Breaking gender stereotypes?
voicethisout Hi Anu. I keep seeing how you repost your messages and voice out many important topics. One that I am facing is I live in a country (away from India) where I have many great friends and a few of them are gay. My kid (3yr old) and my MIL (62 Yr old) do not understand these relationships.
Kids’ minds being a clean slate, I try to explain that it is ok. But the elders at home teach her that lipstick or makeup is only for girls, life partners should be of the opposite gender, and sometimes stereotype the toys as well. Boys should play with cars and girls should play with the cooking set or barbie dolls.
My kid is displaying conflicted behavior as she learns in school to break gender stereotypes and comes home to these conflicting statements. Should we not teach our kids to treat a person like a person by accepting their differences and not judging based on their sexual orientation? I understand that it is very difficult for someone who lived a lifestyle for 60yrs to change their perception.
But how right is it to pass on the bias to the next gen forcefully?