Mothers Are the Most Responsible in Transferring of Sexist Attitudes, Study Suggests

[seabeyond]

It appears that the mother is a figure who has greater influence in the transference of discriminatory behaviour. According to Garaigordobil, "the degree of sexism in the mother is more linked to that of her sons or daughters in comparison to the influence of the father."

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The author states that "if we bear in mind that women are the main victims of sexism, it is paradoxical that they are the ones who have a greater influence when it comes to the transference of such damaging attitudes." However, she goes on to admit that "we are unable to confirm that this relationship is of a cause-effect nature given that our study is not correlational and does not use experimental methodology."

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The study suggests the importance of working with parents with regards to gender prejudices because a lower level of sexism in parents would also bring about a lower level in their offspring. Furthermore, Garaigordobil and Aliri explain the importance of implementing educational programmes during infancy and adolescence as a way of encouraging gender equality, reducing sexism and preventing gender-based violence.

Garaigordobil remarks that "we must emphasise that sexism is transferred through the family but sexist attitudes also develop from other significant sources. These include the social group to which each person belongs or the media, which would need to have some involvement if sexism were to be reduced.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929074028.htm

[iverglas]

1. well duh ;)

Mothers have the greatest influence in transference of table manners, too. And language, and life skills, and, well, pretty much everything. One might suspect this is because women still overwhelmingly bear the responsibility for child-rearing.

Social policies that shift some of that responsibility to men, through both incentives and deterrents, might be one place to start. Women with more equal opportunities, more equal income, more equal status themselves might be less likely to convey damaging prejudices about women to their children.

I dunno, there's just something about this that looks like blaming the victim. Educate women not to instil sexism in their kids. How about raise those women's status and opportunities so their kids see less sexism in front of their faces?

Chicken and egg ...

[seabeyond]

2. lol.... ya. but also i think it is important that we see in print that

mother does teach kids sexism. and that just being a woman does not mean you are not sexist. and that as a parent we have a responisibility to get beyond instead of shrugging it off and saying, not a man hater and i like sex, ergo....

betcha anything, when we see a little boy representing a learned sexist attitude, we look at the father.

so, i dont know how truly honest we are with the "duh"

and blaming the victim? well, the little boy that learns, this is how a woman is to be treated, is the victim, too. doesnt that make all of us a victim, regardless? adults. learn. get beyond, for the new generation.

there are a lot of women that have issues with pc, too.

[redqueen]

3. "adults. learn. get beyond, for the new generation."

Hear, hear!

Another thing women teach their children that needs to end - obsession with body image.

1. Stop criticizing yourself in front of a mirror, especially when your daughters are in earshot. I've seen women do this and it makes me so sad to know what she's teaching her kids.

2. Stop obsessing about your weight. Being healthy is one thing, everyone should be enthusiastic about living a healthy lifestyle... but making it about how you look is destructive and wrong. Make it about looks and you encourage bulimia, anorexia, etc.

3. Stop obsessing about other women's looks. So what if some aging celebrity looks young? Is that really something to ooh and aah over? You know who you should be oohing and aahing over... her plastic surgeon. So what if some woman has grey roots, or more wrinkles, or isn't wearing the most flattering clothes? Why make that such a big deal?

[seabeyond]

4. exactly. we women have to be on our side, too. nt

[ZombieHorde]

6. Definitely some good parenting tips. nt

[Mimosa]

5. Definitely true.

Women often assume the roles of social enforcers.

I've seen that especially amongst conservatives. The rightwing males know they can get away with a lot of rudeness and bullying because their women are cheering them on.