Sexism in Society Starting at Childhood Essay - 1283 Words

Sexism in Society Starting at Childhood Author and feminist Alix Kates Shulman said once: â€Å"Sexism goes so deep that at first it’s hard to see, you think it’s just reality† (McEneany). That quote sums up perfectly the way our society runs. There is no class teaching children how to act according the their gender. Yet little boys and little girls learn at a very young age what is expected of them. They get ideas about their gender roles from their parents, their school teachers and subconsciously from the toys they play with and the television shows they watch. Even before the children are born, parents begin choosing clothing and decorations by color based on the sex of the baby. The stereotype of pink, pastels, yellow and†¦show more content†¦Basically, girls toys teach them to accept things as they are, and be ladylike and passive while boys toys encourage them to create and explore, never giving them the idea that there are limits to what they can do. Parents usually encourage these ideas without even realizing it. For example, girls are praised for playing with dolls but boys are often ignored for displaying nurturing behavior. Likewise, boys get attention for being good at sports while girls don’t often receive encouragement for being active. As Bruning points out in his article â€Å"Separating the Sexes in Toyland†, these kinds of stereotypes are destructive because they limit our potential (22). It is not difficult to notice that in general little boys are more spatially and mathematically inclined and little girls are more verbal (Arbetter 16). However, a study done in 1992 called â€Å"How Schools Shortchange Girls† found that young boys who play with dolls develop better motor skills and girls who play with blocks develop better math and science skills (Zhumkhawala, 48) Besides the toys they buy, parents affect their children’s concept of gender roles in the way they interact with them and by example. 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