Relation Between Gender And Infants

As humans we nurture newborns and associate them with their gender immediately. Whether this be the colors concerning their gender before they are even born, their clothing as a baby, even the toys we supply them with as children, humans gravitate naturally to associate certain characteristics with gender. Unknowingly, parents find themselves setting their

Environmentally, a child’s experiences impact gender identity. Depending on family values or morals, a child could be confused by their gender. When a baby is born, there is much control on colors (if boy or girl) and ideas of the parents on how they would want to raise their daughter or son. For an example, a father would treat his son in a rough or unemotional way, while a girl would be protected and nurtured. Known as traditional roles, a boy doesn’t cry or play with dolls, but he can roll

Gender identity is defined as the identification of a human being as being male or female. The knowledge that we have about gender acquisition is still not as accurate as we would like. Biological and environmental factors are at play and not one or the other seems to be completely wrong. Biological views relating to gender identity are supported by chromosomal and hormonal based differences. Environmental perspectives emphasize on modeling and experience (individual and cultural) affecting gender acquisition. However, the only unbiased way to assess gender identity is by taking into account both biological and environmental factors (McCabe, 2007). This paper focuses on gender identity in early childhood development.

The genderization process begins before a child is even born. Go into :1 store in the United States to buy a present for a newborn baby, and you will immediately be asked "boy or girl?" (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet 738) As the child gets older, they

This can happen from birth where gender influences how the boys and girls are handled. Even though it is stated it can happen from birth it is also been shown that it may happen before birth due to parents and grandparents picking out the colours of children’s items of clothing or toys, even the colours of rooms. It is expected after birth that girls will be gentle and sweet whereas boys will be rough. Sociologists refer to sex as a person’s biological identity where gender is referred to as the socially educated prospects and behaviours that are associated with being male or female. Sex is biologically appointed while gender is culturally learned.

     Femininity and masculinity are topics that have been debated over in our society extensively, through psychological research and day to day interaction with people. Children learn from their parents as well as society the concept of “feminine” and “masculine.” The majority of people tend to believe that these conceptions are biological but I believe it is more cultural. From birth, female children are shaped by society as being sweet, caring, loving, and delicate and usually associated with the color pink. While male children are shaped by being tough, aggressive, and competitive and associated with the color blue. As these children grow, the boy is given a football to play with and the girl a

From birth, the difference between males and females is evident. Immediately we toss children into gender roles in order to ease our minds

These days gender selection has become one of the controversial topics all around the world. Advanced technologies vastly affected peoples’ lives in order to select their babies’ genders that they hoped. Imagine, is it fair to select the gender of a child that might lead us to the discrimination and gender imbalance? In the article, “Gender Selection of Babies,” the author discusses whether it is good to use the opportunity to select babies’ genders or simply accept the babies the way they are. The article states that the people who support the gender selection should have right to select the gender of their babies without interference by the government or the society. People believe that mature adults should be free to select the gender of their babies to control over their family lives. On the other hand, the article also states that despite the continued use of technology for the gender selection in the medical field, there is no more than 50% chance of producing the desired gender of babies. People against the gender selection also argue that parents need to accept their children in a natural form. Biggest of all, this gender selection can also lead to sex discrimination and gender imbalance. While considering these terms, parents should accept the children the way they are without any interference.

They preferred male activities with male company and expressed more interest in a career than in having a family.” (G.C Davenport, ESSENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY, chapter five, page 116.) When a child is born their gender role (set of expectations to say how they should think, act, feel.) is based on their gender identity (sense of being male/female), which is usually based on what sex the child’s genitalia reflects. When we look at children who have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, it is interesting to see that some individuals develop in a feminine direction and acquire a sense of identity as female but others are brought up as males. The child’s upbringing was based purely on judgements about their genitals,

Gender should not be intertwined with the term sex, which refers to the physical differences in individuals. Instead, gender is the idea of being male or female, and it is well understood by the time children reach the preschool years. Differences in gender become more pronounced as children age, and societal expectations are reinforced by parents and peers. Behavioral differences may be evident since parents may treat their child differently according to gender. A big example of this is how parents may react to a child’s first

The class I was in when observing had boys and girls raging from ages of 3 to 5 with two female teachers. Ages 3, 4 and 5 are years with huge growth in developmental milestones for kids. They go through many physical, cognitive, emotional/social and language changes from the time the become young children instead of toddlers. Observing a room full of girls and boys I got to compare and contrast the differences in the way each gender develops. It is said girls and boys usually develop at different rates. During my observations I saw that girls and boys not necessarily developed at different rates, but develop in different areas quicker than the other gender. Physically yes, boys were slightly taller and more filled out than girls. Both genders were very high energy,

The biggest question asked is how it comes around, however there is not a solid reasoning or proof of one main causal factor. According to Lippa, exposure to testosterone during the second trimester of pregnancy, when the development of both male internal and external genitals and a male-typical nervous system forms, may influence gender identity. (98) Brown counters this argument by saying the formation of a secure unconflicted gender identity and gender role is influenced by social factors, such as the character of parent’s emotional bond or the relationship each parent has with the child; he asserts that the biological factors (genetic complement or prenatal hormones) do largely determine gender identity however they do not act alone, more or less just setting the stage to go one way or the other.

For example, females usually inherit an X chromosome form both parents. Social skills which are a typical female characteristics can be found in he x chromosome. From these findings it can be said that women are more comfortable in social settings. I can think of my husband in social settings where he does not know anyone he is less likely than me to introduce himself. I have no problem introducing myself and striking up a conversation with a stranger. Hormones also have an effect on gender determination. Men and women go through maturity as a result of hormones. Estrogen in women and Testosterone influence skills and tendencies associated with gender. Sex effects how the brain develops. According to our textbook, the force of biology is evident in cases where doctors try to change a child’s biological sex” (47). Doctors mistakenly amputated David’s penis to correct phimosis, a condition in which the foreskin of the penis interferes with urination. The child’s name was changed to Brenda and she did not take to being a girl. Later in life Brenda changed her name back into David and began living a life as a male eventually getting married and raising stepchildren. I believe that biological theory is accurate match for one’s gender.

You are born with sexual attributes but gender qualities are developed after birth (Tovey and Share, 2003). The variations between the two sexes are an outcome of culture and society (Giddens, 2001). The best way to prove the difference between the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ is the situation of transsexuals. These people fit biologically into one sex but feel they belong to the other. Through surgery and hormone treatment they try to change their biological sex and by doing this they also have to learn how to act like the sex they have changed to. They also have to take on new masculine/feminine roles (Browne, 2005). One in every two thousand babies is born intersex which is a baby with mixed female and male characteristics.

This is called gender socialization, which exaggerates sexual differences physically, experimentally, academically, and psychologically. Most parents are unaware that they play such a large role in creating a male or female child. But they are the first and one of the largest influences on their child. When parents have a female child she is viewed as sweet and gentle. The parents will even hold their daughter closer than they would a son. As they grow older boys are encouraged to explore while girls are kept closer to their parents. They are taught different approaches to many different problems in life. They may not realize it but through their interactions with their children they are encouraging their children to grow into a certain type of person based on their gender. The toys they are introduced to are even gender-based. Toys for males encourage them to develop such abilities of spatial perception, creativity, competition, aggression, and constructiveness. Toys for girls encouraged creativity, nurturance, and attractiveness. Children’s rooms and clothing are specific color: girls are pink and boys are blue. Girls often wear dresses and skirts that limit their physical activity. These types of influences at such an early age lay a foundation for the child’s personality. By the time they reach school age they already have a sense of being male or female. In school peers and teachers enforce these differences even further. (Lips, 1979,