Many times, unconsciously, we apply a gender role to objects or behaviors, with limitations that only exist in our minds. This can harm them in many ways, since we are tending to hang other added labels that are dangerous for their self-esteem and therefore, for their proper development as people.
It is true that there are numerous studies that differentiate the trends of boys and girls in many ways, here we will talk about them and explain the probable causes of these differences.
Let's talk about behavioral trends
We have always heard that boys are more aggressive than girls, which is attributed to the secretion of testosterone in the brains of boys and serotonin, the hormone that inhibits this aggressiveness, in the brains of girls. However, it is a fact that sex is not the only determining factor in the secretion of these hormones, much less of these behaviors.
What is demonstrable is that socially it is more accepted that boys are more aggressive and girls are more calm and restrained. Behaviors in which children compete and create competitions in sports disciplines are rewarded.
The girls are expected to be patient spectators and to cheer on the boys in competitions, without being interested in participating in them.
They are behaviors that parents and the social environment unconsciously promote. We demand from each gender different things without realizing it and that makes them develop differently.
Brain development and social stimulation
Brain development has its most developmental stage between the prenatal period and 5 years of age. In that space of time, the largest volume of neurogenesis and synapses are produced that will occur throughout life. That is, when more neurons are created and connected. It is a demonstrable fact that neurogenesis and synapses occur throughout life and that they are essential processes for learning.
It is true that hormonal processes influence brain processes that we just mentioned, but so do environmental factors, such as the social environment. By this we mean that what is perhaps attributed to biochemical processes, can be attributed in the same way to behaviors learned or stimulated from the outside. In fact synaptic connections will occur depending on the stimuli to which the child is exposed.
A clear example of what the social, and even aesthetic factor can influence in the development of the child is that it is understood that boys develop earlier in this sense and that they are more courageous and determined than girls.
Then we see the girls wearing their cute dresses and we see that they cannot crawl without stepping on their skirts and falling flat on the ground, so it is much more difficult to develop their correctness correctly. motor skills on the same level as someone who wears more comfortable clothes for it.
Also it is more difficult to be brave and determined if it is a behavior that is not reinforced, due to this "instinct" of protection that we have as a learned social behavior, understanding that girls are "the weaker sex", for reasons that have more to do with the gender role attributed to women than due to real physical circumstances , in many cases.
What is the weaker sex?
On the basis that it has been shown that men have a lower pain threshold than women, who nevertheless bear the pain of childbirth and even of several, it is difficult to establish which is really the weaker sex.
It is true that hundreds of years of evolution make muscle power develop more in males than in femalesIn the same way that in other animals certain physical attributes develop more according to the role that they have to assume in nature. But we are supposed to be rational animals and have passed the stage of living in caves and men hunting, while women feed and protect the young.
The fact is that today there is diversity between both genders. It is a mistake to say that men are stronger, when you see, for example, a single mother act as mother and father, work and take care of the home. It is also true to say that women are more artistic and sensitive when you see men dancing ballet, without the need for them to have any problem with their gender.
Generalizations that damage self-esteem
It is not only harmful to the self-esteem of girls that we generalize understanding that they will be weaker, slower or less capable in general for the simple fact of belonging to the female sex. That they are required to be smarter than a man to perform the same task and more careful with their image, if this wasn't enough.
It is also harmful to the children's self esteem that they are attributed sexual tendencies different from the one they feel for showing unusual tendencies in the role that is socially assigned to their gender. If you play with dolls, you don't have to become gay, but you can become a great parent. with the right reinforcement.
your child can play with cars or dolls, no matter their gender.
This is why it is essential to educate them on equality. Each child is born with capacities, which are determined by their genetic condition, which do not have to be related to their sex. If we enhance the real capacities of each child, instead of tagging them by gender, we will achieve a diverse society, with healthier and happier individuals, achieving better personal and social development.