The incentive to write this Master's Thesis was gender inequality, which has been entrenched in our society for centuries. In the past, women used to stay at home and take care of the house, while men were the breadwinners. In the 19th century, women started to fight for their rights and pioneered their way into politics. Although many changes in gender equality have been implemented since then, a certain level of gender inequality is still present. Gender inequality is entrenched in cognitive and other behavioural structures and is transmitted from generation to generation.
The underlying theme of the theoretical part broadly covers the topic of gender and finally focuses on gender stereotypes. I reviewed the changing position of women within the society and described their initial struggle for the right to vote. After that I focused on gender differences, both from the biological and from the social point of view. Children build their gender identities based on prenatal and postnatal conditioning. I am going to summarize several theories about how gender identity is formed and expose different co-shaping factors, such as family, peers, school and the media.
The aim of the empirical part of my Master’s Thesis is to determine the presence of gender stereotypes and their impact on children’s opinions. I researched opinions of children from 1st to 5th grade about gender roles in different contexts. The aim of the research is to determine whether there are any differences in opinions about the role of men and women in contemporary society between the first graders and the fifth graders, and whether there are any differences in opinions between the boys and the girls of both groups.
Nowadays gender stereotypes are still present in opinions of different generations. If we want to change this, the first step is recognizing it and raising awareness about this issue.
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