Essay On Gender Stereotypes In Children

1382 Words6 Pages

The process of learning about different sex roles from different factors of society is commonly known as socialisation. It is the responsibility of parents and others, holding equally important positions in a child’s life, to guide the child in sex-typing and identity formation with the same sex. How they behave with girls and boys helps the child develop their gender identity. Secondly, culture also instills sex stereotypes amongst children and aids in their identifying process. Gender role can vary according to the social group to which a child belongs to or associates themselves with. For example, almost all over the world women share the stereotype of being the weaker sex. Stereotypes are most influential within the first five years of …show more content…

Women are usually given a status of inferiority in society. Men are considered models of pride and power; they are known to be the “bread-winners” of the family, while the women are said to be the “home-makers”. Women can be thought to be custodians of the family’s honour and history. Women are known to be more sympathetic and are expected to be able to solve family quarrels, as depicted in Hindi, Brahvi, Pashto and Bloch lullabies, whereas men hold the status of power and glory. These practices promote sex discrimination, stereotypes of a negative nature and the concept of inferiority of gender-identity. When a child hears their parents singing these lullabies, negative sex-identities are developed in the child from this young age. The media also plays a vital in the development of children. Not only is it a source of entertainments and a mean of communication; it plays a vital role by projecting cultural norms and values - these instil sex stereotypes that can greatly influence