While Olivia and I have worked together, both of us have found that there are so many ways that gender stereotypes and gender oppression affect people around us constantly. Today at dinner we discussed the way that her employer divides the duties that are assigned to the employees by gender and the stereotypes that go with each gender. At her workplace, the boys must lift the heavy items and work in the butcher area while the girls must be cashiers and help organize the shelves. There are examples of gender stereotypes and gender oppression everywhere in our society, and looking to find it in young children and the way they are educated is interesting and individual, and based upon where we take the project, could make a lasting effect on the system of early education.
Going further with the project, Olivia and I have found that we would like to make a documentary about the issue of ignorance of children about gender stereotypes and relate it back to teachings from their schools rather than their home life. We have decided that, if possible, we would like to visit an elementary school class and see the way that the teachers and administrators speak to the young students and see if there is actually a promotion of gender stereotypes in the early education system. For the video, we would like to include multiple perspectives from multiple students using examples that they could relate to, rather than just asking them “Do you feel restricted by gender stereotypes in your school?” We have decided to ask questions like “Do moms stay home or do dads stay home?” and “What sports do you think that girls should play?” and reverse the question when addressing each gender. While this is a huge expectation and goal, Olivia and I feel that it can be made possible and will make our documentary much more effective, because people will be able to SEE the issue at hand.
