Why does my son not believe that all doctors are women? Maybe partly because
his dentist is a man; maybe partly because he's a sharp kid; and maybe
partly because we talk. The woman who reported that her 5 year old son
believed that all doctors are women had in that instance a perfect chance
to talk to her son (I would want to ask her, had I the chance, whether
they'd ever taken the cat to a vet, and whether that vet was a man or a
woman).
Our children's experiences are not restricted to the people and situations
they encounter; their experiences--and perhaps their most important
experiences--are their discussions with us (parents, teachers, friends).
Finally, a five year old, who may not have yet acquired the ability to
realize that one or two people is not *all* people, is not the best
example to use to try to argue that boys feel that their career options
are limited.
Connie Ostrowski
ostroc@rpi.edu