by Suzanne Scoggins, Director of Women's History
June 16, 2010 · 4 Comments »
Dr. Lynette Long is a psychologist. Her experience with children’s issues and the psychology of gender informs much of what EVE is about. One of her most quoted statements is this one, from our Why It Matters page:
Eighty percent of communication is non-verbal, and the lack of visual images of women leaders has a significant negative impact on girls and women. Parents may tell their daughters they can be anything they want, but our nation’s symbols tell a different story. The visual overrides the verbal. Girls don’t hear yes you can when all they see is no you can’t.
I couldn’t ask for a better illustration of that principle than this anecdote from Jon Meacham, writing in the current issue of Newsweek about the campaign of 2008:
Looking at the television, Mary asked me what was on. I said something to the effect of “These are people who want to be president.” She paused, and, noting Senator Clinton on the screen, said: “But girls can’t be president.”
My stomach turned. It was a terrible moment. Had I somehow telegraphed diminished expectations, or gender-related limits, to this amazing little girl? I pressed her: “What do you mean? That’s not true. Girls can be anything they want.” Her reply: “There aren’t any pictures of them.” Gradually I worked out that she meant girls had not been president, not that they could not be, and she had drawn this conclusion from, of all things, a place mat of the presidents from Washington to Bush 43, a relic of a quick souvenir purchase at Reagan National.
This isn’t a story about politics; it’s not about Republican or Democrat, or even about Hillary Clinton. It’s about how our children absorb the silent messages all around us.
I suspect the placemat in question looked something like this:
Put aside what you know or think you know about women’s opportunities, and look at that placemat through a child’s eyes. What do you see?
4 Responses
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Hayley says:
When I was a little girl (maybe about 3-4 years old) I thought girls couldn’t be doctors, they had to be nurses. I even had a female pediatrician, but still the public images of male doctors and female nurses was so strong that it overrode reality.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:19 am EST -
Suzanne Scoggins, EVE Director of Communications says:
Hayley, I thought the exact same thing at that age.
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Anne says:
This past Halloween, I (a woman) went as a doctor. I wore blue scrubs and a white lab coat and stethoscope. Yet literally dozens of people, both men and women, asked me if I was a nurse! Only 2 people understood that I was supposed to be a doctor. It enraged me that just because I am a woman, even fellow females assumed that I could only be a nurse! I found myself asking what decade we were in! It really brought gender issues into sharp perspective for me. It makes me sad that in today’s world, so many adults still have such deeply ingrained gender biases.
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Coming soon to a parade near you: Amelia Earhart | Reclusive Leftist says:
[...] taste the water, and all that. That’s why EVE is tackling this stuff: to change the silent messages our kids [...]