It will then delve into the many ways gender essentialism negatively impacts individuals, families, and society.

Finally, the article will detail some tactics for reducing gender essentialist beliefs.

Nonetheless, the belief in gender essentialism continues today and is deeply ingrained in society.

In contrast, 10-year-olds were able to account for the role social context played in the development of gender.

Sex is biological and based on chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy.

Gender is the way one chooses to identify andexpress themselves.

They might identify as a man, woman, or another gender.

By defining gender as based on biology, gender essentialism assumes sex and gender are the same.

Doing so doesn’t make room for variousgender identitiesother than man and woman.

Justifies Gender Stereotypes

Gender essentialism justifies and reinforces gender stereotypes in two ways.

First, observing specific behavior from one member of a gender category can cause others to generalize a population.

Second, gender essentialism can lead to specific beliefs about what different genders should be.

Thus, gender essentialism legitimizes social systems in which LGBTQIA+ people are treated differently.

Limits People’s Choices

By justifying traditional gender roles, gender essentialism limits people’s choices.

Research has shown that people with gender essentialist ideas tend to adhere to them in their own lives.

Prevents Gender Equality

Research has also demonstrated that gender essentialism reinforces social inequalities related to gender.

These results suggest that the belief that gender differences are natural and immutable serves as justification for gender inequality.

One of the easiest ways to do this is for teachers to avoid grouping children by gender.

Such categorization can lead children to think in essentialist terms.

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