Neutralism In Preschool

When I did my preliminary 60 hours in a preschool, one of the my biggest takeaways was how gender impacts a child. In this reading by Martin, I was intrigued by the further exploration of the construct. In the present-day, gender can be a tricky idea. Concepts like gender neutralism and transgender are becoming increasingly prevalent in the culture conversation of equality and acceptance. Furthermore, the roles that society consciously and subconsciously apply to genders is a hot button issue. By and large, the predominant roles for much of human history has been the male as the provider and the female as the caretaker. This is in large part due to the emphasis on physical labor that dominated much of humanity’s development. However, …show more content…
At such a young age, children have had limited exposure to the biases and stereotypes that perpetuate our culture. They are largely blank slates. But, as they continue to be see these cultural tendencies at play, they begin to develop idea of what is acceptable for each gender. They watch the behaviors of those older than them, and they are exposed to media that portrays each gender in a certain light. Opinions are formed, even if they are subconscious to the child. A girl shouldn’t be playing with a ball, and a boy needs to put the dolls away. The concepts of a hyper-sexualized woman and hyper-masculine man are portrayed in many areas of society as the pinnacle achievement. As the gender roles become segmented and the children get, there is a tendency for each gender to largely associate with their own gender. As children enter elementary school, they associate less with the other gender, and tend to stick more with their …show more content…
I dance like crazy at parties; I dance around my apartment,;I dance walking down the street when I’m listening to music. There is stereotypical idea carried by some that if you are male, and you like to dance, you are a homosexual. Wrong as it may be, it is an attitude carried be some. Despite the fact that I am not a homosexual, I do not let this stop me from getting my groove on and lighting up the dance floor. In the past, there were times when I would be nervous and fearful of doing so because of how I thought others would perceive me. Now, as I have grown more comfortable with myself, I have less regard for what others may think, and I boogie away. When I am a teacher, I want to instill this ideal in the children. I want to teach the children to fight the strong biases they may see in society, and embrace whatever they may enjoy doing, regardless of whatever gender stigma is associated with it. It is a vast goal, and one that I know I will not always be successful at, but successful or not, I want the children to find their own