Gender Roles

In an ideal world, men and women would be treated fairly and equally in all matters. However, we do not live in an ideal world, and men and women have not been treated in this way. This correlates to differences in gender roles, because boys and girls are usually viewed differently, and these views are now what we call norms in America. What I often wonder is how it has gotten to the point where boys and girls can be separated by toys, colors, sports, jobs etc.. Think of colors as a bunch of high school kids. If black is the goth loner, blue your average jock, orange nerd alert, then pink has got to be the most popular chick on the campus, right? Have we ever wondered why the breast cancer ribbon is in pink? Why not blue or green? 

About 13 years ago, everyday I would go to my kindergarten class. To this day I still remember playing with the kitchen set, while the boys would be across the way playing with toy cars and toy trains. That statement is not to just throw little things about my life out there, but to relate this to the norms of society today. If I was never brought up with playing with “girl” toys such as Barbie dolls, I would of thought it was okay to play with toys cars and trains. In the article Toys Start the Gender Equality Rift, Laura Nelson states “girls’ toys are often about beauty and the home, while toys for boys are mostly about being active, building things and having adventures” (Bennhold 6). When I read this it instantly brought me back to Kindergarten, my birthdays, and Christmas. I would beg my family for Barbie dolls, and other such “girly” things.

Stereotypes are established early in life. While growing up playing in the toy room, my sisters and I had our own Barbie dream houses and the room was separated by color. The girl’s side of the room was pink, while the boys side was a darker green. It was normal to me, and I grew up thinking pink was a girly color, along with sparkly things and glitzy toys. Across the way I would hear fire sirens and toy helicopters flying throughout the room. This related to Katrin Bennhold’s Toys Start the Gender Equality Rift. In department stores, signs or colors usually separate certain sections. A mother in a department store with her child made complaints on how the girl’s toy section was not visible, the gender-neutral map fooled her. Shortly after, the department store made it obvious which section was which, “the second floor is now demarcated with bright pink. It doesn’t say “for girls.” But the dollhouses and kiddie makeup leave no doubt who the target group is” (Bennhold 5).

Walking down the street, passing by a construction site, you see a woman with a hammer and a construction belt. You’re stunned, aren’t you? In today’s generation people are starting to accept the fact that girls can complete manly tasks, but it doesn’t change the view that it is a men’s job. Why does it have to be this way? This also applies to men being cooks, teachers, nurses, etc. What made this socially unacceptable for certain genders not to be able to do what they want to do in life? In Toys Start the Gender Equality Rift “much attention has been spent on attracting women into engineering jobs, not least because of skill shortages. But breaking down the stereotype of the caring female also means making space for the caring male- i.e., the male nursery teacher …” (Bennhold 17). Bennhold is trying to grow awareness of gender differences, by showing that it is okay for women to take on certain professions such as engineering, and men take on the role of being a nurse. I see this as men and women trading places, when I should view it as perfectly normal.

Growing up playing sports, mainly in high school I found that it gets quite exhausting. I would wake up in the morning, shower, throw my hair up in a bun, and toss on baggy sweatpants and a huge sweatshirt. People always knew I played sports, and I would get teased as looking like a “dyke”. I looked like a “dyke” because I liked feeling comfortable throughout a long eight-hour day. It’s people like them that make kids hide who they are. For instance, in the article It’s OK to Be Neither: Teaching That Supports Gender-Variant Children, Allie, a young girl in first grade is mistaken for a boy all because she wore boy’s clothes. Allie’s teacher soon caught on to Allie’s classmate’s remarks. After making a call home, Allie made it known that she wanted the students to know she was a girl. Her classmates yet again made rude comments such as “why do you dress like a boy?” “If you’re a girl why do you always wear boys’ clothes?” This is a lot like what students said to me throughout high school. I just ignored it because it was not a big deal to me, but imagine how a young girl in first grade feels. Ms. Melissa, the teacher, knew then she had to make it more clear about gender, “It became evident that I would have to address gender directly in order to make the classroom environment more comfortable for Allie and to squash the gender stereotypes that my first graders had absorbed in their short lives” (Ms. Melissa 12). Fortunately I was old enough to realize, that it was just a stereotype and people did not revolve themselves over how I dresses, but a 7 year old could be permantely hurt or scared by their past, and will always be remembered as the girl that was mistaken as a boy.

The articles, Toys Start the Gender Equality Rift, and It’s OK to Be Neither: Teaching That Supports Gender-Variant Children presented me with a view that I was not well aware of. Things to do with gender never really caught my ears; it was always the challenges that had to do with gays, lesbians, bisexuals, etc.. After reading, I realized that gender-variation is just as important as all the other on going conversations and things that are not viewed as norms. Maybe, someday Americans will see this world differently. The first step to take would be to change the way society raises their children.