Gender Stereotyping : Can I Be

1919 WordsNov 10, 20148 Pages
Gender Stereotyping: Can I Be What I Want to Be? Children before they are even born are put into two categories, male or female. If they are male they are automatically chosen to wear “boy” colors such as blue, whereas a female is chosen to wear “girl” colors such as pink. Boys should like cars, trucks, and planes, and girls should like sparkles, princesses and butterflies. Without even realizing it, parents gender stereotype their child. Boys are raised to be fathers and become doctors or lawyers. Girls are raised to be mothers and become either a house wife, nurse, or teacher. Gender stereotyping can cause a child to be emotionally impacted in a negative way based on the way children’s literature is depicted. Children’s books have been around since the 1500’s, and the traditional values of different times have been reflected in these early books. According to Gooden and Gooden (2001), books have been used as a socializing tool to transmit these values to the next generation. Gooden and Gooden also found that the traditional view of the male appeared to be accepted and valued, therefore a female representation was never challenged. Females have been painted in a narrow and biased way for many years. Gender role stereotypes affect how children perceive themselves according to Narahara (1998). Not only do books have the potential to increase knowledge and imagination, they also have the potential to of altering perceptions and possibly help change lives. Children are
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