Gender is damaging- worldwide proof!
- Jo G.
- Oct 9, 2017
- 2 min read

A worldwide study on the effects of gender has taken place. The summary being that the gender roles we put in place from birth results in mental and physical harm. The desire to keep girls protected leads them to become vulnerable. The idea that all males are predators leads them to violence.
You could say it's only one study, but, where usually gender difference studies are carried out on a small set of people, this time 1,400 people were tested.
You could then say gender difference is biologcal, not enforced, but there is also recent brain research that summarises only 3% of brains could be deemed fully 'male' or fully 'female', meaning the female and male difference is not big enough for us to effectively live by a different set of rules.
So how damaging are these differences? Very is the answer from the four year Global Early Adolescent Study produced with the WHO that talked to 450 children aged 10 to 14 from fifteen countries. It found that from a young age children internalise that girls are vulnerable and boys are independent. Pubertal boys are viewed as predators and girls as potential targets and victims.
Young girls being seen as potential targets leads to the need to be 'protected' meaning being kept closer to home and paradoxically being harmed if they did not obey. They learn to be subservient and this learned behaviour leads to higher risks of physical and sexual harm, early pregnancy etc. Young girls also talked of a constant emphasis on their physical appearance and had been taught that their bodies were their key asset.
Young boys engage more in and are the victims of physical violence; die more frequently from unintentional injurie, have a shorter life expectancy, and are more prone to substance abuse and suicide. Both genders also noted it was much harder for boys to exhibit behaviour that went against masculine gender norms.
The authors concluded that interventions to stop gender stereotyping need to happen, and at an early age because by 10 it can be too late. This is backed up by another study of 400 children that found from age 6 gender stereotypes had already influenced thinking.
How to intervene is up for discussion. I have seen some conclude that interactions should be within each gender. My problem with this is that it still seperates half the population from the other as if we are too different to change together. We also see that the gendered behaviours arising out of gender stereotypes directly affects, and harms, the other. The report also noted that the young boys and girls missed being able to have friendships like they did pre-puberty.
To me the only way for children and young people to question and move on from gendered stereotypes is for the interventions or curriculums to be taught together. This stops gender bias creeping in and enables them to support each other in resisting stereotypes and becoming confident and assertive in their unique personalities.
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