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Gend-o-meter
Can boys play with Barbies? Can girls do graffiti art? Who’s “supposed” to take yoga, cook, build or sing? In this 3-minute excerpt from “Straightlaced—How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up”, teens look at the rules and expectations society places on girls and guys – and share their savvy thoughts on how these seemingly innocent ideas hurt us all.
“Straightlaced” was produced by GroundSpark as part of the Respect for All Project.
About Straightlaced
From girls confronting media messages about culture and body image to boys who are sexually active just to prove they aren’t gay, “Straightlaced” offers raw, emotional first-person accounts from a fascinating array of students about the toll that deeply held stereotypes and rigid gender policing have on all our lives.
With courage and unexpected humor, they open up their lives to the camera: choosing between “male” and “female” deodorant; deciding whether to go along with anti-gay taunts in the locker room; having the courage to take ballet; the double standard about being sexually active; avoiding the restroom so they won’t get beaten up; or mourning the suicide of a classmate. It quickly becomes clear that just about everything teens do is deeply impacted by our culture’s ideas about gender and sexuality.
