmarks, starting with the gendered order within couples and families, which every crisis brings in its wake.
A good resolution for all : more awareness and more action in the face of sexism !
In conclusion, yes, our resolutions do have a gender ! This is not surprising when we know that these decisions to change that we think we are making for ourselves are strongly imbued with social values. But then, if even our good resolutions contribute to gender asymmetries, isn't the first of them we should take to become aware of stereotypes and biases again and again in order to finally act more freely, more in line with what we really want?
