~ Jocelyn Kao
English Teacher, International Department
English Teacher, International Department
Gender stereotypes affect different aspects of our lives. We start to experience the influence of gender stereotypes from a very young age. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that gender stereotypes have an impact on children’s behavior, academic achievements, and aspirations. For that reason, it’s crucial for students these days to recognize gender stereotypes and their impact on our lives.
The earlier we can empower children with the belief that strength has nothing to do with gender, the better prepared all students will be for their future. To accomplish this goal, we developed an Achieve Writing activity titled “Strength Has No Gender.”
The goal of this Achieve Writing was to raise the public awareness of the serious impact of gender stereotyping. Students were prompted to submit a letter to Kang Chiao Spotlight in hopes of informing the public about specific gender-stereotyped situations and, furthermore, encouraging those who are experiencing these situations.
Recognizing Stereotypes and Biases in Everyday Life
By reading the story “Ana and Soccer'', students recognized that some personality traits and professions were often associated with certain genders. Since these generalized views are so common in our lives, many gender-stereotyped situations go unnoticed. Even students as young as our fifth graders already express biased beliefs based on gender. Through class discussions about these situations, students not only recognized their own stereotypes of the opposite gender, but also realized how big the impact of these preconceptions is on their lives. Having experienced gender stereotypes themselves, students were then motivated to inform the public so that we can all overcome them.
Developing a Convincing Argument
In order to raise the public’s awareness, students’ goal was to raise people’s awareness on how harmful gender stereotypes can be and to present their arguments effectively. Drawing examples from their daily lives, students used common gender-stereotyped situations to show the seriousness of their impacts. In a collaborative writing activity, students learned the value of ordering ideas into paragraphs according to their importance. They realized that beginning persuasive writing with a strong claim is critical in making a strong impact on readers.
With the aim of making their claims more convincing, students also learned to distinguish between strong and weak evidence, and they practiced utilizing stronger evidence such as data and facts to support their claims. Lastly, they employed the use of transition words and phrases to help the writing flow more smoothly and read more coherently between sentences. Through this Achieve Writing, students practiced how to state their claims clearly and structure arguments logically.
Empower Yourself, Empower Others, and Make a Difference
In summary, students explored different gender-stereotyped situations. Some of them talked about how women make up a majority of educators, some explored the causes of unequal pay between men and women, and some discussed the effects of stereotypes on career choices. No matter the topic, this writing helped students see how seemingly insignificant views and preconceptions can seriously affect people’s lives. One effect of this task we have seen is that students have become more empathetic towards other people’s experiences after realizing they themselves have also been affected by stereotypes.
A world without gender stereotypes is a world in which everyone, no matter their gender, is free to express their talents and pursue their dreams. Hopefully, through this Achieve Writing, our students are now empowered and are ready to take part in making the world a place free of stereotypes and biases.
Speaking Out Against Stereotypes
★ Bella Chen 陳綠晴 505
Dear Editor,
In our daily life, we observe many examples of gender stereotypes. For example, people expect girls to stay home and do household chores. My research shows that people think girls should do more cleaning because girls are tidier and more organized. Another piece of evidence shows that people think girls should stay home and do household chores because girls can’t do hard work like being a businessman or firefighter. Those people feel that doing household chores is simple and easy. On average, girls spend about 21 hours doing household chores per week. This evidence shows that this traditional idea that girls should stay home and do household chores is still around us.
We want women in the world to be free, so we want to see some changes. We want girls to have the freedom to choose whether they want to stay home and do household chores or go to work. According to my research, there are successful businesswomen who earn more money than men do. Girls should have freedom to choose which jobs they want to do. Another piece of evidence shows that girls can have jobs that help the community, such as being a firefighter. If girls have the freedom to choose which jobs they want, they won’t feel that they must do household chores and can’t do jobs that they want.
The next time you see someone laughing at girls wanting to be a firefighter or another dangerous job, you can tell that person that girls should have the freedom to choose the job they want. You can also tell the girl who is being laughed at that she is doing the right thing by choosing the job she wants to do. Encourage her not to give up her dream job just because some people don’t understand. She can have freedom just like everyone else.
