She was only five, but she spoke in a metered and matter-of-fact tone, stating plainly that she no longer wanted to play with boys because she had observed that boys on the playground were rough and used harsh words and tone. Bias or astute observation? By age six, she shared that it appeared that girls were valued less than boys by society, and by age seven she proclaims she would like to move to a country with a female leader because she feels life during a pandemic would be better there, as women make better leaders. You might think my daughter was fed these thoughts, that I sit to brainwash my child, or get into lengthy political commentary with her – but I don’t – I truly don’t, although I have lied to her on one occasion, but more on that later. The scientist in me was fascinated that to a young child growing up in the Midwestern United States, gendered stereotypes and the implications of gender inequalities were already clear and causing concern. Continue reading
Tag Archives: socialization
Insights: Prof. Fruma Zachs on The Private World of Women and Children
A first attempt in gleaning some of the insights shared during the talks during the afternoon of the conference on Children and Youth in an Interconnected World, presenting a broad range of distinguished speakers, all talking about the role of children and youth in this fast-changing world.
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The Private World of Women and Children: Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes in 19th Century Greater Syria – Professor Fruma Zachs
Professor F. Zachs from the University of Haifa, Israel, talks about the research on the private world of women through preserved narratives of nursery rhymes. In the last twenty years children have finally begun to be researched as a topic of themselves, not just from the perspective of adult worlds and family. Nursery rhymes as oral folklore emphasizes certain themes, like suffering and the child’s world, but in the Arabic world this is not yet studied extensively. In her work, Professor Zachs analyses these nursery rhymes to show new insight into the emotional and interconnected world of children and their families. Continue reading