Recent studies show that by as early as age 6, girls exhibit serious signs of gender stereotypes. At 5, boys and girls are equally ambitious and recognize their potential equally, however, just a year later girls consistently believe that boys are intellectually superior. This belief is formulated by their surroundings at school, home, as well as the media. This can lead to differing career choices and an overall lower confidence level that is incredibly hard to bring up when they reach adulthood. Another test demonstrated that after age 6 or 7, when a heroic character was described without any allusion to their gender, both boys and girls imagined a male figure.
These study results are sickening, especially moving into the next four years with elected officials who do not advocate for female equality nor social progress. Children are easily impressionable and form values early on based on who they look up to as well as what makes up their surroundings. It is important to counteract this as quickly as possible in order to lessen the opportunity gap between men and women.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/27/health/gender-stereotypes-smart-study/index.html
It's terrible that girls that young are under the impression that they are not as capable as men.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about stereotypes the other day and what is the solution for the world to change that. I think that elementary schools need to teach kids in a way that challenges stereotypes and shows females are just as important as males.
ReplyDelete