Sincerely,
Bella Chen
★ Annabelle Chiu 邱予婕 503
Dear Editor,
Isn’t it so unfortunate that some people still treat girls or boys poorly because they don’t act according to their ascribed gender roles? People around the world still think traditionally about how women or men should behave. One specific example that I feel very strongly about is how people think women should do all the housework and stay at home instead of going to work. According to my research, 93.2% of women in the United States do more housework than men do. One time, I even saw my friend's mom do the dishes and mop the floor during our sleepover. It is so unfair.
How can we make sure people treat women and men more equally? It is important that men also share the responsibility of doing the household chores. Research shows that a happy marriage should be fair and doing the chores should depend on who has the time. If men and women split the chores and do them equally, they will have more time to spend together, and it will be better for their relationship.
Another piece of information that I researched is that while we encourage women to do chores, we rarely encourage men to do them. Men should also do chores because some women want to go out and work too. They may want to provide a service for the community or country, but they are forced to be stay-at-home moms. While men are busy working, women are busy cooking or doing chores. Have you ever wondered if it was the other way around? Maybe the world would be a better place if men and women shared the household duties.
The next time you see someone being gender stereotyped, you can tell the offenders that it is very wrong. You can tell the offenders that their hurtful words can wreck the victim’s self-esteem. The victims might not seem affected by the mistreatment, but they probably feel insecure and sad deep down. Another decent thing for you to do is to comfort the victim and tell them that being different and unique makes them stand out! Some women want to go out and work, and some men want to stay home and do chores. I hope we can all make some new modern rules about gender, and make the world a better place together!
Respectfully yours,
Annabelle Chiu
★ Bruce Yang 楊世宇 508
Dear Editor,
After some teachers' classes, students sighed and sighed. Why is it that in some classes, boys can’t have the rights to be treated equally? Do people think boys are more robust (stronger and healthier), but their scores are worse? I don’t understand! Some teachers believe that they should treat girls better because they are quieter, but that makes boys unhappy. In fact, some teachers even treat boys more strictly, and it is very unfair! I will share some of my experiences.
It is unfair to let boys have fewer rights than girls. According to my experience, I once saw a boy playing in class, then the teacher was angry and punished the boy. However, when some girls were playing in class, the teacher only reminded the girls nicely. It is very unfair to boys if some teachers keep on doing this. Besides, according to our team’s research on BBC News, ”girls behave better in class and this influences how teachers perceive their work. But it also reveals that teachers can be biased towards giving girls higher results than boys, even when they have produced the same quality of work.”
I also have some experience to share from athletic training. I’m one of the school swimming team members. When we are training together, the coach always gives us the same high-intensity training. No matter whether we are boys or girls, we all achieve our own goals. We start the training together, and we take our rest at the same time. Girls are treated the same as boys. In our world, we are all the same kind of people, and everyone should be treated fairly.
Groups including girls and boys should respect each other. We shouldn’t practice any discrimination or make others feel bad because of their gender. If we respect all genders, the world would be more equal and fair, and everyone will feel better!
Sincerely,
Bruce
★ Joanne Hsu 徐家安 502
Dear Editor,
In the world, there are many people who think that boys should have more opportunities to choose their own job, but girls shouldn’t. Have you noticed that? Girls and boys are both people, but their opportunities are different. Boys can often choose their own job, but girls need to listen to their parents instead of choosing by themselves. Have you ever thought about this difference? Let me explain this problem to you!
Girls should have the same opportunities to get whatever jobs they want, just like boys! According to the information on the website Zippia, we can see that 16.4% of professional athletes are women and 83.6% of professional athletes are men. But why are more boys athletes than girls? The reasons are simple but strange, some people think that boys can do more than girls, and boys are also stronger than girls, so they discriminate! However, the truth is that girls can do anything that boys can do!
I also found that 33.4% of bosses are women and 66.6% of bosses are men. Why are there fewer female bosses than males? Some people may think girls are not qualified enough to have better job positions, and won’t promote women to high positions. They think that boys are better than girls in unfair ways. For example, that boys should be in charge of business work and girls should be in charge of house chores without as many opportunities as boys.
I feel so disappointed when I see someone discriminate against others. I think it’s very rude and unfair. What can we do to stop more people discriminating against girls? When we see discrimination, we can tell people to talk fairly to women who have been discriminated against. If we don’t discriminate against girls, and respect them, it can help the world become better.
Sincerely,
Joanne