I can like Guns and He can like Pink
January 23rd, 2012 § 2 Comments
It’s common knowledge that I hate stereotypes. And to add credibility to my hate, there are studies which show how often we base our decisions on them (mostly wrong). One of the things I have noticed recently is the Gender Stereotyping. Of course, I have been reading about it and have outraged on certain occasions. My reputation for most annoying idealist feminist is not without a reason.
Did you know that each time you tell your child that pink is for girls and boys don’t cry, you create those stereotypes. Not just create them, when you teach your child that liking pink is not right for a boy, You create guilt feelings for life that are associated with a freaking color. Why? Don’t you think there are enough things in life for a child to worry about rather than the thought that somehow liking a color or a toy is wrong.
And to think, the feelings are so ingrained that I once made fun of a teammate for wearing pink shirt. As an adult, shouldn’t I know that it’s just a color and anyone is free to like it? When did girls patent pink and boy patent guns? We don’t even think twice by reinforcing such stereotypes.
We talk about gender equality. But how can we have it if we are still using century old stereotypes. I have always been good at maths. But that’s supposed to be an exception. Why? I think it’s result of education. It was my father’s love of maths that led him to teach me, in turn my being good at it. Yes, some differences are inherent in our biology. But if a boy wants to cry, that’s part of his biology too. When will we learn to treat our kids in the same way? Girls can like Guns and Boys can like Pink without being labeled as abnormal. Let’s take it from there and hope real equality follows.