Challenging gender stereotypes

[mumofone]

There was a section about this on tv this morning and I just wondered what you do to challenge gender stereotypes in your settings or challenge comments?

[mama2three]

yes , fairly regularly.

when a child calls a toy a boy or a girls toy , when a parent in the playground comments on boy mindee wearing a tutu to collect the others , when a dad tells his son big boys don't cry , when parents think a boys behaviour is expected to be 'poorer' because theyre just being a boy..............

sorry , I read that as do you challenge.

How I challenge is mainly through modelling with the children , but I can be very direct with adults

[AliceK]

I read about this last night and then saw it on the TV this morning and it got me thinking. I DO try very hard to make children aware that girls and boys can play with whatever they like and that one toy isn't a "girls" or a "boys" toy and that both boys and girls can do any job it doesn't matter what gender you are. BUT then I remembered a conversation I was having with my mum only a few nights ago when we were talking about my DD and something she had done in connection with her older brother and I said it was spiteful and we were discussing why she had done what she did and I made the comment that "she's a girl, girls can be very spiteful". So, I don't know??? I firmly believe that both boys and girls can and should be allowed to do the same things and play with the same things and both men and women can do the same jobs BUT I do think that boys and girls are wired differently and therefore behave differently????

xxx

[loocyloo]

I read about this last night and then saw it on the TV this morning and it got me thinking. I DO try very hard to make children aware that girls and boys can play with whatever they like and that one toy isn't a "girls" or a "boys" toy and that both boys and girls can do any job it doesn't matter what gender you are. BUT then I remembered a conversation I was having with my mum only a few nights ago when we were talking about my DD and something she had done in connection with her older brother and I said it was spiteful and we were discussing why she had done what she did and I made the comment that "she's a girl, girls can be very spiteful". So, I don't know??? I firmly believe that both boys and girls can and should be allowed to do the same things and play with the same things and both men and women can do the same jobs BUT I do think that boys and girls are wired differently and therefore behave differently????

xxx

I agree ... I always say that with boys 'what you see is what you get' and that girls are more underhand and sneaky. I usually qualify it by saying that it is a generalisation but I find its true enough!

I encourage everyone to play with all the toys and seem to find myself saying to a dad 'he is just copying you and being a good daddy' when his son is playing with dolls or pushchairs. I don't particularly get or see or hear comments about girls doing 'boylike' things.

I get frustrated that some toys are sold in pink/blue colourways only.

[Maza]

Have you all read 'Bill's New Frock' by Anne Fine? It's a good story but also deals with this very issue. I'm not sure what age it is aimed at, maybe 7+, I can't quite remember, but I'm planning on reading it to DD next year when she is 7.

Last year we read Enid Blyton's 'The Enchanted Wood/Magic Faraway Tree books'. The gender stereotyping in that is shocking and I found myself altering it every now and then - for example - "they all turned to Bessie (instead of the boy, Joe) to see if she had any good ideas". I do think Literature has come a long way in this issue, but I'm sure I still slip up now and again and would welcome people challenging me so that I can improve!

My mum and mother-in-law are poles apart but they both openly state that 'men make the best chefs and hairdressers'. My MIL also said the other day after I had cooked a roast that men do the best carving (of meat). True in our house, lol. Last time she was over she was telling us how nervous she was on the flight over because she had a female pilot. What really annoys me though is when women think they can 'get away' with doing/saying things that men would never get away with.