Boys are typically given cars and encouraged to play rough outside sports which promotes the competitive and less independent side of them while girls on the other hand, are typically given dolls and encouraged to play house which cultivates them to become more nurturing and more valuing of physical closeness and verbal communication. This distinct patter is just on subtle way in which children are influenced by their parents to become gendered.
Wood also states that through rewards and punishments children also learn which gender roles are acceptable and which are not. I do not remember being rewarded much when I was younger but I do remember my mother rewarding my sisters for doing simple tasks with my mother. This goes right along with Chodrow's theory of boys being encouraged to be achieving and independent and girls being encouraged to become nurturing and relationally oriented.
I was always encouraged to play outside and to do outdoor chores like rake the leaves, take the garbage out, help my uncle mow the lawn etc. This gave me a sort of independent feeling being outside alone in charge of a task. I loved it and that drove me towards wanting more freedom and independence. My sisters were always encouraged to be indoors and help out with chores with my mother and not to play outside like I did. They were never given the same freedoms that I received and were made to do different things because that was my mothers views on gendered roles that she had been socialized into following and she only did what she saw as correct.
In the second chapter Wood begins by discussing the biases and pressures males, females and non gender conforming students face within the education. Males do have more energy and usually do have issues restraining themselves in the classrooms at times but I do disagree that males are at a disadvantage in the classroom setting. Above all, I believe that personal choice and home teachings influence a child's success in school. The statistics that Wood provides to show the gap between female and male success in the classroom is about where I expected it to be. I do agree that on average more women complete high school then men.
Gender non-conforming students face the most pressures and biases of them all. It was very interesting to think about what team a trans-girl should be apart of and how it would feel in either locker room. The gender binary system that we have used is the main problem for all of this. In school curricula women are often represented in a stereotypical way. There are never mentions of the females who fought in the wars or women who contributed and assisted to the success of the armies. This gender stereotyped curricula causes students to miss out on crucial parts of our history. Not only are females misrepresented and unrepresented at times, also are all minority groups. In most classes that I have taken prior to college, has mainly been about heterosexual, wealthy white males. At one point when I was very young, I even questioned if any other group of people have done anything worthwhile because I was only taught about the triumphs of the economically advantaged while male.
The last section discussed the disparities in salaries, promotion opportunities and job positions. There is a clear discrimination against women in the workforce as it is shown through the wage gap.(Women make 83 cents to every dollar a man makes.) This lack of equality in pay for the same duties being performed is outrageous. I'm not sure how the employers of the US can look at themselves as rational human beings.
Discussion Questions:
Why is it taking so long for the wage gap to level out, if there has been an increase in women in the workforce and other laws for women's equality?
Do you thing that transgender students should have their own bathrooms/locker rooms? Should there be gender-less bathrooms?
Do you believe that parents will ever stop influencing a child's gender after birth?
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