“Bias related to
sexual orientation, also called homophobia” (Laureate Education, n.d.). Heterosexism
in my own words is the strong beliefs people have that heterosexuality should pervade
in our society. I decided to observe a children’s TV. show and view children in
an early childhood setting for any stereotypes or biases related to sexual
orientation or gender roles. While watching the Sophia the First, I noticed
that the girl characters wore lots of pink and were very well mannered. Spoke
sofetly and seemingly nurturing and caring characters. I noticed the boy characters
were more dominate and wore darker colors. In the early childhood setting, I
noticed the boys seemed to only play with trucks, cars, and blocks. The girls
tended to be interested in dress-up and taking care of baby dolls. However,
there were some boys that did enjoy pretend play, but I did not seem them
interact so much with the dolls. It seems as if societal views on girl’s vs
boys have had some influence on our young children.
The “need to
validate all the kinds of families children are coming from” (Laureate Education,
n.d.) is the main reason early childhood educators should include classroom
materials that depict same-sex partnered families. I think we should remember,
as children we don’t get to choose the family we’re born into, so we could at
least acknowledge that these types of families do exist. It helps the child not
to feel bad or singled out because of the family that they were born into. For
parents that have strong feelings against homosexual or transgendered individuals
caring for their children. I would share the importance respecting differences
in others. Also to remember that we would not want to be singled out because of
choices we made in life, but maybe consider the child take part in the
classroom. If there are still any discomforts I would respect the parents’
choice and just place the child in another room.
I have heard the
term “tom boy” said to a little girl that likes to dress in pants, tennis
shoes, and shirts vs dresses and skirts. She preferred rough play and doing
more building in the block area. I think it may have caused the little girl to
start thinking she was different in some way, although she continued dressing
and playing the way she preferred.
References:
Video: Laureate
Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Sexual
orientation [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
