Gender stereotypes have always been prevalent in society. Notions that women have to be inferior to men is a learned trait. But where did this type of thinking come from? From the beginning of time women have been looked at as equivalent to men. Women are supposed to be the caretakers in the family. They are supposed to be there to support and take care of everyone around them. On the other hand, men are expected to be the breadwinners of the family. Having an actual job was the luxury of men. This social expectation is passed onto kids. They are pushed onto them through the media shown and the books available to them. Kids see these things being pushed onto them and feel as though they need to conform to these standards. Originally, books were not made for children. …show more content…
Eventually books evolved to chapbooks. These were books handstitched by merchants, known as chapmen. Each page had a letter and a story to accompany the letter. Around this time, stereotypes that males are heroes and females are helpless and worthless without anyone to take care of were being put into books for children. In 1930, Dick and Jane books were introduced to children. These books were filled with all of the common stereotypes. It was easy to condition children into believing these stereotypes because that is all that was around for them to learn from. Children take messages about what is for boys and girls very seriously. Teaching them expected behaviors in hopes that they conform to them is not fair, as they are individuals who “should feel free to choose their own interests, not feel they are supposed to like or reject certain things”