My Childhood Perspectives of Gender Stereotypes and Social Role

I remember when I was very young my neighbor telling me I couldn’t touch something because I was black. I remember being confused because one, I’m not black and two, even if] was why couldn’t I touch what I wanted to I remember being given Barbie dolls but never being allowed to play with Bratz dolls because “they dress like sluts and have too much makeup on”. Why is it so bad for them to wear makeup and dress in certain clothes? When I was younger I remember being very confused on why no one could answer my questions but as I grew older I learned that because of the social roles and gender stereotypes that I was surrounded with l was being forced into thinking a certain way.

A social role is a “set of cultural guidelines about how one should behave, especially with other people”. This would explain the racism of my neighbor when I was a child.

I don’t blame her for saying those things because in her household that was normal, Especially at that age children repeat what their parents say and sometimes it‘s not always the good stuff.

As a child I remember my mother always holding me close and insisting my Dad escort us when we went into the city. When I asked her why she just said it was a bad area so I became afraid as well. As I grew older I learned that it’s not that it was a bad area it wasjust a poor and primarily black and Hispanic area.

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Although my mother claims not to be racist and she is much better than others she still holds the views that minorities are thugs. Gender stereotypes are “beliefs and images about males and females that are not necessarily true”. This explains why my mother didn’t want me to play with Bratz dolls. Women in her eyes are supposed to be ladylike and dress modestly with little makeup. They aren’t supposed to wear miniskirts and a ton of eyeshadow and blush. With this being said I was also raised to think that women are smarter than men. There was even that old rhyme “girls go to college to get more knowledge”.

So while I don‘t hold the typical views on gender stereotypes I do hold views that men aren‘t as important as women, This was taught to me as a child and I realize now that it’s not necessarily true. These stereotypes and social roles are placed into a child’s head from a young age and they are taught to accept them. If we teach children without these boundaries they will be a lot less confused than I was as a child. They will not be placed into a box and [Old to behave. It is the parent‘s job to teach their children that they can do whatever they want to and silly stereotypes shouldn’t hold them back.

References

1. Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C, (2016), Human Development: A Life-Span View (7th ed.).
2. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.