Gender Stereotypes

Stereotypes are a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. There are a lot of gender stereotypes that are wrong. Honestly, they are probably all just wrong because it doesn’t matter if you're female or male, what matters is that you do what you like and NEVER EVER  do what other people think that you should do. That is bad, you do what you think is right or what you like just what makes you happy! Your happiness is what matters.

To name a simple example, there are a lot of stereotypes about girls and sports.  Girls CAN play sports. Have you seen Alex Morgan? She is a Professional Soccer Player. She is really good at what she does and she doesn't give attention to the negative things people say. I restate in different words Girls CAN play soccer. For those girls out there that want to play sports and they say that you can’t. GO! Prove those people wrong. Believe in yourself, you can do it, it doesn’t matter the stereotypes they make. Just go.

Another example is related to a male chauvinist, but common idea: People say that boys can't cook or that they can’t help in the house because women should do that. INCORRECT. Boys CAN cook and they CAN help in the house. It’s worrisome to me that sometimes moms need help and boys don't help them just because of these stereotypes or just to be cool. If you help around the house or even cook your mom will be so grateful (trust me) and you’ll see how much cooler you’ll be when you grow up knowing these things.

At last, I am happy to tell you that you should NOT listen to stereotypes that are gender-related, or that are negative to you, or what you wanna do. I previously named some frequent examples, but there are many, many more! I'll just name a few:

• Girls should play with dolls and boys should play with trucks
• Boys should like blue and green, girls red and pink
• Girls are better at reading and boys are better at math
• Girls should be well behaved, boys are expected to act out.
• Girls are too emotional and boys should not be allowed to express their emotions openly
• Boys should engage in sports and refrain from more creative pursuits, those are for girls
• Boys and men are expected to use violence and aggression to prove their manliness, A boy that doesn't use violence or aggression is an understandable target for bullying.

These there are some examples of gender stereotypes. This is why we need to be ourselves and let others be themselves too. It is time to revise these negative ideas of what's for girls and for boys and start moving to a more inclusive and respectful society, where we can all be our own beautiful selves.  

By: Montserrat Correa Acosta

5th Grader