Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation
Gender, Gender Identity, and
Sexual Orientation
Children start to formulate ideas about
sexual identity as young as 3 years of age and they attach certain attitudes
and behaviors to what toys should be played with for boys versus girls
(Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). Universally
gender anatomy is viewed as the same but the designated roles that males and
females associate can differ culture to culture (Derman-Sparks & Edwards,
2010). Early childhood teachers should
encourage children to explore freely in the classroom without gender biases in
order to become emotionally and academically prepared for the world (Derman-Sparks
& Edwards, 2010).
·
Your response to those who believe that early childhood centers
should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such
as same-sex partnered families:
The family structures are rapidly changing in the US and the early
childhood field needs to be welcoming to all diverse families gay, heterosexual,
and lesbian in order to uplift children.
Classrooms should have books that portray diverse families in order to
show validation to the children that it is perfectly fine to come from a
diverse family (Laureate Education, n.d.).
When teachers have an open discussion about sexual orientation in the
classroom it opens the students’ mind to universal acceptance.
·
If you have ever used or heard homophobic terms such as
"fag," "gay," "homo," "sissy,"
"tom boy," or "lesbo" as an insult by a child toward
another child? Or, by an adult toward a child? Describe what occurred. How might
these types of comments influence all children?
I remember several years ago when I had a little boy in my classroom that
loved to put on a pink hat and play with dolls.
When his mother would come into the classroom she would demand that he
remove the hat because she did not want a “sissy” and she would also fill the
same way about him playing with doll. I
explained to her that he was just practicing his parenting skills and learning
how to be a caring father. After a while
the boy would sneak to play with a doll and to wear his favorite hat until one
day he stopped playing with both items because ultimately he wanted to please
his mother. There were also teachers at
the same school who would talk about my student in a negative way because he
liked pink hats and dolls. So while
parents need to be educated about anti-bias play, some teachers also need to be
educated about the anti-bias classroom so they will not perpetuate such bias
and harmful attitudes that stifle our children.
References
Derman-Sparks,
L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children
and
ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC
Laureate
Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start
seeing diversity: Sexual orientation [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu