Talking to kids about gender stereotypes

Goals

Break down gender stereotypes seen in the various media you explore with your students ;
Follow some general recommendations to keep in mind and to make sure you are able to talk about it on a daily basis, as the opportunities come up.
Talking to kids about gender stereotypes

Brief description of the issue

Images of men and women in the media are often based on stereotypical roles of males and females in our society. Because stereotyping can affect how children feel about themselves, how they relate to others, and the school retention, it’s important that they learn to recognize and understand gender stereotypes in different media.

Media Smarts is an initiative from Canada’s Centre for digital and media literacy that provides teachers and educators with resources to help them develop children’s media literacy and critical thinking in front of various media. They produced a tip sheet that can help teachers talk with students about the different representations of men and women they see, and look for non-stereotypical portrayals of men and women when preparing activities involving various media.

You can download the tip sheet directly on Mediasmarts’ website or in the Documents section below.

Document

Tip Sheet - Talking to Kids about Gender Stereotypes
File size: 315 KB (application/pdf)