Sexism in Society Starting at Childhood
Author and feminist Alix Kates Shulman said once: “Sexism goes so deep that at first it’s hard to see, you think it’s just reality” (McEneany). That quote sums up perfectly the way our society runs. There is no class teaching children how to act according the their gender. Yet little boys and little girls learn at a very young age what is expected of them. They get ideas about their gender roles from their parents, their school teachers and subconsciously from the toys they play with and the television shows they watch.
Even before the children are born, parents begin choosing clothing and decorations by color based on the sex of the baby. The stereotype of pink, pastels, yellow and white for girls and bright or dark colors like green, blue and red for boys has long been a part of our culture. How many times have you heard kids argue over toys because the girls don’t want the icky boy color or the boys don’t want the gross girl color? The issue of color may go deeper than just fighting for toys. Studies have been done showing that school classrooms, especially for younger grades, are typically decorated in “boy” colors and reflect an environment that is most comfortable for boys (Bruning 23). Parents and teachers may be able to help reverse this thinking by buying toys in gender neutral colors and by using the same colors for boys and girls.
Children start to define their gender identity in early preschool (Zhumkhawala 47). This means that the toys children are given go a long way to further (or help change) gender stereotypes and inequality. In general, boys are given trucks, blocks and doctor’s kits, encouraging them to build, explore how things work and be a...
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... a simple as changing the way our children play with their toys.
Bibliography:
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Young children are typically raised around specific sex-types objects and activities. This includes the toys that that are given, activities that they are encouraged to participate in, and the gender-based roles that they are subjected to from a young age. Parents are more likely to introduce their daughters into the world of femininity through an abundance of pink colored clothes and objects, Barbie dolls, and domestic chores such as cooking and doing laundry (Witt par. 9). Contrarily, boys are typically exposed to the male world through action figures, sports, the color blue, and maintenance-based chores such as mowing the lawn and repairing various things around the house (Witt par. 9). As a result, young children begin to link different occupations with a certain gender thus narrowing their decisions relating to their career goals in the future. This separation of options also creates a suppresses the child from doing something that is viewed as ‘different’ from what they were exposed to. Gender socialization stemming from early childhood shapes the child and progressively shoves them into a small box of opportunities and choices relating to how they should live their
I will not impose “gender specific” toys on them or tell them that it is not acceptable for a boy to play with a baby doll or tell my future daughter that it is not allowed for her to pretend sword fight. My children will be able to decide what they like and what they do not like and I will not allow anyone to decide that for them. This assignment has definitely opened my eyes to the market that is out there stereotyping children without much notice. Taking time to actually look into what is being done with toys and society with children has broadened my understanding and awareness of the impending problem that children are being faced with. I hope that one day we will see an end to gender stereotyping so that my future children will not be forced to feel out of place if they do not identify with a specific feeling or emotion that a boy should have or a girl should have. It sickens me and breaks my heart that things so minuscule such as toys can have such a negative effect on lives, especially on such a young children. This ideology of gender segregation should not be supported or further produced because it is harmful to the children that are directly or indirectly being affected by
In order to fully comprehend the how gender stereotypes perpetuate children’s toys, one must understand gender socialization. According to Santrock, the term gender refers to the, “characteristics of people as males and females” (p.163). An individual is certainly not brought into the world with pre-existing knowledge of the world. However, what is certain is the belief that the individual has regarding him- or herself and life stems from socialization—the development of gender through social mechanisms. For instance, when a baby is brought into this world, his or her first encounter to gender socialization arises when the nurse places a blue or pink cap on the baby’s head. This act symbolizes the gender of the baby, whether it is a boy (blue cap) or a girl (pink cap). At the age of four, the child becomes acquai...
Sexism is the ideology that maintains that one sex is inherently inferior to the other. Sexism or discrimination based on gender has been a social issue for many years; it is the ideology that one sex is superior or inferior to the other. Sexism does not only affect females, but also males. Men are very often victimized by social stereotypes and norms based on gender expectations. Sexism has appears in almost all social institutions including family, the media, religion, sports, the military, politics, and the government. However, although both genders are affected, men have benefited from sexism the most (Thompson 300-301.)
That is, boys will customarily receive blue clothing or toys while pink clothing or toys will be for girls. “Children‘s toys and games are also differentiated on the basis of sex” (Diekman and Murnen 2004; Seccombe p.99). Through these toys or playing with these toys, boys and girls would eventually distinguish the differences between male and female; also, may strengthen, and perpetuate the traditional gender stereotypes. For instance, boys or men are expected to act and behave in ways that have been considered masculine or associated with masculinity (Seccombe p.104); “men are often assumed to be more aggressive, sexual, unemotional, rational, and task oriented than women” (Seccombe p.93); and thus, action figures, such as Superman, WWE wrestling toys, and Hulk are made for boys to play with. While girls or women’s roles are associated with femininity (Seccombe p.104); “women are assumed to be more nurturing, passive, and dependent” (Seccombe p.93); and so, cooking and baking set and baby dolls with bottle feeding and diapering set are made for girls, so, they could apply their nurturing and culinary skills when they get older and mainly do household chores. Personally, I believe these toys have both negative and positive influence on children’s socialization. For instance, playing with toy guns or military toy set with a knife may lead to early exposure to violence and aggression. However, some toys, such as Lego building set and blocks, arts and crafts have a powerful and influential influence on children’s thinking and
Gender Stereotypes Among Children's Toys When you walk into the toy section of any store, you do not need a sign to indicate which section is on the girls’ side and which section is on the boys’ side. Aside from all the pink, purple, and other pastel colors that fill the shelves on the girls’ side, the glitter sticks out a lot as well. The boys’ toys, however, are mostly dark colors – blue, black, red, gray, or dark green. The colors typically used on either side are very stereotypical in themselves.
