Gender Development Scenarios
After watching the two videos, ‘Girls Toys vs. Boys Toys’ and ‘Boys and Girls on stereotype’, I learned that parents or caregivers influence gender identity. For instance, in the video Girls Toys vs. Boy Toys, the children want to play with all the toys, but each individual is assigned to the kid after being interchanged, giving the kids toys that match their gender, not knowing the children’s clothes were switched (BBC, 2017). This then shows that parents or caregivers influence gender identity.
The second video shows that the mind, culture, and personal experiences influence gender identity through the process of socializing; these also influence our choices and the people we relate to. This is evident in the second video, Boys and Girls stereotype, where children from both genders identify their gender through physical attributes such as clothing. Also, men are to be strong or play certain games (New York Magazine (2018). Such shows that parents, the people individuals associate with, and cultures influence gender identity. Nurturing children with stereotypical minds influences gender identity. This begins immediately after they are born by giving specific toys, dressing coding, and specific teachings or roles such as cleaning the house for girls (Ristori et al., 2020). Children ultimately grow up with such instruction in their minds and finally have stereotyping thoughts.
From the videos and textbook, there are two strategies I can use in early childhood education classrooms to reduce gender stereotypes. The first is offering different books, games, and toys that expose learners to diverse gender responsibilities (Berk, 2013). For instance, I can decide to select activities that show females in masculine roles, like building workers or firefighters and males as nurturers or caregivers. This will teach learners to embrace one another and do any duties regardless of gender. The second strategy is to use general, all-inclusive phrases while addressing the learners or class (Berk, 2013). For instance, instead of greeting the learners with “good evening, boys and girls,” I would greet them with “good evening, everyone.” In addition, I will avoid grouping the learners into boys vs. girls or girls to the left and boys to the right. Instead, I will mix both boys and girls in equal groups. These strategies struck me because they would teach learners, especially early childhood learners, that they are all valued as humans irrespective of gender. This will also help learners feel included and embrace togetherness regardless of whether they identify with a specific gender or not.
References
BBC Stories (2017). Girl Toys Vs. Boy Toys: The Experiment – BBC Stories https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWu44AqF0il.
Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development (9th Ed.). Chapter 8: Healthy Gender Development and Young Children: A Guide for Early Childhood Programs and Professionals.
New York Magazine (2018).Boys and Girls on Stereotypes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTvGSstKd5Y.
Ristori, J., Cocchetti, C., Romani, A., Mazzoli, F., Vignozzi, L., Maggi, M., & Fisher, A. D. (2020). Brain sex differences related to gender identity development: Genes or hormones. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(6), 2123.
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Question 
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 8 in the textbook and the guide Healthy Gender Development and Young Children: A Guide for Early Childhood Programs and Professionals (Links to an external site.).
Gender Development Scenarios
Gender roles often determine the traditional responsibilities and tasks assigned to women, men, girls, and boys. Gender-specific roles are often conditioned by household structure, access to resources, specific impacts of the global economy, occurrence of conflict or disaster, and other locally relevant factors such as ecological conditions. Gender roles can evolve over time, in particular through the empowerment of women and the transformation of masculinities (European Institute for Gender Equality, 2018, para 1).
For this discussion, you will choose and analyze two videos from the list below. Think about how each scenario relates to theories of gender typing.
Choose two of the following videos:
Girl Toys Vs Boy Toys: The Experiment – BBC Stories (Links to an external site.) (BBC Stories, 2017)
Stereo – A Film About Reversed Gender Stereotypes (Links to an external site.) (Ella Fields, 2017)
Boys and Girls on Stereotypes (Links to an external site.) (New York Magazine, 2018)
Mom Argues With Child Over Gender Appropriate Toys (Links to an external site.) (What Would You Do? 2017)
Part 1: Based on what you observed in the two chosen videos, what or who do you think influences gender identity? How is it influenced, and what specifically is influenced?
Part 2: Finally, what are some strategies that stuck out to you from the Healthy gender development and young children: A guide for early childhood programs and professionals (Links to an external site.) and your textbook that would be appropriate to use in your early childhood education (ECE) classroom to minimize gender stereotypes. Please cite and reference the strategies discussed.