Jennett's Gobby: Gender Stereotypes

Children have been immersed in gender stereotypes since the moment they were born. Girls are placed with ribbons on their heads and dressed in pink whilst boys are smothered in the colour blue. Jennett, 2013, states society works from birth to teach children “…which colours, toys, games and books are for boys and which are for girls” pg.3. For instance, Tonka trucks are known as masculine toys whilst Barbie dolls are known as feminine toys. If a boy was seen playing with a barbie doll, he would be ridiculed and made fun of, same as with a girl, if she was caught playing with cars, she would be called a “tomboy”. Games, Toys and books have all been marketed towards one or the other gender. These choices and decisions are already made for the …show more content…
These influences imply that there is a typical way of being a boy or a girl and children take notice of this. These stereotypes make it hard for the children who cannot conform to these views and they will endure many challenges (Jennett, 2013, pg 4). This type of stereotype is referred to in Gobby, B., Topic 6 (n.d.) as Binary Thinking, stating people stick with the categories that they think exist and don’t question if this is right or wrong. Binary thinking is viewing one side as better than the other, that one asserts more power, for instance, a dominance thought would be considered positive where as a submissive thought would be considered negative. Jennett, 2013, interviewed a teacher who explained how racism is challenged by breaking down of stereotypes however nothing is being done about gender stereotypes. In order to remove the stereotype stigma from children’s minds, this stigma must be challenged at every chance. Children are known for observing and absorbing information, they are like sponges, they soak up the world around them (MacNaughton, 2000). They ponder their thoughts and then they start imitating what they have seen or heard. Role models need to provide a supportive environment for children and encourage them to try all things that the child might not think is suited to them because they do not have the right gender. Within the last 100 years, the education system has made some dramatic changes, students were expected to enrol in certain subjects based on sex, as such females were enrolled in home economics whilst males were enrolled in shop work. Over the years the dynamics have shifted and many students are studying what used to be considered a subject for the opposite sex. These students are being encouraged to study these subjects and not made to feel