In light of recent events, I’ve started hearing arguments (from both men and women) that women have achieved equality and need to “stop complaining.” Everyone apparently knows that girls are brilliant already. I’ve also been informed that “men controlling women” isn’t a common theme that exists outside of my own “echo chamber” and that women can officially do anything they want to. I realize that research has also lost popularity as of late, but as a researcher, I will continue to publish research-based information.
Gender Stereotypes Start Young
In the midst of the arguments this past week, a study was published looking at 6-year-olds. In the first part of the study, children were told a story about a character that was “really, really smart.” They were then shown pictures of 2 men and 2 women and told to identify which one they thought was the protagonist of the story. 5-year-old girls and boys (not yet school-aged) were just as likely to choose a boy or a girl as a protagonist to the story (and likely to lean toward identifying the protagonist as themselves–girls would choose a girl, boys would choose a boy). 6-year-olds, however, were not. The study states: “Despite [the] strong tendency to view one’s gender in a positive light, girls aged 6 and 7 were significantly less likely than boys to associate brilliance with their own gender.”
