Girls wear pink, boys wear blue. Girls play with Barbies, boys tear the heads off their GI Joes. Girls love puppies and cry at weddings. Boys don't cry –— ever.

These stereotypes are getting as out-dated as poodle skirts and record players. Every day, society moves away from the hunter-gatherer days when gender roles needed to be clearly defined for survival.

Yet some sectors still seem to divide by gender — especially the financial realm, according to a study conducted by ShareBuilder, a Bellevue-based brokerage firm in partnership with Harris Interactive. The group polled 2,033 households and found women are more likely to be intimidated by financial language. Females often lack the confidence to take the financial reins in the household and leave it up to the man to set up a long-term investment plan, the researchers reported.

A recent Merrill Lynch study found that 47 percent of women versus 30 percent of men feel that they are not knowledgeable about investing, and according to a 2006 survey by Money magazine that polled 1,000 spouses, 73 percent of men said they make most investing decisions for their households.

Sutapa Basu, executive director of the UW Women's Center, said that this is a reflection of women's lack of experience talking about money. Only in the last 35-40 years have women had enough money of their own to invest.

"Traditionally it's been a man's area — women were not taught to invest," Basu said. "They have seen their father or grandfather invest, and they feel that this is not an area they can be in."

Senior Nicole Lemke-Richardson said that the words "equity" and "exchange traded funds" were once unknown jargon for her. She thinks it's ridiculous that now, at age 26, she is just beginning to learn these words. If she were a boy, it would have been different, she said.

"Boys tell boys how to deal with finances, and they won't tell girls," Lemke-Richardson said. "Even if they have a daughter, they'll talk to the boy."

She said this dichotomy is apparent in her husband's family: her father-in-law taught her husband how to set up his individual retirement account (IRA) fund from a young age, but his sister, who is close in age, has never been included in the conversation of investments or savings. She doesn't know how much of her money is in the bank, nor does she think to ask.

"We figure that women are bad at economics and bad at math," Lemke-Richardson said. "We gender these topics so much."

It was while filling out her FAFSA form that Lemke-Richardson first started thinking seriously about her financial future. She saw that her husband of a year and a half had a great deal of money in various investments and had already built up some equity. At the time, tuition and loan payments had prevented Lemke-Richardson from saving.

"I was embarrassed to tell [my husband] about [my equity]," she said. "I felt kind of weak, not as strong or worthy in the relationship."

Lemke-Richardson found a financial adviser, and together, they worked out a financial plan. She then set up a dinner date with her husband to talk about their financial future — this time using words like "equity" with ease. Informing herself about the topic opened up a whole new conversation, and she started to relate to him on a higher level.

"It was great being able to talk on equal ground," she said. "You don't want to feel like someone is above you."

Basu recommends all women do exactly what Lemke-Richardson did: find a financial adviser, get a plan and get involved with their money to secure their financial future.

"[Investing is] a new area for women: a lot of women feel like they need to know everything about investing before they get started, and that's not true," Basu said, explaining that this often makes women overly cautious and prevents them from engaging in money matters.

Basu also recommends women talk about money. Traditionally, American society shuns money conversation, and this also prevents women from knowing what options are available.

"Talk to your friends about it, talk to family members and find out what they are doing, but always find out what's right for you," Basu said.

Reach reporter Erin Hicks at news@thedaily.washington.edu.