To be honest, I was struggling to figure out what to write my article about for this week. I couldn't think of anything so I was just gonna "bs" my way through this week's article, but then when I was at work today it hit me... I like to wear a lot of different colors, have two holes pierced in both my ears, and have roses tattooed on my body. To me and my friends this is a normal thing that no one really cares about. However, today at work and other days I have had children come up to me and ask me why I'm wearing "girl" colors like purple, or why I have a flower tattoo because "those are for girls," and I have even been told that only girls have their ears pierced. Naturally, I tell them that they are wrong and I explain to them why they are being rude when saying such things. I eventually ask them who told them that there are "girl" colors and that earrings are only for girls.They all tell me that their parents tell them these things. Now, here comes the rant.
I cannot believe that these gender roles are still a thing! We keep saying that our children are our future but the way children are being raised, to think that there have to be separate ideals for girls and boys, I worry for what the future will be. However, I cannot blame children for sticking to gender roles. I do blame the parents that enforce these gender roles. They teach their children that boys must be rough and tough while girls must be dainty and are not looked at as tough as the boys. Don't get me wrong, I see kids pick the gender specified toy all the time when given the choice and I see kids pick the toy that is for the opposite gender quite often too. This is more than that; this is about the simple things like color that we are putting gender roles on. Since when did purple become a color only girls wear?
My rant is almost over as I pretty much covered all of the crazy gender roles that are being taught to children. I just wanted to write this article to express my thoughts during the time it takes me to process a response to the kid telling me that only girls can have earrings or flower tattoos. Everything I get asked or told isn't a bad experience though. Sometimes I actually get the children to realize that everywhere they go, there will be guys with their ears pierced, girls playing in dirt and mud, boys playing with barbies and even girls playing with action figures. It's funny to think that me just talking to them for a couple of minutes would actually do anything, but I hope maybe when they get older they won't think the same way they do now. I also know that this article is all opinion and my experiences with kids are completely different from your opinions or experiences. I really just couldn't think of a topic for this weeks article, so why not rant about something?
