Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council – Posting #32

 Hi, this is Christy Fieber again from Volunteer Muskegon's AmeriCorps.  

I was recently serving in a local high school’s after-school program.  Since the school year ended, I am now serving in the agency through which the program was facilitated.  Since being here, I have created a workshop for youth focused on bullying and gender differences.  The workshop discusses how, at as early as age two, children are able to recognize “gender specific toys.”  For girls, they are over-sexualized dolls that teach young girls how they should look in order to be accepted.  For boys, it is “action figures” that teach masculinity, power, and anger.  We discuss how these types of toys teach children they should fit a very specific role, and if they do not fit it, they don’t belong.  This may seem trivial or irrelevant to youth, but in fact, studies have shown that we hold onto those images into adulthood.  

While administering the workshop, a 13-year-old boy said if he found his friend playing with a Barbie Doll, then “he would catch the gay.”  I was absolutely mystified by the comment!  The rest of the group followed with many concurring comments.  They shouted how they would make fun of that boy, they would call him a “sissy,” a “pansy,” “gay,” and many more that are perhaps just as offensive to women as they are to young boys.  

Throughout the five-week workshop, we also discussed how much influence the media has on these stereotypes.  They reinforce the role of women as sex objects, being nurturing, and having the burden in these times of not only taking care of the house and kids, but now a modern woman is also responsible for holding down a nine to five job.  The students discussed how if their fathers were the ones to grocery shop or vacuum, then they would no longer see him as a “man.”  These types of notions may seem archaic, but indeed they still exist.  They are the main force behind bullying and harassment among our youth.  

It is the goal of this workshop to address the problem in hopes a solution will follow - or at the least, we will begin to modify our behavior in recognition of its cause.  After facilitating this workshop many times, I now realize this is a goal of life for youth and adults alike.