How Gender Stereotypes Harm Our Children

How Gender Stereotypes Harm Our Children

Gender stereotypes start affecting us even before kindergarten, as early as the hospital nursery. Boys are dressed in blue, and girls in pink—this is your color, and you dare not cross the line. At this age, children don’t understand much, but a certain foundation is laid. Kindergarten, school, and even the early stages of higher education continue to reinforce the idea that girls and boys are different, so they should behave differently, dress differently, and have different needs. All children are judged by their gender and expected to fit into a specific mold.

The Clothing Conundrum

It all starts with clothing. At some point, boys become embarrassed to wear tights, and girls to wear shorts, even though shorts in a teenage girl’s wardrobe are perfectly acceptable. From kindergarten onwards, a color and symbol code associated with gender emerges. Boys should wear neutral or dark colors, with abstract patterns or those related to