Female Identity in school - Research Paper Example

It is possible to consider the way the challenges are manifested at school, as this is one of the most important periods in a person’s life, the period of the individual’s personality formation. Halim and Ruble (2010) claim that yearly years are the most important for development of the gender identity. Stereotypes become a part of children’s life at early ages as well. Therefore, educators have to be careful when choosing materials to discuss and provide to learners. Aina and Cameron (2011) also underline the importance of handling the issue of stereotypes in early childhood education.

It is essential to make sure that young children develop unbiased worldview, which is free of stereotypes concerning gender. It is possible to start with the analysis of censorship concerning gender roles. It is noteworthy that similar issues can be traced in different countries of the world. Thus, the US education is characterized by certain censorship when it comes to gender education. Curwood, Schliesman and Horning (2009) note that the curriculum does not include discussion of ‘controversial’ issues.

Thus, when working with some literary works, educators deliberately avoid certain issues that are seen “an unsafe space” (Curwood et al., 2009, p. 38). In other countries, censorship can be much stricter. Thus, Morton (2013) stresses that censorship in education is used as a tool to form a society of people sharing certain values. In these societies, females are assigned inferior roles and are taught to be submissive. It is important to note that apart from censorship, media contribute significantly to development of bias and prejudice as well as stereotypes in the societies.

At this point, it is important to add that Hollywood and pop culture play central role in this process. Thus, Hollywood films create a specific image of a woman. For instance, women in science are depicted as females following latest fashion trends (Steinke, 2005). Even though female