The Socialization Process Of Children

Onwards from birth, children are surrounded by and live within environments which are rich in gender stereotyping (Siraj-Blatchford, 2004, p. 24). They are given toys, books and clothes in which the media and society deems applicable to their specific gender. These gendered beliefs and practices are then implemented and shared as a child matures and can see particular traits such as; empathy, kindness, assertiveness and aggression as over or under developed (National Union of Teachers [NUT], 2013, p. 3). Therefore, it is imperitive that educators embrace, model and begin teaching gender equality in the early years of childcare and beyond.Linn (2004, p.61-62) asserts that children assimilate gender identity through play and social relationships. The production of popular culture toys and resources are explicitly targeted and consciously marketed as gender specific (NUT, 2013, p 4). For example princess toys and media characters display attributes of beauty and charisma,

What is gender socialization? Gender socialization is the process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one's sex. In human race, a baby’s sex is determined by the time of conception, a baby is usually pronounced as either female or male. Sex is biological and gender is not biological, therefore gender is learned. Gender socialization happens when you learn the attitude, expectations and different social roles in social settings associated with your sex (Fallen S. 2016). Generally, females are associated as feminine while males are associated as masculine. This socialization is used to explain how females and males behave differently. Depending on cultures difference, gender socialization can occur anywhere such as parental attitudes, schools, churches, government, military, laws, and how peers interact with each other. The purpose of this paper, I am going to explain how children learn about gender. In other word, one can ask “In our society, when does a child learn what it means to be a girl or a boy?”

Sex role stereotyping and gender bias permeate everyday life. Children learn about sex roles very early in their lives, probably before they are 18 months old, certainly long before they enter school.(Howe, 1). The behaviors that form these sex roles often go unnoticed but their effect is immeasurable. Simple behaviors like: the color coding of infants (blue & pink), the toys children are given, the adjectives used to describe infants (boys: handsome, big, strong; girls: sweet, pretty, precious), and the way we speak to and hold them are but a few of the ways the sex roles are introduced. These behaviors provide the basis for the sex roles and future encouragement from parents and teachers only reinforce the sex roles.

Socialization is a life process by which children and adults learn from each other. It is divided into two parts which are primary and secondary socialization. Primary socialization takes place early in life, as a child and adolescent. The secondary socialization is when socialization takes place throughout one 's life, both as a child and as one encounters new groups that require additional socialization.The moment we are born, we are separated by our gender and taught the gender’s role. In many social constructs, gender is closely observed and reinforced by society. Society assigns a gender the type of toys to play with and the type of clothing to wear. Through a merger of social conditioning and personal interest by the age of three most children favor activities and display behaviors typically related to their sex. As a result, fitting into social gender roles and expectations is very important in society. For my project on socialization I picked to observe the roles of gender toys and clothing. The store I decided to review my observations was Walmart located in cookeville, where toys and clothing are both available to their customers. The toys and clothing are sectioned by gender roles such as femininity and masculinity. The data I obtained from my observation was surprising, I have never realized the powerful role of society. I learned so much more about socialization from this project and enjoyed it as well.

The issue of gender norms and enforcing gender stereotypes on society, especially young people and children, is an important problem that must be combatted. This issue causes many problems in children as they are pressured to stick to the "status quo" and do what others define as the right way of living. Although there are many aspects of society that contribute to this problem, such as sexism, bullying, and peer pressure against all genders, specifically, the harmful stereotypes that are upheld in today 's society and how they affect young people is a great problem (boundless). There is an extreme difference in how society views and treats children based on their gender and it can be difficult for a boy who likes to play with dolls or a girl who enjoys racing cars to find a way to enjoy these things without facing opposition from other children or even their parents or siblings (boundless). While girls are encouraged to play with things associated with femininity, dolls, kitchens and play dress-up games, boys are pushed into items associated with masculinity, race cars, sports and games that glorify war (the Atlantic). Many adults attempt to affect the way that children think or act by raising them according to their beliefs and refusing to allow them to explore other options (boundless). This is commonplace, especially in societies where stereotypes are rigidly upheld, as in some Arab countries. It can be extremely harmful for girls and boys to try to break free of these

As a child grows up no matter the sex they are socialized with rules and norms to follow that align with their sex. The gender role is the behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics that are expected from a person based on their sex. Boys must be aggressive, masculine, and tough and outgoing where as girls must be submissive, sweet, caring and emotional (Schaefer & Halland, 2011. p.236). As the child grows they become accustomed to these norms through socialization. There are many agents of socialization that include, the family, role models, religion, education system, peers and most importantly the mass media. Media has such a strong influence on everyone’s life from the latest smartphone connecting to social networks, TV and magazines; it is able to shape our culture and influence public opinion and perception. Both genders are inaccurately depicted with hyper masculine and feminine aesthetics.

