Gender Roles

2 Pages 461 Words

Child’s play has been a part of our culture since the beginning of time and is distinguished as a part of growing up. The world of play is an important aspect in the lives of our children. It is an introductory step into adulthood. When asked the question: Does swapping toys change the basic differences in the ways the genders approach play, my answer would have to be that it doesn’t.
Our biological make-ups have created boys and girls to have very distinctly different characteristics. These characteristics are very innate and draw a fine line between the way we behave. Girls on one hand have more caring and nurturing qualities. They tend to be more loving and understanding and that is why they were given the role of mothers. Boys on the other hand are a hard, coarse type and are ever more competitive than girls. This aggressive behavior is a direct result from higher testosterone levels found in boys. These considerably different characteristics play an important role in the way genders perceive and approach play. For example, let’s say that a little boy is having a tea party with his younger sister. The sister would almost certainly perceive the play to be a formal gathering in which everything is nice and pleasant. The little boy, on the other hand, would see it as a bunch of cowboys, in a sense, bellying up to the bar. Whatever the circumstances, the characteristics of children’s genders will guide their imaginations.
Growing up in my family, I had two brothers and one sister. Sometimes my parents would give us the same types of toys to play with. I remember we all had toy trucks at one time. We boys would use our trucks to play in the mud, have races, and just do the things boys are meant to do. My sister on the other hand would use her truck to carry her family of dolls. We also all had blankets. My brothers and I would make tents in the living room and pretend as if we were camping in the woods, whil...