The Australian Victoria region government has announced that it plans to introduce its respect relations program for preschoolers into schools as a way to treat and prevent sexist behaviors. This program (which is already taught to adolescents in institutes) aims to address more broadly those issues related to family violence, as well as develop the social capacities of young people and promote respect in their relationships.
The rationale for extending this program to kindergartens comes from an official document stating that when young children begin to understand gender, they can acquire sexist values, beliefs and attitudes that could result in disrespect and inequality of gender. Can children at those ages be sexist? At what age do they begin to be aware of gender differences and what makes them behave differently?
At what age are children aware of their gender?
Researchers have shown that with one year (and in some studies as soon as three months) boys show clear preferences for toys corresponding to their gender (for example, trucks for boys and dolls for girls). This is something that happens both if they have only been exposed to non-sexist toys and if they have had equal access to "boys" and "girls" toys.
Does this mean that with three months babies are already aware of their gender?
Do not. Up to three years children are not aware of gender identity at a general level because for them it is a very vague concept.
At that age, it is not uncommon for boys to be still confused about gender: for example, a girl may think that when she is older she will be a man or a boy may turn to her mother in masculine.
However, the emergence of this type of basic gender identity helps us explain why when they are three years old children prefer to play with friends of the same sex and participate in stereotypical games of its kind.
The researchers suggest that it is something that helps them understand the differences between the sexes and be aware that they "fit" better with one sex than the other.
Gender constancy (the fact that understanding that being a man or a woman is a fixed personal attribute) does not fully develop until six or seven years.Gender constancy is part of cognitive development (as is the case with the compression of other abstract concepts such as gender), as well as the fact of understanding the social expectations of their behavior, something that psychologists call “socialization "
Expectations and gender differences?
Few people would believe that with their stereotypes they have managed to influence children in terms of their behavior and their games, but children are more about doing what they see than doing what they are told.
The children mimic the behavior of the most important behavioral models of their lives: their parents, their caregivers and their teachers.
This is something that manifests itself clearly when the model is the same sex: girls are more likely to imitate the behaviors of women and boys those of adult men.
Therefore, even if we tell them things like: "Girls can do anything boys can do too," if they have never seen their mother fixing the car, the words will not have much impact.
It is not that parents get up one day and decide that "today is the day when I make my son clear to my daughter gender expectations." It is something much less dramatic.
The truth is that yes we reinforce gender differences and expectations on a daily basis without pretending, through observation learning processes.
Think about your own experiences. How many of your actions have been based on the idea of gender? Take out the trash, iron and cook, etc.
Probably at the time there was no discussion in which these tasks were decided and ended up "becoming a habit" in your life. It is something that was never questioned as such and is the same thing that happens with gender expectations in children.
Children are exposed to gender differences and expectations since birth and over time this information is internalized and is part of their understanding of how the world works (the first time they begin to understand gender differences and expectations is at three years old).
Without realizing it, we encourage these gender behaviors when we approve those that are consistent with gender (such as when we praise a child if he does not cry when a wound is made) and when we condemn those who are not (such as when a girl is not usually encouraged to participate in physical contact games ).
This means that when they reach six or seven years and are already aware of gender constancy, they have also internalized gender differences and expectations.Children learn very very fast and sometimes we don't even realize their learning process.
To make it even more complicated, children filter information based on what makes sense in their head.
At three or four years, children see almost everything "white or black": things are either good or bad, or right or wrong. This means that for them the gender is simplified into “girl or boy” and they classify their world accordingly (for example, toys, clothes or activities).
If an adult, who has a more flexible way of thinking and does not see everything black or white, had thoughts of this style, he would be labeled sexist. On the other hand, for children of these ages, it is normal.
Itself, It is not a problem because it is a natural process of development. The problem comes when expectations about gender differences lead to gender inequality.
It has been shown that gender inequality increases the risk of gender violence.
Advocates argue that this is where the respect relations program makes sense.
To the provide an environment where gender equality is taught and explainedThey argue that ideas about gender differences can be changed to foster more respectful relationships towards others from an early age, reducing the risk of sexist and violent behavior in the future.
When educating four-year-olds on this subject, what they see is more important than what we tell them.
They do not need to know what sexism is: they will not understand it if our actions are not congruent.What is important is to foster respect for everyone else, without pathologizing the natural processes of development. It's fine for young boys to play with friends of the same sex and for boys to play with trucks and girls with dolls. It is not something sexist, it is a normal part of its growth.
So can sexist children be consciously?
The fact that a four-year-old girl or boy has a basic understanding of gender differences and expectations and behaves accordingly, it is not the same as deliberately participating in sexist behaviors. It simply reflects what you have seen and what you are able to understand.
The intention of these children is simply to make sense of the world around them and how they fit into it, they do not intend to harm or weaken the rest.
In a world in which actions speak louder than words, it is not what you say, but what you do, that will influence your child's gender expectations. Act in a way that promotes gender equality.
They may not know what sexist behavior is at four years of age, but in this way they will be less likely to behave sexistly when they are 14.
Author: Kimberley Norris, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tasmania.
This article has originally been published in The Conversation. You can read the original article here.
Photos | Pixabay, iStockphoto
In Babies and more | Sex education for children from 3 to 5 years: how to talk to children, Decalogue to choose non-sexist games and toys