There are psychological effects on people who follow traditional gender roles in society. From birth, children are socialized to conform to certain gender roles based on their biological sex. It occurs through four major groups of socialization: family, education, peer groups, and the media. The attitudes and expectations surrounding gender roles are based not on natural gender differences, but on stereotypes about the attitudes, traits, or behavior patterns that women or men should have. Gender roles can be influenced in the family setting when the children observes the behaviors of the parents. For example, the mother cooks, tends to the kids, and can sew to fix clothing, while the father mows the lawn, washes the car, fixes appliances. Children catch on to these gender role cues quite easily and continue the cycle into adulthood.

Gender socialisation commences at birth, parental conditioning and expectations are confirmed with the introduction and expectations that girls play with dolls and boys play with trucks and cars. Girls are seen as the homemakers whilst boys are guided more towards building, climbing and rough and tumble play. This continues at primary school where girls are encouraged to wear dresses for their uniforms and boys shorts or long pants. Boys are chastised if they cry and therefore learn to hold back their emotions. This could result in excess anger and frustration manifesting into aggression and possible labelling of the child (UNICEF, 2015).

Gender is a socially constructed concept and it denotes the behavior and characteristics associated with either men or women (Sherman & Zurbriggen, 2014). Different studies have shown that the comprehension and acceptance of gender roles commence at a very early age (Sherman & Zurbriggen, 2014). Playing with dolls or toys has been found to influence gender roles in kids. Play with Barbie dolls is a significant source of gendered socialization because it conveys a sexualized adult to young girls. However, research focusing on

Throughout childhood children are exposed to many factors, which may influence their actions and attitudes regarding the social construction of gender, specifically masculinity and femininity. Children’s attitudes are influenced by a variety of external sources, but are most strongly influenced by their home life and parents. Parents are responsible for nurturing and teaching children about multiple aspects in life, including gender norms; this occurs both consciously and unconsciously. One-way parents pass on their beliefs about gender and gender norms are through the giving of heteronormative toys. Toys children play with and are exposed to subtly and not so subtly teach gender norms and mores that are accepted in society; furthermore, the association of color and toy genre reinforce the social construction of gender and how males are supposed to exhibit masculinity while females exhibit femininity.

Gender socialization and gender roles have always existed in society. Gender roles are playing major part in our way of living. As we grow, we learn how to behave and respect from those surrounding us as well as children learn at a young age what it means to be a boy or a girl in our society . there are certain roles placed on boys and girls in accordance with their gender. These gender roles are set on children from birth and are taught until eventually they are accepted as adults. In this socialization gender role process , children are introduced to certain roles that are typically attached to their biological sex. Socialization of gender roles is supported through three major points parents ,social media, and education system

Gender plays a key role throughout our life, it is defined as “the psychological, social and cultural aspects of masculinity and femininity” (butler-sweet,c,2017). Masculinity and femininity have been standardized into their own stereotypes. For example, masculine is known as aggression, competitive, brave, etc. While feminine is known as sensitive, weak, nurturing, etc. Because of these traits and these stereotypes masculinity holds a higher power over femininity. Therefore, when the parents have the child and they find out what gender they are they automatically uphold them and raise them according to these standards. This begins to refer to gender socialization which is “the process by which we learn the rules and conduct the behavior of masculinity and femininity” (butler-sweet,c,2017). Meaning, that from a young age we learn the correct way to act within society, including the correct way to act according to our biological gender. Once our parents know if we are a boy or a girl they decorate our room a certain way,

Child socialization is important for individuals because it determines how a child will socialize as an adult. In this paper I am going to discuss about my socialization as a child. I will discuss about the three most important outcomes that I learned from my family of origin. In addition, I will explain about the methods of socialization and the parenting styles my caregivers used have helped shape my personality. Furthermore, I will talk about an institution that helped me with shaping my values, and my identity. In addition, I will identify a situation that shows that I was an active agent in my own child socialization. Lastly I will explain about the socialization goals for my children and how my own prejudices have impacted my children’s way of thinking.

Through this gender socialization exercise of analyzing how children learn about gender, provides a sense of social structures and institutions are organized, created, and maintained in society. After visiting a department store that separates children’s clothes and toys by gender it gave me an eye opening view how society shapes children’s mind of what is acceptable for their own gender, and how these patterns create an inequality between each group.

Men and women can often be described as night and day. Men and women just tend to do things in different ways. Studies have shown that something as simple as speech can be performed in surprisingly different ways. From linguistic styles to emotional expression, men and women seem to communicate as if they were different species. A strong attribution to the divide in language patterns between men and women could be the way that gender roles infiltrate every aspect of one’s life.