Gender stereotyping can be reduced at a young age with proper intervention, study conducted on Hong Kong children finds
- Discrimination against gender nonconformity may have an early origin, researcher Ivy Wong says
- Teachers have a role to play in reducing gender bias, according to Sylvia Yun from gender studies programme at Chinese University
Gender stereotyping can be reduced at a young age by telling children that boys who wear dresses or girls who love to wrestle can also excel in their studies, according to the world’s first study on Hong Kong children that aimed to reduce their prejudices against the LGBT community.
The study, conducted jointly by Chinese University and the University of Toronto, Mississauga, looked at the effectiveness of interventional measures adopted in early childhood to prevent gender stereotyping.
“Cases of gender nonconformity and gender dysphoria are on the rise globally,” Ivy Wong Wang, an assistant professor of gender studies at Chinese University, said.
Gender dysphoria refers to the distress arising from the mismatch between an individual’s gender identity and his or her sex at birth.
“If we want to address the mental health risks that the members from the LGBT community face, we need to first examine what prejudices they suffer from and how that can be reduced.”