This article will discuss gender stereotypes and their effect on children, as well as how gender stereotypes can be suppressed. Parents have a great influence on children and will influence how children see themselves, who they think they are, who they should be, how much they are worth, and what they can or cannot do in society. That's why parents can help break social norms and challenge the gender stereotypes imposed on us at birth. Gender stereotypes not only influence the roles we should take on in society, but also the possibilities we are given or not given in life that is primarily based on our gender. In recent times people are becoming more and more accepting of children being raised in a gender-neutral manner. It is becoming popular among celebrities and common people because of the opportunities and benefits that come when a child is labeled neither male nor female. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay A stereotype can be described as a generalization applied to a person or situation. Gender stereotypes are ingrained ideas about what behaviors are appropriate for both males and females. Common gender stereotypes may include: that it is not acceptable for males to show too much emotion and cry; that men are strong and aggressive; that females should be submissive and weak. Young people are very aware of the stereotypes applied to gender nowadays and will have started to accept some of them as truths applied and known by all. Rigid gender stereotypes greatly encourage inequality between both sexes and can lead children to expect and accept power imbalances within relationships and opportunities later in life. They can be accurate or inaccurate. Stereotypes can affect a person, place, thing or situation. Many people are affected, but the most affected are children. Of course both males and females and the effect can start as early as the age of five. This affects how people see others and also how they are judged. As mentioned above, this affects both males and females, but the effect is different for each gender, positive or negative. The gender stereotypes that are imposed on us at birth affect our life chances which are opportunities or possibilities: “children need to live in a world where all possibilities are open to them. They need to live without limitations and gender differences” (Gender stereotypes). Children's behavior and understanding of acceptable masculine and feminine qualities comes from the influence of their parents. Parents influence their children's views of gender and how they decide what it means to be a girl or a boy. Children are influenced by the roles parents take on inside and outside the home and by the language that is used with the children themselves. Additionally, how parents relate to other people such as friends and family can impact children's expectations regarding personal and non-personal relationships. In most societies, gender is constantly made salient and it is almost impossible to completely eliminate gender stereotypes. A child's growing sense of self, or self-concept, is the result of the multitude of ideas, attitudes, behaviors and beliefs that he or she has. to which it is exposed. The information surrounding the child and that the childinternalize comes to the child within the family arena through parent-child interactions, role modeling, reinforcement of desired behaviors, and parental approval or disapproval (Santrock, 1994). As children enter the larger world of friends and school, many of their ideas and beliefs are reinforced by those around them. Further reinforcement of acceptable and appropriate behavior is shown to children through the media, especially television. Through all these socialization agents, children learn gender-stereotypical behaviors. As children grow, these gender stereotypes become firmly held beliefs and therefore are part of the child's self-concept. There was a New York news article about why girls don't think they're good enough. Explain that two experiments took place and that ninety-six children participated and that there was an even split between boys and girls. For the first experiment, five-year-olds were told two stories. One story was about a really, really nice person and the other story was about a really, really smart person. By age five, children assigned their gender equally to the intelligent person. The second experiment was with six-year-olds and the same stories were told. Girls were less likely to associate intelligence history with their gender, and with sons the association remained the same (Why young girls). Overall and in the long term, gender stereotypes negatively affect children even if they cannot be seen. , “it is now established that gender stereotypes have a strongly negative impact on our children” (Gender Stereotyping). In a society full of gender stereotypes and prejudices, children regularly learn to adopt gender roles that are not always right for both sexes. As children move through childhood and adolescence, they are exposed to many factors that influence their attitudes and behaviors regarding gender roles. These attitudes and behaviors are generally learned first at home and then reinforced by the child's peers, school experience, and television viewing. However, the strongest influence on gender role development appears to occur within the family context, with parental deaths both overtly and covertly passing on their beliefs about gender to their children. This overview of the impact of parental influence on gender role development leads to the suggestion that an androgynous gender role orientation may be more beneficial to children than strict adherence to traditional gender roles. We should start breaking social "norms". A norm can be described as a fundamental rule of society that helps us know what is and is not appropriate to do in a situation. Norms evolve over time as social attitudes and expectations change. At a young age, children become segregated by gender and with this each child is more likely to follow their own gender stereotype because they will think that some options are closed to them because of their gender. If you encourage gender play, the chances of children falling into their stereotypes will decrease, “encourage their young children to socialize and play with boys and girls. This will help minimize the effects of gender segregation” (Gender Stereotypes). Another way to reduce the likelihood of gender stereotyping is to praise children by telling them they are a smart kid or a good boy instead of using gender-based phrases like "you're a good boy" and "you're a good boy.".