Gender Stereotypes Among Children

3 Pages 656 Words

Introduction

In a society which is rife with gender stereotypes and biases, children regularly learn to adopt gender roles, which are not always fair to both sexes. Children are exposed to many factors, which influence their attitudes and behavior regarding gender roles. These attitudes and behaviors are generally learned first in the home and are then reinforced by the child’s peers, school experience, and television viewing. However the strongest influence on gender role development seems to occur within family setting.

Children learn at a very early age what it means to be a boy or a girl in out society. It is difficult for a child to grow to adulthood without experiencing some form of gender bias or stereotyping, whether it be the expectation that boys are better than girls at math or the idea that only females can nurture children.

Parental Influence

A child’s earliest exposure to what it means to be male or female comes from parents. From the tome their children are babies, parents treat sons and daughters differently, dressing infants in gender specific colors, giving differentiated toys, and expecting different behavior from boys and girls. One study indicated that parents have differential expectations of sons and daughters as early as 24 hours after birth.

EX:
One study found that children at two and half years of age use gender stereotypes in negotiating their world and are likely to generalize gender stereotypes to variety of activities, objects and occupations. Children even deny the reality of what they are seeing when it doesn’t conform to their gender expectations (ex: a child whose mother is a doctor stating that only men are doctors)


Boys vs. Girls
Most parents prefer male children to female children throughout the world. This preference for male children is further emphasized by the finding that parents are more likely to continue having children if they have only girls than if the...