Gender Roles In Children

A boy longs for connection at the same time he feels the need to pull away, and this opens up an emotional divide. This struggle between his need for connection and his desire for autonomy finds different expression as a boy grows. But, regardless of their age, most boys are ill-prepared for the challenges along the road to becoming an emotionally healthy adult. Whatever role biology plays (and that role is by no means clear) in the ways boys are characteristically different from girls in their emotional expression, those differences are amplified by a culture that supports emotional development of girls and discourages it for boys. Stereotypical notions of masculine toughness deny a boy his emotional resources. We call this process,

Crying is something that everyone here does; it is a normal part of everybody’s life. However, many cultures believed that when a male cries, his tears were a sign of manliness. In the article “How boys become a men” Jon Katz gives some examples to explain why many man pressured to be tough, to act strong, and they would not allow to show their emotions, pain and fear. This article focuses on the lesson that boys learn from their young ages which effects their lives.

* Television viewing creates the concept of gender-role and racial stereotypes in children, as they start considering it as very natural phenomena. Heroic acts are expected out of males, while women are displayed as objects and less powerful.

In a society filled with gender stereotypes, children often adopt gender roles as they move from childhood to adolescence because of the many factors that influence their views to the point they will deny certain roles because it does not fit the gender bias. During the early years, boys and girls will usually be drawn towards gender specific activities. Playing house for example, they little boy will imitate going to work, while the little girl will imitate cooking in the kitchen and playing with the baby doll. Gender stereotypes are embedded in our culture as a social identity giving “norms” to how gender is defined. This paper is going to discuss the child’s earliest exposure to gender roles in the home from clothing, toys and expectations to society’s role in gender bias on early childhood development.

Second, the daily activities of women report that they have more intense experience of emotions than men, more intense expression and comfort to seek out emotional experiences. Women also have greater emotional response, overall warmth, emotional expressiveness and concern for others, than men. Researchers also report that anger is found more in men than women (Costandi, 2013). Women have more intense style of emotional response than men, which would be expected to emerge in both positive and negative domains. In fact, emotional experience stems from the roles men and women fill in our society. Women are considered emotionally expressive and are more sensitive to others’ needs while men are less emotionally responsive (Costandi, 2013). Women and men’s personal history of enacting social roles effect skills and attitudes. Prior experiences build different emotional skills and attitudes, in both and women equally.

It is important to teach children about gender roles since it is something that society holds in regards, but most of the time in literature it is done unequally. The portrayal of gender in literature is based off of the expectations of society and places bias on gender. Boys are portrayed as strong, adventurous, independent and capable and often play the roles of fighters, adventurers and rescuers. Girls are portrayed as sweet, naïve, dependent, sensitive and emotional and play roles such as caretakers, princesses and mothers. The roles of gender portrayed in literature are often a reflection of the views of society and do not offer objective insight. Even though it is important to teach children about gender roles, the fashion in which it is done in does not allow children to see beyond those expectations. If a young girl is constantly read stories about a woman’s role as a housewife, homemaker and mother, she will assume that’s what is expected of her and will not know society will allow her to be anything she wants to be.

For thousands of years, established gender roles have been a part of our society. Women are commonly known as sensitive, emotional, or passive. On the contrary, men are described as rational, competitive, independent, or aggressive. Believing women are more emotional than men is stereotyping. However, the stereotype is not entirely untrue. Development of gender roles is often conditioned more by environmental or cultural factors than by hereditary or biological factors. The development of gender roles between men and women involves the inference of peer community of each gender, the communication style of male and female and the intimacy or connection level of men and women.

Boys and girls are completely different and emotional literacy shows that girls will express their feelings in some shape or form but boys won’t even give a facial expression or any emotion to show how they feel. Many parents instill into boys that they must be tough, heartless and trust no one. Raising Cain states that boys cry more as babies but as boys get older they express less emotion. (pdf)

As a boy grows into a man he faces the ever-raising mountain of masculinity. In regards to the occurrence, he finally reaches maturity he has no choice but in order to fight to retain his measly sense of manhood. He is not allowed to act feminine or else he’s not man enough, he can’t show his emotions, he has to hide that he can do anything a woman can do sans give birth. Boys grow up being told they are not allowed to cry and that they are supposed to be tough, that they are not able to be like girls and in the event that they are then they are not real boys. This concept is known as toxic masculinity, some people are not aware that men are being forced to suppress their emotions or even that toxic masculinity should be a topic that is

In our society, there are norms of what is considered to be feminine and what is to be considered masculine, but how are these norms constructed? Through the use of toys, books, and clothing, children are socialized into their “appropriate” gender. These objects provide influence over behavior and appearance, showing boys and girls what is appropriate for each gender. After some investigation it was found that the toys, books, and clothing that children use not only foster the norms of gender behavior and appearance, but also construct gender roles in their young minds.

According to the social learning theory, the influence of the media in the formation of gender roles and identity is known as being indirectly and vicariously reinforced. It states that we can learn gender appropriate behaviour by learning from others. So by having gender stereotypes portrayed in the media, it has a powerful influence on all of us but especially on children because they are currently

1. Gender is being male or female, but in a social sense instead of a biological one, like sex. Gender roles are the expectations that society creates for each gender to act like and behave. In the film Parenthood, there were many different examples of gender roles. One of the major one examples that stood out to me was in the instance of Helen and her two children. At the start of the film, Helen let her son, Gary, walk out of the house being disrespectful and go do whatever he wanted, however she told her daughter, Julie, that there were people coming over later tonight and she needed her to help clean the house. Another major example of gender roles that stood out to be was the constant showing of the woman having to take care of the

In my opinion, traditional gender roles in themselves are not harmful to young children. Traditional gender roles give society a basic framework to work upon and give young children a place to start understanding themselves and their place in society. However, if people put far too much emphasis on gender roles and following them, it becomes a problem. While it is nice to have complete freedom of thought and expression, the world is a big, scary place, especially to kids. Sometimes it’s better to give children a diluted version of the world until they are more mature.

has begun to form. When we meet a new person, we are instantly judging whether they are male

Ever since I could remember, I have been told to “behave like a girl.” This phrase has constantly been repeated by all my family members, friends, and even strangers. At a young age, gender roles can be very confusing. However, society makes sure to place boundaries and acknowledge differences between both roles and sexes. Even before we are born, as soon as our sex is discovered we are given a gender role and colors that we are supposed to wear in order for society to distinguish us as either a boy or a girl. Girls must wear pink and “girly” colors such as pastel colors and boys must wear blue or neutral colors. Girls are also supposed to play with dolls and their accessories such as kitchen sets reinforcing the idea at a very young age that girls are traditionally housewives. On the other hand, boys must play with “manly” toys that show how tough and manly they are, such as guns, sports cars etc. From our infancy, we all receive gender roles that we must possess in order for us to fit into society. Our family also plays an important part in these roles since they are the main ones who encouraging us to follow those roles. As soon as a parent sees that their little child is not following the gender role that society expect they “freak out.”