The media shaping children’s Future
It
is no surprise that children are shaped by patriarchal believes instilled by
their parents. From an early age
children are cocooned into an environment that promotes gender
assimilation. For example, baby girls
preferred color is pink while boys is blue.
This continues through their younger years by assigning specific toys
for specific genders. Parent encourage
girls to play with dolls developing their communication skills while boys play
with Legos making them spatially aware.
This may have an effect on the development of children’s skills. Since girls are encouraged to play with dolls
and role play, their sense of communication is hyphened. Meanwhile boys are giving Legos and train
toys which encourage them to build and provides them with skills of measurement
and a sense of space which later is useful in higher levels of
mathematics. Toy manufacturers play a
role in producing gender specific toys.
In addition, toy manufacturing advertisements furthers this gender
segregation. This is not only seen in advertisements but it’s also visible in
television, movies and books.
First of all lets looks at the differences among women
and men from a scientifically standpoint.
Neuroscientists have confirmed that there are few reliable differences
speaking biologically. The few
differences are as followed: Boy’s brain
are 10% larger than that of girls and their brain stops growing 1 or 2 years
after puberty. This is not an indicative
of mental development but rather of physical maturation. Studies indicates that males have a larger
percentage of gray matter in the left hemisphere while women have the same
percentage in both hemispheres. Males
have a lesser overall percentage of gray matter compared to women but have a
higher percentage of white matter. This
could suggest why females are better at communicating among hemisphere while
males are better at communicating within the right or left hemisphere. The corpus callosum is larger and thicker in
females than in males which is an anatomical structure that constitutes for
higher communication skills. For right
handed individuals the language areas are located in the left but in females
also the right. The amygdala which is a
gland that responds to emotional stimulation increases rapidly in teenage
boys. Lastly the hippocampus which is
responsible for memory formation and consolidation grows rapidly in girls. This hints at the reason why girls perform
better in language, arithmetic, computation and task involving sequences.
Boys
and girls differ in physical activity levels, self-control and performance levels
in reading writing and math. Some other
differences that can be observed according to Lise Elliot are boys and girls on
average differ in self-regulatory behavior.
Girls are able to sit still longer, have longer attention retention, are
patient for delay gratification and tend to be more organized. All this is true but it does not justify the
mythical belief that “women are from Venus and men are from mars”. Men and women brains have more overlaps than
differences. Yet farther more consistent
overlaps regarding academics and even “emotional abilities”. According to Elliot on the playground, 1/3
more females are involved in physical activities compared to boys. Studies have shown that girls have
outperformed boys in reading and writing abilities while boys have outscored
girls in math although by a small margin according to the National Assessment
of Education. This can also be seen on
the Program for International Student Assessment. Of course such results also vary on age,
ethnicity and nationality. It was found
that there were no gaps in Iceland nor Thailand. One may ask why and the reason is because “higher
female performance in math correlates with higher levels of gender equity in individual
nations”.
This
leads to the main reason of gender gap cognitive development. Society it’s unmistakably the most resonate
reason why boys and girls differ from each other when it comes to
academics. Epigenetics which is the way
environmental factors such as parenting to diet “alter DNA structure, gene
expression and an organism’s lifelong brain and behavioral function”. As explained by Elliot “abilities develop in a
social-cultural context that includes each child’s opportunities, relationship,
sense of identity and more”. This such
biases initiate from prenatal hormone exposure or sex specific gene
expression. For example boys are more
active, girls start talking one month earlier than boys, boys are more
spatially aware. Later on this develops on
due to the preference in toys. Boys like
trucks and balls while girls like “verbal relational toys”. This gender role is magnified by parental
treatment. More boys are sent to play
outdoors, in this structure environment boys are attentive of space rather than
time, create their own games and use more visual skills. Girls prefer to spend their time indoor exposing
them to language through radio and television.
The results of staying indoor allows them to be more of aware of time. Mothers spend more hours talking to their
preschool aged daughters while both parents expect more physical risk taking
activities from their sons. As Bell
Hooks narrated in Understanding Patriarchy, “my brother was taught that it was
his role to be served, to provide, to be strong, to think, strategize and plan”. This is an undeniable correlation to the
reason why patriarchal nations tend to have significant gender gaps. Girls are expected to play games that involve
talking, drawing and role playing while boys spend more time moving, catching, constructing
and playing. Due to this boys develop
spatial awareness, the ability to visualize three dimensional object and
orientation, all skills necessary to excel in higher mathematics, sciences and
mechanical work. Contrary to this girls
develop phonological awareness which is a necessary skill to learn to
read. Statistically 20 % more girls than
boys score in the proficient range as readers.
The gap continues to grow 38 % by 8th grade and outstandingly
47 % by the end of high school. David Sousa explains that “boys in secondary
schools are encouraged by their parents and teachers to take more mathematics
and science, their experience in such classes are more compatible with their
visual and spatial proficiencies, and they thus score better on tests in these
areas. Girls, on the other hand, often
encounter a stereotype that presumes females are poor performers in mathematics. Studies have revealed that female performance
on mathematics test was lower than that of males just because of the existence
of this stereotype, called stereotype thread, and that female performance
improved once the stereotype thread was removed.” This so called stereotype thread is the
causation added to this gender gap and can be traced back to social and
cultural forces.
Society and culture have a
significant contribution to the way children develop. The media is an institution in which centers
in gender display representation. Ads
continue to misrepresent women depicting them as “sexual objects or sexual
agents”. There is an expected behavior
which follows an individual from the time they are born. This in addition, to living in a nation which
still holds patriarchy as the norm.
Children are taught to follow a path and if they “color outside the box”
they are punished for their indiscretion.
There
is certainly a solution to this social problem.
It is important to begin nurturing skills and attitudes in students that
will prepare them to excel in every subject.
“Make sure that the classroom remains a place where student’s potential
is broadened rather than narrowed through misguided beliefs” as Elliot
explains. This is the key point, encourage
students to succeed not place them into a boxed category based on their
gender. For example, at a young age
children are separated by gender, teachers instruct girls to line up in one
side while boys in the other. It is
essential to respect everyone’s individualism and honor their differences. Also challenging gender stereotype for both
sexes. Teachers should avoid stereotyping
at all cost. Boys and girls should
equally have time to sit and discuss as well as have extra opportunities for
competition and physical play. Appreciate
and understand range of intelligence expanding activities that involve the arts
and kinesthetic ability. Reinforcing spatial awareness in both boys and girls
by the use of puzzles, map reading, targeting sports and building
projects. Involve boys in reading and writing
by increasing their love for books. Include
boys in extracurricular activities that do not only involve sports. Lastly but most importantly treat teacher’s
biases. Although each individual has its
own believes, it is imperative that the teachers personal believes do not
intervene with the students education.
Work
Cited
-
Lise Eliot. "The Myth of Pink and
Blue Brains." Closing Opportunity Gaps Volume. Volume 68 (2010): pages32-36.
Print
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Sousa, David A. How the Brain Learns. City
of Publication: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2011. Print
-
Cortese, Anthony. “Constructed Bodies,
Deconstructing Ads Sexism in Advertising.” Provocateur: Images of Women and
Minorities in Advertising. United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
45-76. Print
-
Hooks, Bell "Understanding
Patriarchy" The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Washington
Square Press, Dec 21, 2004
