{"id":2273,"date":"2012-07-13T10:04:30","date_gmt":"2012-07-13T14:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ccpa.scottbuckingham.ca\/blog\/?p=2273"},"modified":"2012-07-13T10:04:30","modified_gmt":"2012-07-13T14:04:30","slug":"encouraging-and-empowering-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ccpa-accp.ca\/fr\/encouraging-and-empowering-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Encouraging and Empowering Girls"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Empowering females sounds as though we are dismissing or ignoring males, but the truth is, both\u00a0 genders desperately need to be equally empowered.\u00a0 Therefore, while the intent of this article is to address female concerns and issues, the heart of the article should be applied to all of the human race.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

STEREOTYPES AND MISPERCEPTIONS
\n<\/strong>For far too long, the female gender has been plagued with stereotypes, typecasting, as well as, subtle and blatant discrimination.\u00a0\u00a0 There has been a long history of discrimination reigning down from religious orders, politics halls, and employment opportunities.\u00a0 While blatant discrimination has become against the law in many countries; it is the subtle form of discrimination that we often overlook.\u00a0\u00a0 The discrimination in the female gender begins at a very young age.\u00a0 \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t buy Jill<\/em> a Hot Wheel, rather buy her a Barbie Doll or a Littlest Pet Shop.\u201d \u201cNow Amy<\/em>, let your brother carry in the groceries, for he\u2019s a boy.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAmanda<\/em>, let\u2019s go shopping while the boys work on the vehicles.\u201d \u201cTommy<\/em>, you should let your sister wash the dishes, while you mow the lawn.\u201d Now of course, not all of the above statements apply to all children,<\/em> however, there remains a general outlook on specific roles that boys and girls should partake.\ufffd
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ACADEMIC ~ STEREOTYPES AND MISPERCEPTIONS
\n<\/em>The stereotypes are cast well beyond the confines of a child\u2019s home and their childhood.\u00a0 Unfortunately, girls face stereotypes that go way beyond their childhood.\u00a0 In the academic world, they are often overshadowed by their male counterpart as being less of an athlete; better at homemaking or childrearing; incapable of leading men or fellow boy classmates; incapable of understanding complex mathematical or scientific conundrums.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAlthough there is a general perception that men do better than women in math and science, researchers have found that the differences between women\u2019s and men\u2019s math- and science-related abilities and choices are much more subtle and complex than a simple \u2018men are better than women in math and science.\u2019 In fact, experts disagree among themselves on the degree to which women and men differ in their math- and science-related abilities.\u201d (Halpern, et. al, 2007, p. 3)\u00a0<\/p>\n

STRONG WOMEN
\n<\/strong>As a society, our impressions of strong women conflict with our impressions of strong men.\u00a0 Strong women are frequently stereotyped as being difficult, problematic and fierce competitors.\u00a0 Whereas, a strong male is revered, admired, and worthy of approach. Strong men are considered to be groundbreakers, entrepreneurs, and movers and shakers.\u00a0\u00a0 Strong women, are often given egregious names, labels, and reprehensibly stereotyped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

AN UNCONDITIONAL SPIRIT
\n<\/strong>All children<\/em> should be taught to unconditionally accept, approve, admire, appreciate, forgive, trust, and ultimately, love their own person.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

ENCOURAGEMENT – REACHING FOR THE STARS
\n<\/strong>All children<\/em> should be taught to reach for the stars and well beyond.\u00a0 A child, even the most academically challenged child, should be encouraged to \u201cBe All That They Can Be.\u201d They should be encouraged to dream big.\u00a0 A child\u2019s dreams should never be discounted, rather uplifted to the stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Who would have ever thought a person with a major chronic medical condition, bound to a wheelchair, and incapable of verbally communicating would one day have an opportunity to float weightless in zero gravity? In fact, the world famous physicist had such an opportunity in 2007, on a modified Boeing 727.\u00a0 It is important to recognize a child\u2019s dreams, desires, and hopeful ambitions.\u00a0 For after all, even if a child fails, at least he or she tried to reach for the stars. For what is wrong with failure or the possibility of success? We place too much emphasis on the norm of society, rather than allowing children to dream and dream big.\u00a0<\/p>\n

APPEARANCE IS ONLY SKIN DEEP
\n<\/strong>According to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, \u201cIt is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder – seven million women and one million men.\u201d (DMH, 2012, Online) Sadly, there is a high probability that men are not self-reporting, but given that, it is ratio of women that is disheartening.\u00a0 According to the DMH, one in 200 women suffer from Anorexia.\u00a0 What accounts for this vast number of women suffering from such a chronic disorder?<\/p>\n

ADOLESCENTS<\/em><\/p>\n