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Occasionally I come across someone who doesn& #39;t believe gender stereotyping of children exists, and that even if it did, it wouldn& #39;t have any impact as all boy children and girl children naturally like different things and behave differently.
I& #39;m always a bit shocked because it& #39;s everywhere all the time - till I remember I used to think the same. Messages about gender and the way boys and girls are supposed to behave are so ubiquitous they& #39;ve become invisible and normal, and & #39;just how things are& #39;.
So it& #39;s quite reasonable that people suppose little boys are naturally more active and daring than little girls, and all of them like dinosaurs and predators and science and competition and sport; that little girls like looking pretty and hearts and cute animals and being good.
That baby girls come out of the womb already covered in pink glitter, while - did you know? - the male foetus is actually gun-shaped.
(joke)
(joke)
But once you see the obsessive hammering-home of gender stereotypes coming at kids from every angle and relentlessly, it& #39;s impossible to unsee.
I& #39;ve gathered together some of the evidence that& #39;s sitting on shop shelves.
I& #39;ve gathered together some of the evidence that& #39;s sitting on shop shelves.
1 https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1029020130431434755
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https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1198522894579572737
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https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1032940664311476224
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https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1156559213965041664
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https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1152976712583536644
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https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1159821554546630656
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https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1170363927491948544
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https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1190666248780238853
9https://twitter.com/volewrite... href=" https://twitter.com/volewriter/status/1210885162805944322">https://twitter.com/volewrite...
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This is me, on my own, very occasionally taking a wander through the children& #39;s department of the odd high street store. My sons are grown up, so I don& #39;t watch kids& #39; TV or go in toy shops or shop for children& #39;s bedroom decor. Vast amounts of this stuff is passing me by.
But even so, even just dipping my toe into the water every 5 or 6 months, my head nearly caves in at the desperate nagging these children are getting to be like THIS or THAT, and woe betide them if they deviate.
So forgive me, stranger, if I don& #39;t have the time to debate this issue - whether it exists, the extremely real impact it& #39;s having on children& #39;s development - because I& #39;ve already put in the hours finding the evidence. It& #39;s here. It& #39;s laid out for you to read. Over to you.
