Gender socialization places people into distinct categories, separating them from possible opportunities as a result of social construct. Being the oldest form of discrimination, the utilization of gender roles has enabled power structures to stay in place and to take on other means of stereotyping in order to create hierarchical systems. Taking a look at gender schema, or the theory of gender based on culture, in which children are taught to act either more feminine or masculine in order to fit in sex-appropriate norms. As Bem (1983) points out, gender schema theory considers this a “learned phenomenon,” denoting that the education of one’s community further reinforces the self-learning of its members (p. 603). Along with that, racial identity further categorizes us.
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Physical activities are labeled as masculine and are pushed towards males, things that require more creative and artistic outlets are put towards femininity and are tacked on to females. Being taught this way means that straying from the path will result in negative reinforcement and punishment. Education proves prominent in allow this to happen. Along with that is the society that approves of the educational system in place. If the media that children grow up on further affirms these roles, it can be hard to escape the grasp that society has put on education. Disney movies are a good example of this as often there is a damsel-in-distress that is saved by a prince-charming. Bem notes that having an environment in which the learning materials promote even further anticipatory education allows for the children to stick with the subjects that best fit the gender-schematic they are aligned with (p. 603-604). Everything starts somewhere, but in reality, everything starts with education as it is the basis for the knowledge that everyone retains and refers to later on in their
Physical activities are labeled as masculine and are pushed towards males, things that require more creative and artistic outlets are put towards femininity and are tacked on to females. Being taught this way means that straying from the path will result in negative reinforcement and punishment. Education proves prominent in allow this to happen. Along with that is the society that approves of the educational system in place. If the media that children grow up on further affirms these roles, it can be hard to escape the grasp that society has put on education. Disney movies are a good example of this as often there is a damsel-in-distress that is saved by a prince-charming. Bem notes that having an environment in which the learning materials promote even further anticipatory education allows for the children to stick with the subjects that best fit the gender-schematic they are aligned with (p. 603-604). Everything starts somewhere, but in reality, everything starts with education as it is the basis for the knowledge that everyone retains and refers to later on in their