Roles Reversed

 

        

Why is Pink for Girls and Blue for Boys? (babydestination.com)      

      How people dress should not be determined by their gender. It starts at an early age, for example, if a little boy is walking in his mother's high heels, some adults may stereotype type the child as being a “sissy.” Additionally, when little girls refuse to wear a dress, they are stereotyped as “tomboys.” According to Kidadl Team, “Things like gender are far less set-in-stone than they used to be, and boys who wear girl’s clothes are becoming way more widely accepted in society.” Parents nowadays are allowing their children to express themselves how they want Therefore, gender should never be determined by what a person wears. Stereotypes concerning gender roles can have a negative impact on young people today. 

           

      

             In today’s society, you’re not taught to be yourself. As a child, you may not know exactly how you feel or what you feel or how certain things work, etc. When you start to get older you start to learn and figure out what those certain things are, you start to learn right from wrong, you start to learn the tradition, what to wear, what to do, and how to act. Why aren’t they taught to be themselves? Nowadays everyone’s so judgmental and stuck on “Stereotypes”. Women, Men, Boys, and Girls should be able to wear what they want, act how to want to act and work and take on whatever career or job they please without getting judged for it. As stated in the article Wikye “Boys grow up to be men who drive to work and make things work. While girls grow up to be women who have babies, wear makeup and clean the houses”. While this is true, I can agree to disagree on this point.

      “But changing stereotypes sadly often takes time. While we are working on it, there are techniques to help us cope.” Which was stated in “The terrifying power of stereotypes and how to deal with them”. We may not even be alive when stereotypes are finally changed and overlooked because it takes more than just “us” to change stereotypes. Serotyping has been in life for as long as this world's been created, and it's not leaving any time soon. This comes into play as something that is tradition or history. As my grandma says "It's always been this way" not speaking on these specific stereotypes but I hear a lot of people say it. 

               In addition to the “gender clothes,” there are other stereotypes concerning this. “Boys should wear blue, and Girls should wear pink” “Girls should play with dolls boys should play with trucks”. I strongly disagree with every stereotype concerning this. Everyone, including children, should be about to express themselves in any way they want. Being blocked off from expressing and being comfortable doing and wearing what they please, can lead to them accepting themselves as they get older. I express myself through clothing, hair color, piercing, and tattoos and it was allowed in my household but as most of us know it wasn’t accepted in Zaya’s household. Her biological mom didn’t accept the fact that she wanted to change her gender and name. As stated in the article, “She’s requesting the court make Zaya, 15, choose for herself when she reaches the “age of majority” in two and a half years, when she’s 18, adding that “the minor child” will probably face media pressure.”

            Being called out of your name or stereotyped because of how you act or dress or where you work can negatively impact you in ways you don’t even know. You should be able to be who you are without being labeled because of a stereotype of the next person living. Men should be able to clean the house and take care of the kids, A woman should be able to work in a warehouse job and mow the grass without being labeled as masculine or gay. A young boy should be able to play with dolls and wear pink and not be labeled as a “faggot or sissy”. A young girl should be able to wear blue, play outside, and not wear dresses without being labeled a tomboy. Accept yourself as you are, and don’t let stereotypes bring you down because there’s always a way to overcome and ignore those stereotypes. Your gender shouldn’t be based on what you wear or where you work.

Portrait of an African American Female Warehouse Worker Smiling and Happy (johnlund.com)

                                   Works Cited

Kidadl Team. "General Parenting Tips." Free Ideas For Family Fun & Learning | Kidadl, 11 May 2021, kidadl.com/parents/tips/when-boys-wear-girls-clothes-should-i-be-worried. Accessed 8 Nov. 2022.

“Gender Stereotypes: Why Aren’t Boys Allowed to Play with Dolls.” Wikye, 25 Oct. 2019, www.wikye.com/gender-stereotypes-why-arent-boys-allowed-to-play-with-dolls/.

‌Staff, TheGrio. “Zaya Wade’s Mother Objects to Her Name Change in Legal Filing; Dwyane Wade Responds.” TheGrio, 4 Nov. 2022, thegrio.com/2022/11/04/dwyane-wade-responds-zaya-wade-mother-objects-name-change-legal-filing/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2022.

‌Zawisza, Magdalena. “The Terrifying Power of Stereotypes – and How to Deal with Them.” The Conversation, 26 Mar. 2019, theconversation.com/the-terrifying-power-of-stereotypes-and-how-to-deal-with-them-101904.

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Tiktok Links

“CinaFitz on TikTok.” TikTok, 2022, www.tiktok.com/@cinafitz/video/7134533140713983274?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en&q=dwayne%20wade%20transgender%20son&t=1667932074527. Accessed 8 Nov. 2022.

“Arc Warrior on TikTok.” TikTok, 2022, www.tiktok.com/@arc_warrior/video/7102189098835676458?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en&q=sterotypes%20on%20boys%20playing%20with%20dolls&t=1667932288524. Accessed 8 Nov. 2022.

                                                            Reflection

                                While writing this essay I felt a little anger, because is this really what we face in life, DAILY? It wasn't as hard as I thought that it'll be. I enjoyed writing this despite the fact that I didn't submit it in time nor start on it. Writing this essay in 2 hours and a few minutes really surprised me because I can never stay focused while writing essays. Essays are my weak spot and we've had a couple of them. I feel as if I should start planning ahead of time because every essay, I've wrote for ENGL 1101 was last minute due to the simple fact, I hate writing and typing essays because I never do good at them. 

                               This was the last essay this semester and I feel accomplished by completing this one because I did get help from my teacher, but I also feel as if I did a great job at it, well a better job than usual. I have more than enough confidence that I passed this one. Again, while writing this essay, I enjoyed it and was actually focused on what I was supposed to be typing.