User:Violet5612/Gender roles in childhood

Gender roles are stereotypes that are influenced by the environment, parents, media, and society. Sexism in books affects the development of gender identity in children as they grow [2]. Gender stereotypes and sexism limit child development. Books that are not sexists can help children develop positive gender roles, self-concept, and behavior [2]. Language and images help children in forming gender roles and stereotypes. Children include rigid stereotypes like boys being earners and girls' housekeepers as early as five years[2]

Children between 3 to 6 months can form distinctions between males and female faces [3]. By ten months, infants can associate certain things with females and males, like a harmer with a man or scurf with females [3]. Testing infants is complex and challenging and determining the right age that a child develops their sense of sex or others sex [3]. Girls begin gender labeling earlier than boys. Sex differences as children play to start at 17 months [5]. Children start understanding gender differences at that age influences gender stereotypes in play, where boys play with certain toys and girls with others [5].

Children associate particular possession to males or females like shirt and dress at first stages and move further to associate characters like hardness and roughness with boys and caring and soft with girls [3].

Stereotypes are found to be rigid at 5-6years and become flexible by 8-10 years. Older children can differentiate that a girl can love playing with trucks and airplanes [5]. In-group and outgroup hostility at a young age is associated with a child liking their sex identity and seeking to maintain stereotype characters rather than hostility towards the outgroup[4].Pre-schoolers and children aged 3-5 show a negative reaction and punishment like ridicule when their in-groups, either boys or girls, play with a toy associated with the outgroup [1]. Another insult is calling a crying boy a girlie John is a girl[3]. Less masculine boys are laughed at and often shunned in school and rejected by their peers [3]. Gender prejudice begins as early as pre-school. Gender typing is extreme in young children where girls refuse to wear anything but dresses and boys will not play with anything associated with a girl. However, the rigidity ends, and individual differences occur over 10-12 years(Quinn et al. 2002).

Sex stereotypes limit both women and men when it comes to choices. Men tend not to vote for women as presidents, a form of how in-group stereotypes shapes behavior [3].

References


 * 1) Huston, A. C. (1983). Sex-typing. Handbook of child psychology, 4(4), 387-467.
 * 2) Narahara, M. M. (1998). Gender Stereotypes in Children's Picture Books.
 * 3) Quinn, P. C., Yahr, J., Kuhn, A., Slater, A. M., & Pascalis, O. (2002). Representation of the gender of human faces by infants: A preference for female. Perception, 31(9), 1109-1121.
 * 4) Rudman, L. A., & Glick, P. (2021). The social psychology of gender: How power and intimacy shape gender relations. Guilford Publications.
 * 5) Sinno, S. M., & Killen, M. (2009). Moms at work and dads at home: Children's evaluations of parental roles. Applied Developmental Science, 13(1), 16-29.
 * 6) Zosuls, K. M., Ruble, D. N., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Shrout, P. E., Bornstein, M. H., & Greulich, F. K. (2009). The acquisition of gender labels in infancy: implications for gender-typed play. Developmental psychology, 45(3), 688.
 * 7) Strauss, E. (April 2018). "Why girls can be boyish but boys can't be girlish". CNN.

add citations to this paragraph According to attachment theory, the early experience and interaction an infant has with his/her caregiver(s) determined whether the infant is securely attached with the caregiver(s), different attachment styles have different influences on one psychological and interpersonal-relationship development.[citation needed] Searle & Meara 1999 found that among college men, people who are securely attached are less likely to suppress their emotions but feel more comfortable expressing it.[15] Besides secure attachment, three other attachment styles are more likely to value success, power, control, and competition that are considered as traditionally masculine traits, in order to make up the lacking sense of security.[16]

Hey! i think you can add more to this section In addition to their choices of toys, games, and sports, children typically express their gender identity in the following ways:

Clothing or hairstyle Preferred name or nickname Social behavior that reflects varying degrees of aggression, dominance, dependency, and gentleness. Manner and style of behavior and physical gestures and other nonverbal actions identified as masculine or feminine. Social relationships, including the gender of friends, and the people he or she decides to imitate. Gender development is a normal process for all children. Some children will exhibit variations―similar to all areas of human health and behavior. However, all children need support, love, and care from family, school, and society, which fosters growth into happy and healthy adults.