Recently I have been researching and trying to gain new
ideas and concepts in the areas of early childhood with their gender, gender
identity, and sexual orientation. These concepts are often overlooked but are
very important in child development.
There are ways in our society that homophobia and
heterosexism permeates the world of young children. This could involve books,
movies, stores, culture, and schools. I think toys are a very big part of not
supporting homosexuality. Toys are either marketed for girls or boys. There are
very few toys that are gender neutral. If the opposite sex children play with
the “wrong” toys they are looked at in a different way. They are being
discriminated against just from playing with another toy. I think this is
wrong. Boys should be able to play with dolls and Barbie’s and girls should be
able to play with Lego’s and cars. In my classroom I make sure that I have
mostly gender neutral toys, but I do have few gender related toys. I think it
is great when boys and girls play with the opposite gender toys to expose
themselves to those experiences. I have boys play “Pretty, Pretty, Princess”
and I do not say anything against it. Children need opportunities to experience
different genders and have as many experiences as they can to develop their own
personality.
Within this topic also come the thoughts if books depicting
gay or lesbian individuals should be used in early childhood centers. I first
researched libraries in my community. At the public library there are books
like this but an adult library card needs to be used to take the books out. In
the district where I teach there are no gay or lesbian oriented books or same
sex family oriented books at the elementary level. I can understand these
precautions but I do think that these books need to be exposed to early
childhood. This is a step in the right way direction to stopping discrimination
by having our younger generation fin acceptance.
Early childhood gender, gender identity, and sexual
orientation is a part of child development and needs to be explored and thought
about when dealing with young children.
Maglaty, J. (2011). When did girls start wearing pink. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/When-Did-Girls-Start-Wearing-Pink.html
Spiegel, A. (2008). Two families grapple with
sons' gender identity: Psychologists take radically different approaches in
therapy. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2008/05/07/90247842/two-families-grapple-with-sons-gender-preferences (22 minutes)
Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that people don't say anything when a little girl plays with a toy car or firetruck, but they often comment if a little boy plays dress up with dresses, bracelets and purses.
We have all sorts of toys in our preschool and all students are encouraged to play together.
Abigail,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say children need opportunities to experience gender identities. As an adult we do not need to make children choose toys, characters, or books according to gender. On the contrary, I think it is okay to read stories about two mommies or daddies because now a days families are made up of many non-traditional members and books may help relate that to children.
I agree with your view on toys and genders, I often see this both in classrooms and at friend’s homes. Boys are told to play with cars and building toys (legos) and girls are expected to play with dolls and dress up things. Children are taught early that boys and girls do not do the same things and they should not want to do things that are geared towards the opposite gender. In my classroom I have toys that work for all children and we talk about it being okay for both boys and girls to play with any toy in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAbigail thank you for your post. Living in the Middle East not only sets me apart by distance, but I need to be mindful and respectful of the culture in which I find myself. As teaching staff it is interesting to note the cycles that our school goes through, a few years ago parents seemed more relaxed and accepting of allowing their boys in particular to dress up like girls, sadly just a few months ago we were forced to separate the gender specific clothing items in the dramatic play area and have to encourage boys to choose items from the boy section and vice versa. We have decided that we are going to make some gender neutral items that could be converted into anything with a bit of imagination. Sometimes it can be very frustrating, but have learned to be patient and to try to reach out to the parents who are very set in their ways and over time win their trust and educate them with the support of the research that is out there. We have found that if we try to do things our way without consideration for the local customs our relationships just break down, but once one wins the trust of the parents it is amazing how eventually they do see the benefits. In the previous course I discovered the wise words of Loa-Tzu and they have become my new mantra, "Accomplish a great task by a series of small acts."
ReplyDeleteAbigail, thank you for touching on toys and materials in the classroom. I can not begin to tell you how many "teachable moments" I have had to have with parents (especially fathers) about the types of toys their children are engaged in. So many fathers have had absolute meltdowns if they see their sons playing with dolls in the dramatic play area. I usually try to educate them on the little boys taking on the father role with the baby dolls such as feeding, rocking, and changing the baby, just as they would as fathers. Thank you so much for sharing!
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