Re:You Can Give a Boy a Doll, but You Can't Make Him Play Wi...
by irahul on Tuesday December 11, 2012 @12:13PM
(#4905436)
> Gender-variant behaviour should be tolerated instead of being discouraged.
I never contended that. I said the same thing when I said elsewhere that all attempts to eradicate differences are not only misguided, they are dangerous. People are different and should be allowed to be different. We should embrace the differences.
Gender bias is present in our society along with the pressure to conform to gender stereotypes. Boys who play with dolls are often bullied by other boys and are socially rejected by their peers. Girls who don't dress the right way are bullied by other girls and are also socially rejected by their peers. In adult life, men who chose careers such as nursing are chastised for it by members of both genders. Women who chose professional careers are pressured forgo their careers to have children, again, by the members of both genders. To those who take gender-variant roles, this is a problem.
While there is a problem, some overreact to it trying to treat gender-conforming behaviour as a disease; as this example in the article:
That is not a reasonable solution. Gender-variant behaviour should be tolerated instead of being discouraged. The article's conclusion agrees: Postscript: Anyone engaged in the debate of gender bias and gender stereotypes should be aware of both their own and other's social biases[1].[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biases_in_judgment_and_...;