Let’s consider an example.
The Dress-Up Scenario
Children of all genders enjoy playing dress up — whether it’s for Halloween, a theme party, or to re-enact a scene from their favourite movie or comic book.
Activity: The Daughter's Costume
Take a moment to consider how you might feel if your daughter (or hypothetical daughter) wanted to dress up like her favourite male comic book hero for Halloween — Batman!
How would you react?
Activity: The Son's Costume
Now let's consider the reverse: take a moment to consider how you might feel if your son (or hypothetical son) wanted to dress up like his favourite female comic book hero for Halloween — Wonder Woman or Sailor Moon!
How would you react?
Activity: Noticing the Difference
People often have different feelings in response to the boy's request versus the girl's. What did you notice about yourself when you did this exercise?
- If you felt differently about the daughter's request versus the son's, take a moment to think about why this might be.
- If you didn't, take a moment to reflect on why someone else might.
The Gender Hierarchy in Action
Perhaps you thought about the gender binary and gender hierarchy. The unequal treatment of "dress up" is a great example of how the gender binary isn't just divided ("this versus that"), but also a hierarchy ("this is better than that").
As a result, when girls and women are masculine, society can be a bit more accepting — because masculinity and manhood are glorified and seen as something worth achieving. Women and femininity, on the other hand, are seen as a "step down," not something worthy of having or being, and sometimes even something worth making fun of (Serano, 2007)…
Even though we all have the capacity to be feminine!
Learn More
What costumes do we feel comfortable with when it’s dress up time for our kids?
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