Monday, October 3, 2011

Gender Roles

Today our topic in class was on gender and within that topic was gender roles, a complex group of ideas in which males and females are expected to behave. I found the following video on YouTube in which children were asked about gender roles.
I find it interesting that one of the little girls answers that girls have long hair when in reality there are several girls out there with short hair. I find it interesting due to the fact that children observe others in order to differentiate between males and females. It makes me wonder if media plays a role in their differentiating process.

Another point I noticed that was in a way disturbing to here was that the children said that the male doll is the one that goes to work. It makes me think of the olden days when woman had no working rights and were born to be a home maker. Which brings up another point about the children choosing the female doll to be the one that cleans and takes care of the children. It's sad to think that these kids believe in these ideas even though I'm sure their thoughts about gender roles will change over time. Even though I'm sure media plays a role in their schema process, I also believe that some children books bring about these ideas as they look at the pictures and read the story. All in all I hope these children come to realise that both genders share equal rights in society.

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