In the last weeks I’ve attended several scientific talks and I’ve loved them all. Since I live in Madrid, the ease with which you can attend these meetings of interesting and interested people in social issues is worth it. It turns out that from November 4 to 19, the week of science was held in the Spanish capital and with it, talks of different scientific nature were organized. Some were more specific while others tried to spread curiosities or funny episodes with the mentality of a physicist or biologist. I especially liked a talk entitled “Roles and gender identities in childhood and adolescence” that took place in a bar called Amalavida, in the heart of Madrid, in a street near Gran Vía. After looking for the title of the talk I discovered that many musical and cultural events are held in this bar. If you enjoy these sort of get-togethers you should take a look at their Facebook. Also to the speakers Alicia Bernardos, Irene Solbes, Laura Martínez, María Cuadrado, María José Camacho, and Susana Valverde, all professors of the Complutense University of Madrid, whose research journey gathers the data presented that afternoon.
They talked about studies that sought to see how the profiles of young boys and girls on social networks differ. The data was overwhelming because, today, many children around the world are dedicated to making videos for youtube or being recorded by their parents. In the latter, because the respective tutors find it incredible that their offspring may become famous, but to what extent and at what cost? They made special emphasis on the ages, every time younger, of users who are victims of publications and searches that are registered on the internet. Age aside, they also highlighted the type of profile pattern that was repeated between girls and boys. They showed that girls had a much higher rate of photos in which they showed their face, body and outfit, while boys gave more importance to photos with friends, adventures or sports. This makes one think, doesn't it? Isn't it our sexist society that has put these ideas in our heads? And most worrying, when will we stop stereotyping what is common and what is not in each sex? Or what is the same, when will we stop putting the ideas that are reflected by these young people to the point that girls still have profiles of pastel tones and boys of more bluish colours?
This talk is of the ones I liked the most because it made me rethink many things. Luckily, in my environment I am surrounded with open minded people. Boys paint their nails, girls don't shave, men give much importance to their appearance and women talk openly about their sexuality. It goes without saying, that the advances made by the LGTBI collective, genderless fashion, women's day (March 8), the satisfyer pro 2 and the huge amount of vindicatory information we consume daily on the networks have done a lot of good. All the details have allowed us to live in a less patriarchal society, which benefits us all and humanizes all.
That is why I was so surprised that even today some try to mark the classical idea of gender in the mind of the little ones, instead of letting decide themselves how to act and what content to publish in the future.
What are your thoughts about this?