The Impact of Biases on Gender Roles & the Preparedness of Women for the Childbirth Essay

            I would like to refer to my daughter and send her a message that she may receive, as she grows older. This message focuses on two main issues, motherhood and gender-related biases which accompany people in their regular life and often make their life much worse than it could be, if they were aware of such concepts as motherhood and gender-related biases. This is why I would like to send the clear message that women as well as men should be aware of gender-related biases and avoid, if possible, to make their life better and to view motherhood not as a heavy duty but as a conscious choice of both a man and a woman.

            There are two issues that I would like to point out, namely the impact of the mainstream and biases on gender roles and the preparedness of women for the childbirth. Often parents begin gendering their children from the early age (Kane, 2006). However, such gendering leads to the development of deeply-rooted biases and stereotypes which affect the gender identity of the child and gender roles the person performs as he or she grows older. It is such gendering that conditions the behavior of boys and girls on the ground of gender-related biases and stereotypes that dominate over the culture of the particular society at the moment.

            Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive (2006) reveal the overwhelming impact of Barbie dolls on the formation of gender roles and ideals of female beauty by girls at the early age from 5 to 8. This is probably the most obvious example that reveals the full extent to which children and their parents are vulnerable to the impact of dominating cultural and gender views. Barbie dolls have become symbols of womanhood but they also mirror the view on women in society since Barbie doll manifests ideals of the female beauty in society. The change in cultural views on women is easily traced by the evolution of Barbie dolls in the course of time (Dittmar, Halliwell, & Ive, 2006).

            At the same time, often adults as well as children slip to gender-related biases being unaware of them and such influence of gender-related biases can be easily traced through the use of language, like “you guys” phrase (Bilger, 2002). This is another example of how easy people accept gender-related biases and take them for granted. Such language shows the essence of the gender-related stereotypes and the suppressed position of women in the contemporary society.       

            However, before educating your child, you have to come prepared to the childbirth because women have to make their decision to give life to their child consciously being fully prepared for this act. In this regard, there are two extremes that you should avoid by all possible means. On the one hand, women get pregnant too early, when they are just teenagers. Such early pregnancies are difficult not only in physical terms because teenagers’ bodies are not fully prepared to the childbirth, but also they are difficult in psychological terms. Teenage girls are not prepared for the motherhood psychologically and the delivery of a child and the further care for the child may cause the enormous stress and trigger serious psychological problem in teenage mothers (Smith-Battle, 2007).

            On the other hand, there are women, who totally refuse from the childbirth, being concerned with their career prospects and what they believe to be the lifetime success or whatever reason they like. This is another extreme view of the childbirth that you should avoid for your happiness’ and wellbeing’s sake. In this regard, Gillespie (2003) refers to cases of childless women, who make voluntary choices to remain childless. This is a relatively new trend driven by the emergence of feminism and its shift toward some radical movements. Such radical steps should be avoided because childless women also suffer extreme distress which may be compared, in a way, to the distress of teenage mothers, but psychological problems in childless women start later, closer to their mid-life period, when they come to the point, when they feel disenchanted with their life and have no support from the part of their children. In this regard, physiology of women comes into play with their psychology. Unperformed reproductive function still brings childless women to the point, when they suffer from their childlessness because they cannot take care of their children and feel the unique proximity of their own children.

            In such a situation, I would recommend choosing the right time for the childbirth which comes when the woman is aware of her womanhood and comes prepared to the childhood followed by motherhood. The concept of motherhood implies the ability of the woman to take care of the child and to educate the child. In this regard, women may often rely on their partners or spouses. This is why the decision concerning the childbirth could be and should be the mutual choice of the couple which is stable and prepared for the childbirth and further care and education of the child.

            Thus, I would like to convey the clear and simple message to my daughter that she should avoid gender-related biases and make her decisions and choices consciously, especially with regard to the decision concerning her motherhood and childbirth.

Works Cited:

Bilger, A. On Language: You Guys, 2002.

Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Dittmar, H. Halliwell, H. and Ive, S. Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8-Year-Old Girls, Developmental Psychology, 42(2), 2006, 283–292

Gillespie, R. Childfree and Feminine: Understanding the Gender Identity of Voluntarily Childless Women, Gender and Society, 17(1), Feb., 2003, 122-136.

Kane, E.W. “No way my boys are going to be like that!”: Parents’ responses to children’s gender nonconformity, Gender and Society, 20(2), 149-176.

Smith-Battle, L. “I wanna have a good future”: Teen mothers’ rise in educational aspirations, competing demands, and limited school support, Youth Society, 38:348, 2007.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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