Gender Stereotypes

Stereotypes - It is because of these that most people expect certain behaviors from boys, than from girls. Remember the saying “boys don’t cry,” or how about boys shouldn’t play with dolls.

I never realized as a parent that I was putting my daughter in a gender role when I told her that she shouldn’t get her pretty dress dirty. I failed my daughter in the fact that I influenced her into the role that women must look good.

I avoided it with my son, as It's a very strong pet peeve of mine when people make certain arguments to defend the behavior of boys because "boys will be boys."

I didn’t want my son to be in that gender role. I allowed him to play with dolls and hang with the girls and told him it was ok to cry. I encouraged him to sign up for drama and told him their was nothing wrong with reading 24/7 instead of playing sports.

It was just over the last year that I have encouraged my daughter to take part in sports and tried to gear her away from the gender role, now that I have seen the effect that it has had. But now that I look back, I realize as a parent, I’m partly to blame.


We're all individuals and should not all be judged simply because of skin color, religious affiliation, gender, or age.

Rose DesRochers