When Filipino’s are born they automatically are expected to assume a specific role. When a child is in his/her 2-3 years of age, we start to determine what is their gender identity. A girl starts to like playing dolls, and a boy starts to play cars or robots. When we are still a kid, we often hear people say “you’re a girl, you should behave properly” or “you’re a boy you shouldn’t cry” even though they know that it’s normal for a kid to cry regardless of their gender. They often have the most impact on gender stereotyping because as they grow old, they hold on to this belief that for example, for girls, the color that is suitable for them is pink and for boys, it should be blue. And in that instance, they can’t have freedom to choose what they want.
Children are generally exposed, at a very young age, in some children’s movies and television programs that are portrayed in a gender-stereotypical way. For instances, in “Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs”, it clearly shows that man are obviously hopeless and needs a woman to lead or take care of them or simply, a man can’t live without a woman. Another example is the “Cinderella”, this movie states that it’s okay for a girl to be maltreated because there will always be a prince charming who will save and protect us from those who treats us cruelly. Other movies like this describe girls as beautiful, physically weak, and emotional or a “damsel in distress” and men are characterized as physically strong, independent, and will do everything to be with the girl they like.
Parents in many cultures – like in the Philippines – have an advocate that boys and girls in their early adolescence should separate lives to prevent their child’s relationship with the opposite sex (Coghlan, 2017). They require girls to stay at home and boys are given some freedom to do what they want without even though they do not have their parent’s permission.
