Chapter 1: Give every child the best start in life
Chapter 1: Give every child the best start in life
Gender inequality begins before a baby is born, creating a lifelong cycle of inequality through behaviours, attitudes and actions that society feels are appropriate, or inappropriate, for a woman or man, girl or boy. Gender inequality is often rooted in cultural norms and traditions. These social norms are neither static nor universal and in fact, change over time.
Some social norms are positive, such as children should not smoke and babies and children should always be in a car seat when being driven. However, there are other social norms that lead to inequality.
For example, girls are more likely to carry out household chores compared with boys; girls and women spend more time on unpaid caring roles and domestic work; men and boys are more likely to pursue physically demanding jobs. Despite some attempts to tackle differences in the gender split for school subjects, cultural expectations mean there are still gender based differences which ultimately lead to different career choices in later life.
Children are aware of, and actively engage in gender stereotypes from an early age with most starting to show their gender identity at around two to three years of age.
They may do this by choosing certain toys, colours and clothes that seem to appeal more to girls or boys, decisions which are often reinforced by parents and family members and certainly by the toy, publishing and clothing industries, which potentially limit children's interests by promoting their products by gender. Gender roles and gender norms are proven to disproportionately affect girls.
Gender norms: Standards and expectations to which women, girls, men and boys generally conform, within a range that defines a particular society, culture and community at that point in time European Institute for Gender Equality. (European Institute for Gender Equality. (2022). Glossary and Thesaurus.)
Gender roles: Behaviours, attitudes and actions that society feels are appropriate or inappropriate for a man or women, boy or girl, according to cultural norms and traditions Save The Children. (Save the Children. (2022). Gender roles can create lifelong cycle of inequality)
By challenging gender norms, we can help promote positions of social and political influence for women and girls in our communities and address the power inequities. Every child in Gateshead, regardless of gender, deserves an equal chance to survive and thrive, and that begins during pregnancy and throughout their early years.