The consequences of society's inflexible adherence to its perceptions and expectations of gender were the focus of Why Gender Mattersa day-long conference held May 4 at the University of Chicago's Gleacher Center.
Co-sponsored by the Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago Public Schools and the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, True Child, the Jewish Women's Foundation and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital among others Why Gender Matters took its audience of advocacy and philanthropic agency leaders and programmers through an insightful journey of established terms and definitions and the cause and effect of gender stereotyping on the social equity, economics, education, relationships, health and wellness of in particular at-risk youth.
Author, celebrated advocate and True Child Executive Director Riki Wilchins and St. Johns University Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Scyatta A. Wallace, both presenters, hoped to impress upon the attendees how and why more than two decades of research have demonstrated that looking through a more flexible or transformative lens of gender not only challenges expectations of femininity and masculinity but can positively impact the lives of youth and adults who have otherwise been taught to be obedient and dependent girls and women or aggressive and tough boys and men.
"The English language has developed an extraordinarily elaborate vocabulary to call out, hold up and stigmatize the least degree of gender nonconformity," Wilchins said. "But there are no positive words to talk about cross-gender behavior. There's a lot of policing and a lot of shame in gender regulation."
"Everybody has gender norms impacting their lives but they impact them quite differently depending on who they are and how they move throughout the world," Wallace noted. "No matter what race you are, what class you are it effects everyone. For young women of color who are living in environments that are economically challenged the outcomes tend to be worse because they don't have the resources or the role models to be able to challenge strict gender norms."
Some of the outcomes Wallace listed included obesity, sexual victimization and violence, a vicious cycle of undue stress and resulting disparities in terms of chronic illnesses suffered over time.
"Showing people another way is important," Wallace said.
Organizations like Heinz Endowments have agreed. Their partnership helped both Wallace and Wilchins create comprehensive reports on race and gender norms and curriculums that have opened a dialogue designed to change expectations and beliefs about gender from being ingrained to in motion.
For more information about the work of True Child, visit truechild.org .
For the Heinz Endowments report, see www.truechild.org/Images/Interior/findtools/heinz%20report.pdf .