Gender Stereotypes In Children

Not fitting into the specific gender roles and characteristics have to be some of the hardest things that some males and females go through. It has been decades since the whole “mothers stay at home” and “fathers work and earn the money” era, but when one expectation ends, others multiply. In today’s culture it is not okay to be a feminine man, and a masculine female, those two things just do not add up in 2016. There are standards men and women must live up to in order to “fit in” and be considered “normal”. It is unfair, to say the least, for the people who will never be able to overcome these qualifications. In this culture there is an ideal body shape, certain BMI to obtain, looks you must live by, and specific ways to act, all of this
In today’s culture gender stereotypes and biases are created on the daily and children learn to adopt their gender roles based on these stereotypes. As children grow up they are exposed to factors that have major influences on their behaviors regarding their gender roles. During children development, children’s surroundings shape them into who they are. School, television, advertisements, friends, parents and many others impact these children and brainwash them into following these gender stereotypes. A study found that kids at the age of two and a half use gender stereotypes in negotiating the world, therefore in a number of activities they generalize these stereotypes to apply (Witt, 1997). For instance, girls are encouraged to play with dolls and engage in feminine activities, boys are pushed to play with cars, trucks and be involved in sports. From a very young age these children are experiencing these stereotypes first hand being that they are so vulnerable and are much easier to shape. Television also plays a huge role in children developing gender roles. Disney Channel is only one of many influences on children about male and female roles in society. It has been found that preschools spend nearly 30 hours a week, on
Like previously stated, kids are influenced by the television and this absurd body shape is something that is seen on the daily. From a young age it is taught to be fit, stay in shape and have this perfect figure, and this social fact is shown immensely through today’s society. In a recent study it is shown that Americans spend at least $60 billion annually on gym memberships, weight-loss programs and even diet soda, just to try and lose weight (McVey, Pepler, Davis, 2002). Both male and female have an ideal image that is much different than the average body, and this idea mediates throughout our culture. For women the ideal image is to have bigger breasts and smaller waist compared to the average female. Men’s ideal image of themselves is to have broad, strong shoulders and chest, which definitely differs from the real image. Bryan Alexander, the publisher of “Ideal to Real: What the ‘Perfect’ Body Really Looks Like for Men and women”, for Today, was given various sets of images to reflect “ideal” and “real” body size and shape. Alexander investigates the difference between society’s ideal body shape and the actual average size and shape. The cogitation that women need to be beautiful and thin, and men need to be strong and masculine comes from none other than today’s society. Society sets up these rules that men and women are living by, and when some expectations are not met the only