Gender sensitization: How to change the mindset

By Sudiksha Gupta

“Pink is for girls”, chirped a little girl in the toy store. “I can have a pink car if I want to”, argued her little brother. Their mother didn’t respond to their little fight. A moment later, the two siblings were yelling over the pink toy car, when their mother intervened, “Ruby, let your brother have want he wants. No color is meant for anybody”. “But Mummy, pink is for girls!”, the little one was adamant.

“Hmm, pink is for girls, blue is for boys, a rainbow is for…?”, asked their mother and Ruby went silent. Their mother smiled and repeated what she said earlier.

True. This is something that society has come to accept as “normal”, but in this world of extraordinary accomplishments, do we wish to define ourselves with something as trivial as colors? This is just the tip of the iceberg; gender stereotypes go way deep, from the mother being homemaker to the father being the breadwinner of the family, our society has made it almost impossible to think otherwise. That’s why when we see a working mother or a housemaker father, we have a puzzled look on our faces, it is this difficult to accept the reversal of roles.

The youth of today is very fluid and openly accepts all mindsets, opinions, and perspectives. The problem lies with the middle-aged population, the people who employ this youth, the people who guide and direct this youth. A little boy wearing nail paint would not be teased by his classmates, but he surely will be judged and questioned by the adults around him. If the guide himself is misguided, will he be able to show the right path to his followers?

We learn from our elders; we imitate our elders. If a boy saw his mother upset and tired from the day’s work and looking after him and his sister, while his father was watching cricket, munching on chips and him being a strong believer of “real men don’t cry”, what do you expect him to do later in life? In the same house, the little sister sees her mother doing all sorts of errands, cooking for the family of eight, and constantly being on the call for every one of them without giving herself a break, what do you think the little girl will grow up to believe?

Gender equality is a very misunderstood term; it is often perceived as one gender being greater, more accomplished than the other. This defeats the whole purpose of gender equality. Favoring the females, giving them perks because of their gender is NOT gender equality, it is just a scam. Gender equality is, very simply, not looking at the other person as male, female, or any other gender, but just acknowledging them as a human being. Giving everyone equal salaries, equal opportunities, an equal chance of growth and an equal chance to express their views is gender equality. Yes, it’s that simple.

Society often confuses this gender equality with female empowerment. For instance, a very basic observation, a girl in a family scores higher than her brother and is academically bright, and now she is immediately the apple of the eye, whereas her brother is automatically given less importance. The girl is now making her parents proud, while her brother is never the pride of the family. This is wrong on so many levels. As said by G.D. Anderson, “Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength”.

In order to glorify women, we cannot degrade the other genders, that is just the opposite of feminism and equality. Repressing one gender for the sake of uplifting another is the same as taking one step in the right direction but ending up in a puddle.

There is a lot to do if the world wants to welcome gender equality. A recent trend started where people let their daughters choose the color of toy she wanted, whether it was blue or pink. This is a great idea, but the same must be done with all children in all aspects that define a gender- clothes, hair, makeup, attitude, and behavior. The children are very delicate, like wet mud, they can be molded into anything. A caring, open environment from the beginning will lead to a bright future for the kid, the child will learn to be at peace with his/her wants.

Equality can be achieved with very tiny little changes in our lifestyle, here are some examples: The Govt. must lift the “Pink Tax” (it is a tax that is charged on products meant for everyone to use, but the packaging is made different for the targeted gender, example razors, shampoos, and other items of daily use), also, there must be no reservations for one specific gender if we aim to attain gender neutral environments, parents must let their children be free and choose their path in life, not just career-wise but also personality-wise, the youth must also be patient and understand the mindset of the past, fighting it won’t help, instead of making a point will.

Changing one person’s mindset is easy, changing the entire mankind’s mindset will be a huge achievement and quite difficult to attain. But as the saying goes, many a little makes a mickle, little by little, day by day, humanity will reach there. This will be a milestone in the path to breaking free from gender stereotypes.

By Sudiksha Gupta