❓Gender Biases in Early Childhood
You can influence an entire generation in the first 5 years
Have you ever wondered why most boys like blue and girls pink?
Why do most boys like to play with action figures and girls barbies?
Why are some boys afraid to cry?
Why is having a son and a daughter considered a “complete family”?
Why is softball considered a girl sport?
Why are the top searches for toys on Amazon “best toys for boys” and “best toys for girls” versus simply “best toys”?
Why does the average woman spend 40% more time doing housework than the average man?
Why do women still have primary responsibility for child care?
Why is Father’s Day usually about jokes on work and “things dads are good at”? And Mother’s Day all about jokes on laundry, taking a shower alone, and needing time away from family?
Why do some employers continue to hire employees based on gender and parenthood status?
Why does the gender pay gap still exist?
Gender biases, stereotypes, and prejudices start in early childhood and basic gender stereotypes can start as young as three years old (and continue for life).
In one study, when researchers examined children's spontaneous associations about boys and girls, a consistent pattern was found from preschool through fourth/fifth grade: girls are seen as “nice”, wearing dresses, and liking dolls, and boys are seen as having short hair, playing active games, and being “rough”.
In another study, participants were posed questions about activities, occupations (e.g. ‘who can be a policeman?’) and behaviors. In relation to occupation, girls displayed gender-stereotyped beliefs about who could be employed in each occupation; however, boys reported gender-equal prescriptions. Both boys and girls held gender-stereotypic views related to activities such as shopping, fixing things and using tools.
In the same study, researches also found that children expressed more INTEREST in gender-typed toys than cross-gender-typed toys. However, boys and girls both claimed to LIKE gender-neutral toys as much as toys aligned with their gender.
Gender bias, prejudices and stereotypes are costly at an individual and population level: they may limit educational, recreational and ultimately employment opportunities for girls and boys, and overall health and well-being.
But we are in the 21st century. We make a conscious effort to not promote any gender biases and stereotypes. Hahaha..sure!
Research finds that parents mention sons more on social media and that mentions of sons tend to get more “likes”.
Research finds that while parents provide time to sons and daughters fairly equally, the content of these time investments vary. Parents spend more time with girls reading, telling stories, singing songs, drawing, and teaching new words and letters, and boys receive relatively more of their fathers’ time for play and companionship activities. And we wonder why girls are less physically active than boys and/or spend more time doing housework than sons.
These biases can start as early as infancy. In a study examining gender bias in mothers' expectations about their infants' motor development, mothers of girls underestimated their performance and mothers of boys overestimated their performance (even though girls and boys showed identical levels of motor performance when actually tested).
“Boys don’t cry” and “Sugar and spice and everything nice – that’s what little girls are made of”. We’ve all heard these, right? Guess what? Studies show that girls show more positive emotions than boys in middle childhood and adolescence and boys show more externalizing emotions than girls at toddler/preschool age and middle childhood. However, boys show fewer externalizing emotions than girls in adolescence. Why? In childhood, boys are more likely to have conduct problems such as defiance and aggression which are often associated with high levels of anger, whereas by adolescence girls are more likely than boys to have symptoms of depression and anxiety. Both of these outcomes are associated with sadness, fear, and expectations to behave a certain way. While learning to express emotion is a key feature of healthy social-emotional development, emotional expression is also expected to vary based on gender. However emotional regulation does not mean fixing emotions, always displaying positive emotions, controlling emotions, or suppressing emotions and certainly not expressing emotions any differently based on gender.
Among the most common beliefs about differential gender ability is the belief that boys are innately better than girls at learning math. Yes, girls tend to have a higher level of math anxiety and lower levels of confidence in their math skills. However, research also finds that exposing a child to a greater number of peers whose parents hold the belief (boys are better in math) causes a child to be more likely to hold the belief themselves. Studies also show that when students were taught that intelligence is not a fixed quality (which is true) but is changeable and can be increased, students performed better academically.
A study conducted by Lego found that girls remain held back by society's ingrained gender stereotypes – even though they feel increasingly confident to engage in all types of play and creative activities. The research also found that parents were almost almost six times as likely to think of scientists and athletes as men than women (85% vs. 15%) and over eight times as likely to think of engineers as men than women (89% vs. 11%).
"Women will only have equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation."
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Breaking the gender bias begins at home and begins in early childhood
"Daddy, let mommy clean up. We can play."
“The boys are going to sit outside. Do you want to join the club?”
"These are my dinosaurs. Go play with dolls."
“I’m Barbie’s mama. So I’m going to make food.”
“I don’t like this color. This is for boys.”
Model behaviors you would like to see in your children. A child starts learning right from birth (even in the womb). In fact, a child is either learning or sleeping. Children learn what they live. Is your child only seeing mommy do the dishes all the time? Is mommy the only one cooking and/or serving all meals? Is daddy always "working on a laptop"? Do we need to ask daddy to buy new toys?
Fight stereotypes, including your own. Let your children see that their father is not afraid to be vulnerable or weak, and their mother isn't afraid to be strong and independent. It's okay for "boys to cry", even for a small injury. It's okay for "boys to wear pink" if they want to. Let your children know that your family is a safe space for them to express themselves as they are.
Listen to your children and their experiences and opinions. "Why do you think that?" "Why do you believe that?"
Talk to your children. Discuss gender roles and equal rights in your home. "Our home is 50/50". "Mommy's making dinner. So, it's our turn to set the table."
Toys and play don't have a gender. Your son can feed a doll during pretend play (and that doll doesn’t need to be a boy). Your daughter can play with dinosaurs, superheroes, or a truck. Your son can learn music, art, drama (and NO, that’s not “gay”) and your daughter can play basketball and soccer (and NO, she’s not a “tomboy”).
Ensure that every child in your home gets equal attention. Don’t assume that only your son will enjoy watching Sunday night football or your daughter will enjoy helping you in the kitchen.
Point out gender stereotypes when you see them. Boys don’t need to protect girls like “superheroes” and girls don’t need to be saved.
“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.”
- Malala Yousafzai