Informative Study Of Gender Roles In Children

Boys are usually strong or athletic, they like sports, cars, and fighting. In the early Gender stereotyping begins in an early age as children accept “the rigid formulation of what is acceptable for men and women. “ (Brannon, 2004). Children start believing that these roles assigned to women and man are something that is real, and they apply those roles in their adolescence and even adult life. Boys and girls tend to have psychological problems if they do not fit in the role that media prescribes them.

Gender stereotypes are common in the United States today, even though many men and women have been working hard to defeat it. The task is made difficult however, when society in general implants the idea of gender roles into the mind of a child. Two authors, Judy Mann of The Difference and Bernard Lefkowitz of Our Guys face the issue of gender roles and stereotypes, and how they affect our lives today.

Tara Culp-Ressler claims that raising children to adhere to strict gender roles is harmful to their health. In her article, she refers to a three month long study that was conducted on a group of young teenagers. The study observed their behaviors based on gender and the findings concluded that both genders exhibited potentially harmful behavior patterns; a large number of the boys in this experiment were violent with one another in an attempt to demonstrate their masculinity and they would often bury their emotional struggles. The girls felt pressure to live up to standards that had been set for them to be feminine, some even taking to restricting calories to stay thin because “real women are skinny.” Adding onto the stress already felt by adolescence, the teenagers in this study denied themselves of simple rights and pleasures; the girls didn’t want to participate in sports they liked because they were afraid of looking unattractive, and the boys refused to acknowledge most emotions if not seen as “manly,” also turning down any psychological help or a shoulder to lean on. Once the study ended, the teenagers were mostly on the same page when some said that they thought sticking to these gender roles was what they were supposed to do, even if they weren’t happy about it.

This article will immensely add to my paragraph on childhood gender roles. "Children 's Gender Identity Development: The Dynamic Negotiation Process Between Conformity and Authenticity” provides evidence that child are indeed aware of the stereotypes that come with gender, and allow that knowledge to effect their everyday lives.

From a young age, boys and girls are told to act a certain way based on their gender. The norms they are told often contradict each other, with boys being told to be confident and girls compliant. As a UNICEF report from 2008 describes, “Children start facing norms that define ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ from an early age. Boys are told not to cry, not to fear, not to be forgiving and instead to be assertive, and strong. Girls on the other hand are asked not to be demanding, to be forgiving and accommodating and ‘ladylike’.

Gender role expectations are inescapable in our society as we naturally tend to sort humans into categories, the easiest one being gender. Upon first meeting a person, most people automatically classify the other’s gender. With this classification come the inevitable gender role expectations. Even for those who consciously try their hardest not to cloud their perceptions of others based on “traditional” gender role expectations, it is almost impossible not to subconsciously succumb to these expectations that are ingrained in our minds virtually since the day we are born. These expectations often influence how one interacts with another. This is especially important when taking into consideration the effects that gender socialization of children through gendered toys, media, and parental affects child development.

These gendered actions are taught in an early age as children actively participate in performing masculinity and femininity. There is gender policing that is expressed by others when an individual does not perform accordingly. Males and females must consistently “do gender” by interacting with

From the moment they are born, children are exposed to myriad of rigid gender stereotypes. Even as newborns, children are carried out of the hospital in a pink blanket if they are female or a blue blanket if they are male. As children grow older, gender roles are reinforced by family members, the media, and other children and adults in the child’s life. As toddlers, girls often are given dolls and books about princess and boys are often given trucks and books about heroes. If a girl tracks mud across the floor she would probably get scolded by a parent, but if her brother did the same thing he would probably get a laugh or a “boys will be boys.”

Gender is an age-graded event that affected my childhood. Being able to identify as a woman and learning society’s expectations for women was critical for my development. At the age three, I discovered that society does not have the same expectations for males and females. Therefore, I had to learn how to act like a “lady”.

What does it mean to be a woman or man? Society has expectations for the way women and men, girls and boys, should dress, behave, and look. Children learn gender roles from an early age, from their parents and family, their religion, and their culture, as well as the outside world, including television, magazines, and other media. A popular TV show called The Middle, tells the story of a working-class family in the U.S, following the daily life of a mother named Frankie who, alongside her husband, Hank, raise their three kids, Axl, Sue, and Brick. While The Middle is a modern family show, the gender norms and family dynamics are slightly stereotyped because the male and female characters are often given stereotypical behavior, occupation, and appearance.

There have been many theories and studies in support of the development of gender identity and gender roles. One major theory was the one put forward by Bandura and his social learning theory.

I observed three different children’s television programs through watching and listening at times to see how gender roles were portrayed, specifically towards children. The first observation that I made that was consistent throughout each of the different programs where that the females were either: bossy, deceitful, or very gentle. Males that were portrayed within the programs were either: aggressive, confident, or passive. I noticed that when the girls were being bossy (or sassy) they were viewed as “just being girls” rather than mean or acting inappropriately. However, if the boys within the programs were acting assertive (or bossy) they were being portrayed as mean, and acting in an inappropriate way.

Children learn as early as age two what it means to be a “boy” or a “girl” (Aina & Cameron). This is described as gender identity, a person’s sense of self as male or female. Gender stereotyping emerges hand in hand with the development of gender identity in Early Childhood (Halim). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes and activities of males and females. When babies are born they are either put in pink or blue, as they grow up they still maintain the same “gender” colors. As young children start to socialize, they are playing with either “girl” toys or “boy” toys. When they get older they

Society has exaggerated that the way a man or woman acts is the way they have to be or else they are not normal. The general stereotypes for women include “they don’t play sports, supposed to cook and do housework, not as strong as men.” The general stereotypes for men include “work in the science and engineering field, must be obeyed because they are always in charge, always on top.” In the short story “X” by Lois Gould, the author shows us that gender is not so important when a child chooses to express him/herself in whichever way they want to. Although society wants an individual to act a specific way, it shouldn’t define their way of life, whatever makes the individual happy they should continue to do it without having others judging them.

Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender. Family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.