Gender stereotyping
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/997756--gender-stereotyping5/28/11
A baby is born as a beautiful being with a whole world of possibilities in front of him or her and, almost immediately, the prison walls come down. Half of that world is taken away from you based on your sex. This doesn't only hurt the girls — boys who are sensitive, wish to play with dolls, have long hair, or dress up suffer judgment as well.
How can anyone explore who they really are and who they wish to be in this climate? Do little girls really love pink, or is it just driven down their throats from day one by a massive toy marketing machine?
We do our best to counter this in our house, but it's an uphill battle. We have never purchased a Barbie or princess item, but they constantly come in as gifts. We haven't been able to convince my 6-year-old that the reason she can't play with guns is because they are violent, not because she's a girl and these are "boy toys." We deal with it as best we can with lots of age-appropriate conversations about individuality, stereotyping, sexism and homophobia as issues come up.
