I think systemic bias is also a large part of the reason why there is such a large gender disparity. Long before any of the toxic gatekeeping takes place, there are (or were) tons of little nudges that drive people to different interests based on gender. Maybe you can count these nudges as gatekeeping, as they function that way all combined, but most people don't see it as toxic to give a boy building blocks to play with and give dolls to a girl, when these are already the nudges towards different interests based on gender.
What can we do? I don't know. I try to listen. I try to be open-minded. I try to seek out other people's voices. I try to keep in mind that I'm a minority (as a cis white western English-speaking temporarily able-bodied male, I'm a small minority of the world population). I try to keep in mind that I have privilege by belonging to that minority. And I try to keep in mind that I'm unaware of a lot of things. And I try to improve.
It's not easy, and I'm nowhere near perfect, but I try to keep in mind that every small step matters, and that every small step helps.
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I think systemic bias is also a large part of the reason why there is such a large gender disparity. Long before any of the toxic gatekeeping takes place, there are (or were) tons of little nudges that drive people to different interests based on gender. Maybe you can count these nudges as gatekeeping, as they function that way all combined, but most people don't see it as toxic to give a boy building blocks to play with and give dolls to a girl, when these are already the nudges towards different interests based on gender.
What can we do? I don't know. I try to listen. I try to be open-minded. I try to seek out other people's voices. I try to keep in mind that I'm a minority (as a cis white western English-speaking temporarily able-bodied male, I'm a small minority of the world population). I try to keep in mind that I have privilege by belonging to that minority. And I try to keep in mind that I'm unaware of a lot of things. And I try to improve.
It's not easy, and I'm nowhere near perfect, but I try to keep in mind that every small step matters, and that every small step helps.
I also think being aware is the first fundamental step. Nothing can come without that.
I think we should be careful just how much disparity we attribute to discrimination without evidence of causation, rather than mere correlation.