Introduction
In March Women’s History is celebrated. As a social worker and Latina woman who works with girls and women of all ages, I consider this to be an important topic to further explore and to learn. The social construct of gender roles starts at an early age. When I was 19 years old, I worked as a Spanish preschool teacher. I recall observing 3-4 year olds and noticed that the boys would immediately play with legos and cars while the girls played in the kitchen pretending to make food. I recall I found this fascinating because these young pre-school age students had a clear definition of their gender roles. However, when this happens, then it is an open opportunity for gender stereotypes to form. This limits the career options and interests for both sexes. These limitations create long-term negative consequences on how women view themselves, acquire equal pay, and gain professional growth.
Gender Stereotypes
When I do counseling with young girls in private practice or in my school setting as a school social worker, I often show them the Dove Commercial videos to start conversations related to empowerment and gender stereotypes. From my conversations with girls, I have noticed that they learn at a young age about the subtle insults that society creates about women. This has a negative impact on their self-esteem and how they view themselves within society. Therefore, it is important to empower girls to break away from invisible boxes that society puts them in due to stereotypes.
Empower Girls & Women
At a young age, girls are taught that it is impolite to be too confident. As a result of this, women shy away from jobs that are in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which are seen as male dominated fields. However, the women who do enter the fields of STEM tend to have challenges sharing their ideas in a group setting and accepting praise. Often times, women will minimize their knowledge in a group to not come off as aggressive.
Women Need to Engage in Positive Self-Talk
As a woman, I am guilty of minimizing my abilities and knowledge in a group setting. When I was a young girl, I recall being more extroverted, then as I became a pre-teen my personality changed to be more timid and doubtful of my decisions. Now as a 33 year old woman, I have finally re-learned to not allow society’s boxed expectations of women to disempower me. My number one coach who has helped me to become a stronger woman has been my mother, Maria. Therefore, parents, educators, therapists, or other folks who work with women have a key role in ensuring that they teach strategies to breakaway from gender stereotypes. Girls and women of all ages need to be empowered to become strong and confident leaders.
Developing A Strong Primary Group
All humans are social creatures who need social interaction in order to explore and navigate life successfully. Therefore, it is crucial for women to develop a strong and positive primary group. The primary group consists of closest family members (e.g., spouses, children, parents, etc.) and friends; all members within a primary group need to nourish the dreams and goals of women in the group. This will allow women to develop a better sense of self-efficacy. Additionally, men spouses or partners need to embrace the potentials of the women in their primary group and to develop a team mentality to allow women to grow and to have a positive long-term relationship. When I see couples in a therapy setting, I like to share with men that Dr. John Gottman stated that if men want a strong relationship, then they need to know the dreams and aspirations of women and help to nourish them.
Parenthood Should Be A Shared Role Between Men & Women
As a therapist, I have observed that women are experiencing burnout at a rapid pace and the pay disparity between men and women continues to be discrepant due to child care (Watch the video below to learn about this topic). The role of parenthood and household chores need to be evenly split in order for there to be significant change in the US in the pay gap. When there is a better balance of workloads within the home and outside the home, then this creates better communication, stability, and a harmonious living environment.
Conclusion
This short blog is meant to provide further insight on the role of women in the 21st century. To sum up, women need to be empowered to break glass ceilings. Representation of women in STEM professions is needed to make growth as a society. The gender stereotypes can negatively impact women’s self-esteem. Therefore, the role of primary groups is to support and empower women in their inner circle. Lastly, there needs to be a change on the expectations of parenthood in order to minimize the possible wage gaps that occur over time. Workplaces need to equally provide men with the appropriate paternity leaves to rebuild the expectations of parenthood for men and women in the United States. Significant growth has been made since women were first allowed to vote in the 1920s, but there is still room for more growth.