Gender Role Stereotyping
is exactly what it sounds like. This type of stereotyping is one of the most common that occurs in the adolescent society setting. Students can be generalized into two different groups, male and female, then be stereotyped accordingly.
While the most common forms of Gender Role stereotyping occur against male and female students, transgender students are often some of the most victimized students of this type of stereotyping. Classmates and even teachers get confused about the expectations of these students due to the normalized idea of specific roles based on gender.
Gender Role stereotyping can have many negative effects on students including influence on their classroom performance and their feelings of
Possible Gender Role Stereotyping examples
Picture this.....Physical Education Class
Imagine a scenario where you have a male and female student mix in a physical education classroom. The physical education teacher makes comments regularly concerning a particular female student's ability to play football while in gym class.
The female student adamantly protests that she wants to try playing football with the other male students in the class and doesn't understand why she wouldn't be allowed.
The physical education instructor responds with statements such as, "Why don't you play hopscotch or volleyball with the rest of the girls?" or "Sweetheart, I wouldn't want you to get hurt playing with the boys."
In this situation the physical education teacher has determined that because of this students biological sex, that being female, she will be less likely to be able to play a sport that is stereotyped as predominantly male oriented.
English Class
As a male student sits in English class awaiting the return of his graded narrative paper, he waits anxiously to see his grade. He spent lots of time on this paper and really feels as though it is one of his best pieces of writing.
The paper is returned to him with a large F on the top of the page. The comment written underneath the grade says, "You shouldn't cheat on assignments! I KNOW this is not your writing. REDO!"
The student approaches the teacher and asks why he received such a poor grade and tries to explain that he did not cheat on the assignment and that the writing was his own. The teacher responds by saying the writing was too "girly" and too descriptive. That there was no way a boy could write something so detailed and emotional.
In this scenario the male student is being stereotyped as incapable of being a descriptive, emotional writer because of his biological sex. This relates back to the idea that men should hide their emotions to show toughness and should not be successful at writing.
WANT TO KNOW MORE??
Click the button for an article describing ten ways to challenge gender stereotyping in the classroom. Be brave enough to break the status quo of defined gender norms in your classroom!
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Check out this article that suggests a possible link between bullying and gender characteristics. The study explores the idea that there is a correlation between masculine features and one's perceived likeliness to partake in bullying related activities. Are boys more likely than girls to bully those around them?