Jan 02 2014
I love windows into other times and places – especially those that offer insight into different world views. How did people really think and feel in the past? We know that standards and sensibilities change over time, but still it can be shocking to see an example of just how much things have changed.
My wife, born in 1964, was given such a window by her mother, who had dutifully saved many keepsakes from her childhood. One keepsake was a school journal, with one page dedicated to each year of grade school, starting with kindergarten. The template for each year is the same, which you can see to the right.
Take a look at the bottom of the form – it asks what they want to be when they grow up, and helpfully provides suggestions for each gender. Parents will playfully ask young children what they want to be when they grow up, knowing that they are far too young to make such decisions. The parents anticipate an answer that is cute, but also perhaps hope it will provide some insight into their child’s likes and personality.
This is also an opportunity to make some suggestions to your young child, create some expectations. I use it as an opportunity to let my daughters know they can be anything they want – the world is open to them.
However, in 1969, boys were told they can be a fireman, policeman, soldier, astronaut, cowboy, or baseball player. Young girls were told they can become a mother, nurse, teacher, airline hostess, model, or secretary.
Even though I knew intellectually that sexism was still the norm when I was a child, it was surprising to see such a stark example of it. This was what my generation was exposed to growing up. Wow.
I imagine the people who made this form thought they were eliciting cute answers from the children, but the message is unmistakable. It is culturally acceptable, and even expected, for boys to go into physically tough and even dangerous jobs. Girls, on the other hand, are slated for nurturing or subservient roles, or those that emphasize their physical looks. (The same choices, by the way, were offered throughout grade school – these were not unique to kindergarten.)
There is evidence that children can be significantly influenced by their school and home environment in terms of their later career choices. Expectations matter.
Ed.gov, for example, gives a list of strategies backed by evidence, including exposing girls to female role models in STEM careers.
Further, parents can make sure that their daughters have equal access to computers, science-based toys, toys involving spacial reasoning and building, chemistry sets, etc. as their sons.
We can look back now at the oppressive gender stereotypes from 50 years ago, but walk into any store that sells toys and you are likely to see strict gender segregation along lines that are indistinguishable from the career choices offered to children in 1969. Girls are offered pink toys with domestic, nurturing, or beauty themes. Boys are offered toys that simulate tough and dangerous themes.
A New York Times article from 2012 recounts research into toy marketing throughout the 20th century, by looking through catalogs. Interestingly, by the 1970s gender-specific toy marketing had dramatically decreased, and was mostly gone. However in the 1990s gender-specific toy marketing made a significant return, and now is more similar to the mid-20th century. The author, Elizabeth Sweet, blames this partly on neuroscience research alleging to show brain-based gender differences, which toy marketers then use to justify gender-specific marketing.
I don’t know if this is the cause, but the gender-specific toy marketing is clearly evident. Things are still much better for girls in 2014 then they were in 1969, but self-reinforcing gender stereotyping is not gone. There are still differences in career choices between boys and girls, with fewer girls going into STEM careers. Girls today may not be told explicitly that they are destined to be mothers, secretaries, or models, but their toys and other subtle social cues still do.
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