When I grow up, I want to be…..
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Last evening I came across an interesting short video…it started with a couple of teachers in front of a classroom of pre-school children, telling them that they were going to start the day drawing pictures of three professionals. The children were asked to draw a fire fighter, a surgeon and finally a fighter pilot. There was much animated discussion amongst the children in the video discussing fire fighter ‘Jim Bob’; the surgeon and whether he should wear a stethoscope or not and many moments when the camera would focus on the fire fighter and his short brown or blond hair. When they had finished drawing the pictures, the teacher asked the children, if they would like to meet them. The children were very excited when in walked three uniformed professionals: a fire fighter from the London fire brigade, a surgeon working for the British National Health Service and a fighter pilot from the Royal Air Force. There were many mixed reactions amongst the children, including one comment where a little girl said, “They’re playing dress up!”. The overwhelming emotion amongst the school children that was almost tangible across the computer screen, was the feeling of utter surprised wonder, that these three professionals were women.
Upworthy, the Media Company responsible for this short clip, says in its Mission Statement that “Lots of media companies have a mission. But Upworthy is on a mission to change what the world pays attention to.” According to this media company, “…(that day in the classroom) 61 pictures were drawn as men and only 5 were drawn as women…it’s time to re-draw the balance”.
So what exactly is Gender Stereotyping? According to The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “A gender stereotype is a generalised view or preconception about attributes or characteristics that are, or ought to be possessed by, or the roles that are or should be performed by women and men. A gender stereotype is harmful when it limits women’s and men’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives and life plans.”
Holly Brewster, an author of numerous papers relating to health and gender says, “Simply put, gender stereotypes are generalisations about the roles of each gender. Gender roles are generally neither positive nor negative; they are simply inaccurate generalisations of the male and female attributes. Since each person has individual desires, thoughts, and feelings, regardless of their gender, these stereotypes are incredibly simplistic and do not at all describe the attributes of every person of each gender.”
It’s nothing new that throughout their formative years, children hear adults making sweeping statements about what is perceived to be appropriate for girls and boys in relation to almost everything in day to day life: What they should wear (girls in pretty and sometimes impractical dresses whilst boys are almost always in comfortable practical gear); how they should walk (unladylike to run around like a hooligan vs boys will be boys), talk (well brought up girls speak softly and gently), sit (little ladies always sit with their legs together) and eat (delicately vs shovelling it down); what is considered good manners and in a very general sense, what is considered feminine and masculine. For whatever reason, there tends to be a natural emphasis on boys being associated with strength and things that are not so pure and a little more dangerous and untidy, whilst the opposite is emphasised for girls-that they are less strong (the mortifying phrase ‘weaker sex’ springs to mind) and better suited to cleaner, safer and tidier things.
This may then explain why the children in the video clip were so surprised to find out that the fire fighter, surgeon and fighter pilot were women and not men, as most often, these three professions are associated with danger and strength and therefore automatically seem to lend itself to men rather than women. This is the danger of gender stereotyping. Yes, it is perhaps true that by and large, it is men who tend to go into these sorts of jobs. However, the reality is, there are so many reasons a person chooses their profession, and more often than not, it being a suitable job for a boy or girl, is not one of them. Especially in this day and age where the emphasis on equal opportunity and the phrase “you can be anything you want to be, as long as you work hard enough for it” is something we use regularly, not only with our impressionable youth, but also with our contemporaries and elders.
In the end, it comes down to what we are taught-at the very outset of our lives. What was socially acceptable when we were just starting school and what values were considered important at that time. According to Upworthy, “Gender stereotypes are developed between 5 and 7 years of age.” Cliff Notes Inc, a global learning company, states that “The weight of scientific evidence demonstrates that children learn gender stereotypes from adults. As with gender roles, socialising agents—parents, teachers, peers, religious leaders, and the media—pass along gender stereotypes from one generation to the next.”.
My mother is a very strong woman, who defied all limitations and broke the proverbial glass ceiling time and again, so it is no surprise that in my mind, women can do anything and certainly be anything. By the same token, in our family, our children are given free rein to express and explore future ambitions. Our five- year-old son regularly speaks about being a Chef and our three-year-old daughter wants to be a race car driver. Our theory is that no one – no boy or girl – fits neatly into a gender role. He or she should be allowed to comfortably explore and express the opportunities traditionally reserved for both genders and decide for themselves, what fits best. Especially when it comes to their future professions and careers: Life, with all its constraints and difficulties can be limiting enough, so the only limit we set for our children with regards to their dreams and aspirations, is that there is no limit at all.
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