For a long time pink has been associated with femininity, which gives us the underlying assumption that girls are sweet, gentle, and delicate because that is what pink has come to represent in our society. Yet, the colours used in the toys meant for boys are black and blue which are seen as tough and aggressive. Coincidently, sweet, gentle and delicate is how society sees girls and how they believe they should act when they become women. Furthermore, tough and aggressive is how we want the men to be in our society. Critical sociology looks to gender as a competition where one gender is
Francis’s study analyzes three to five-year-old preschool students as well as their parents about their views about toys and viewing materials based on gender. The study showed that parental beliefs shaped their child 's opinions of gender roles based on the toys they played with. The parent 's idea of what is female and what is male is transferred onto the toys their child plays with which in terms developed their child 's stereotype of what is male and female based on their toy selection and color. In the article “How do today 's children play and with which toys?”, by Klemenovic reference that a child 's view on gender stereotypes is developed by their parents who train them on how to use the toys. Klemenovic (2014) states "Adults start training in the first months of a child 's life because knowledge of objects is the outcome of other people 's behavior towards us" (Klemenovic, 2014, p. 184). Young children’s development of gender stereotypes is largely influenced by his or her parent’s actions and view on what they consider male or female. A parent’s color preference and toy selection can influence a child’s gender bias or association to a specific
Most societies have been patriarchal historically, and the feminist movement has only occurred relatively recently. There cannot be ideological equality while there is still a stigma to being born differently, or of the “inferior sex.” People make assumptions on others based entirely on their sex, such as females are supposed to be nurturing and weak while males are supposed to be dominant and strong. The vernacular language use implies a sexist attitude that is prevalent in society. There are several solutions to reduce the apparent sexist lexicon.
From this research of examining how gender socialization is projection through toys to children, have led to conclusion that in order to prevent children from living by these stereotypes portrayed through toys, parents should encourage gender-neutral and cross-gender play in children at an early age. Just for the mere that their brain is so receptive to knowledge into creating to become the person they are to be in life. Give children a chance to not only have fun while playing with their toys and that there aren’t any pressures on them that this what they should be and that there a mind full options that they can choose from.
Gender roles are fundamentally supported by such components. Daniel Blake Smith studies the early gentry families in his book, Inside the Great House, and the vital impact that parents’ practices have on children. The attitudes and routines associated with nursing are reflected onto social interactions. As previously mentioned, the disciplined nursing tactics parents take on affect the mindset of the child. Smith focuses on the importance of children understanding what it really means to be male or female from their parents. Even before a child can identify their own preferences, parents begin to construct different environments for them, of which they may not necessarily agree with. A universal example would be the color blue, which is usually referenced to a boy, whereas the color pink is generally thought to be for girls. Smith concludes that through alterations in the environment, boys are “encouraged assertiveness, exploration and emotion control, while, girls, promote imitation, dependency and emotional sensitivity.”
Girls are supposed to play with dolls, wear pink, and grow up to become princesses. Boys are suppose to play with cars, wear blue, and become firefighters and policemen. These are just some of the common gender stereotypes that children grow up to hear. Interactions with toys are one of the entryway to different aspects of cognitive development and socialism in early childhood. As children move through development they begin to develop different gender roles and gender stereotypes that are influenced by their peers and caregivers.
As a child, our toys were not exactly as gender neutral as earlier times, but also were not as gender stereotypic as the toys in today’s time. The fact that everyone eventually comes into contact with buying toys whether you have kids or you have a friend or family member who have kids which makes this an important topic. Eventually, everyone has to buy a child a present. Would it bother you that all toys are either pink or blue and there is no in between? Or does sticking to what your child is already familiar with and knows the more ideal option when it comes to gender stereotyping with children’s toys? Authors James Delingpole and Eleanor Muffitt both do a good job at arguing both sides to this issue. Although both authors provide valid points throughout each article, about gender stereotyping with toys, James Delingpole clearly was more effective in persuading the audience because he used all three elements; ethos, logos, and pathos to support his idea.
Rubin, J. P. (1974). The eye of the beholder: Parents' views on sex of newborns. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 512-519.
One doctor of sociological sciences defines masculinity and femininity as a “set of attitudes, roles, norms of behavior, [and] hierarchy of values typical of the male and female sex in each specific society.”(Il’inykh,S.A.(2012)) This suggests that “masculinity” and “femininity” are equivalent to gender identities but are influenced by each individual society. From a young age, even before being born, individuals are already upheld to expectations by society based on what their biological sex is. For example, when parents are informed that they are having a male, they usually decorate everything in blue with a theme of cars, dinosaurs, superheroes, or anything that is considered to be tough, and are gifted with toys that include trucks, dinosaurs, action figures, video games etc.(Brewer) Conversely, when parents find out they are having a female, they go for a more girly theme when decorating which includes the color pink, soft decor, flowers, butterflies or ballerinas, and most toys girls receive are tea sets, dolls, items to play house with, etc.(Brewer). With these early exposures, boys and girls are already presented with their masculine or feminine expectations formed by society which convey the idea that men must be strong and dominant while the