reflection due in 14 hours

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Stereotyping

Catherine Baulkman

Ashford University

EDU372: Educational Psychology

Instructor Larson

November 16, 2020

Stereotyping

According to our textbook, “There have traditionally been masculine roles and feminine roles, and all societies seem to have had relatively clear ideas of what these should be.” (LeFrancois, 2018) I have observed gender stereotyping several times, but I will speak on a specific issue that occurred more than once. I have a niece that plays sports. She likes basketball and football. She is considered by people a “tomboy”, which is a girl who does things that boys will do and is tough. She wanted to play football and had the hardest time making the team. She was told that girls do not play football, among other things.

It made me feel sad. I was heartbroken because I know that my niece loves sports, especially contact sports. She was down for a few days due to how she was treated, and it made me down. I did have a conversation with her, and she decided to not pursue playing the sport anymore and stuck to basketball where she is excellent on the court.

Gender schemas influenced my role in society in a major way. There were things that I decided not to do because I was told girls do not do certain things and vice versa. For instance, I can recall when I first got into the workforce many years ago. There were times I would hold back helping coworkers because what they were doing were male roles and women could not handle it. Doing things like that, held me back. I broke those gender schemas and roles and began showing my full potential at my jobs and it opened doors for me.

As a teacher, I will allow my students to do anything they would like. I would not assign tasks just because society states this is what boys or girls do. I would allow my students to volunteer for tasks. I believe this will help them understand that they can do anything they want to do. I also would motivate them by letting them know that they should never doubt themselves. If it is a task they would like to do, go for it, even if they do not succeed or like it in the end. You must try no matter what. Never hold yourself back or miss out on opportunities due to what society says. If you want it, go for it.

References

LeFrançois, G. R. (2018).  Psychology for teaching  (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu