Gender Roles in Children
...as never given a doll, would she still enjoy, or play with a doll as much? Would she ever ask for a doll if one had never been introduced to her? Or, when given a doll, does a girl learn to enjoy it? After playing with this doll for a while, little girls start enjoying it. They also start noticing things. The girls notice that Barbie has breasts. They notice that she is skinny, pretty, and almost perfect. She’s happy, with a permanent smile on her face. A little girl may now think, “I want to be happy too. Maybe if I look like her, everyone will like me and I’ll be happy.” Children don’t know any better. Many older people don’t even know any better. It is assumed by people that girls are supposed to be pretty, perfect, and act a certain way. Everyone is brought up this way because that is how it’s always been. For instance, in the TV show Leave it to Beaver, there was a certain way that June, the mom, acted. She always wore long dresses, was very pretty, and she stayed home and cooked, cleaned and acted like a ‘lady.’ And then there are books. Every little girl has heard the story of Snow White, for example. In this story, Snow White goes to the dwarves’ house and cleans for them while they are at work. The dwarves get home from work and Snow White has dinner made. This book teaches kids the differences in the roles. The roles taught are that females cook and clean, and males work for the money. Many boys are taught from a young age how to be a boy. They know that boys don’t wear dresses and play with dolls. Boys play with toy cars and guns. They wrestle and rough house with each other, they play fight while girls are playing ‘house’ and ‘dress-up.’ Boys are also taught this by the toys they are given when they are young and by the books they read. Many young boys are given gifts on occasion, like a little girl. When shopping for a little boy, it is common to pass the pink Barbie aisle and all the baby dolls, and go to the ‘boy’ section. Boy’s toys tend to be darker in color. They portray a darker image. If a boy receives a doll of any kind, it will most likely be a G.I. Joe, or Star Wars figurine, and it won’t be pink. And little boys don’t play with these like girls play with dolls. They usually play fight with them, pretending to kill each others figurine. They do this because most of these figurines come with little plastic gun. The images the figures contain provoke this. So do the movies most of these figurines come from. Boys after playing with these toys, realize that there is a difference in the toys they play with and the toys girls play with. They also realize that, being a boy, they need to take care of girls, when they are older of course. Boys may also notice in the books...