Gendered Ideologies and Socialization
Before starting this course, I never really though of anything as gendered. I grew up playing with Barbies, dolls, nail polish, makeup, and so on—all girls did. A thought that never really occurred to me was, why aren’t boys playing with things girls are; why aren’t girls playing with the things boys are? This is where the term “gendered” comes into play.
Gendered is relating to a certain ideology, practice, or concept that it is made or meant for a certain gender only. Only girls play with dolls, for example. However, this idea is not true. Who says that only girls can play with dolls? Who says the color pink represents girls, and the color blue represents boys? Who made these rules? “…our systematic training into the norms of our culture,” Sensoy and DiAngelo explain in Is Everyone Really Equal? (36). This concept is know as socialization, and is something that everyone is subconsciously aware of. Socialization is what tells society what is okay or not; what is meant for which gender; what is considered beautiful versus ugly.
I now understand that playing with dolls as a little girl, was a gendered act that I was immune to through socialization. These gendered ideologies can act as a barrier for certain individuals as they may be struggling internally: maybe a little boy wants to play with dolls, an adult man wants to wear pink, a woman doesn’t want to shave her armpits, or body hair as a whole, if she doesn’t have to.
I realize that it is important to remove these barriers for my children as a future educator so that each child can succeed with out the distraction of “is this considered okay?” or “will I be judged for this?” Doing this will not only create a healthier learning environment, but also a future where each individual can thrive and live their lives to their fullest potentials.
Works Cited
Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. J. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in Social Justice Education. Teachers College Press.