At the moment of our birth, we are assigned a gender based on our external genitals. From the moment of this gender identification, we are treated differently than people of the opposite sex1. The first influence on our gender socialization is our parents. Parents describe male and female newborns differently; boys are often described as strong and handsome while girls are described as delicate and cute. Parents, especially fathers, also play with female and male children differently: they are more physical with their sons, encourage problem solving, and focus on achievements. With their daughters however, parents emphasize having a good time and often provide unnecessary help, devaluing their achievements. In addition, male and female children are disciplined differently. Fathers are more forceful and authoritarian with their sons, while daughters, who are subjected to more supervision, are disciplined quietly and proprieties are emphasized2. These disparate treatments for girls and boys stem from different expectations. Boys are expected to be more responsible, independent, and have a high level of self control. They should be aggressive and push themselves. Girls, on the other hand, are preparing to be “good moms.” They should be quiet and polite, kind, unselfish, and care for their appearances2. These differences in socialization lead to different behaviors and self worth in girls and boys. Girls become dependent and timid while boys become more aggressive and exploratory2.
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keep going. I'm enjoying this series.
www.worldcantwait.com
Thanks for the support! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'll try to finish in a week or so.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-Voltaire
Good job. Its good to point out that although good intentions parents do do this on accident (as in to not plan to shape this way) and this is also a wide generalization mostly true with some exceptions.
I have a boy and a girl and according to things already said i would have to say we are a bit inverted but I follow the childrens lead...not force my own ideas on them...but then again i tend to be weird anyway.
I can not wait till part three.
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
http://www.progressiveu.org/140722-perpetuation-of-gender-bias
You're absolutely right. Most of us have never considered gender. As Judith Lorber puts it, "talking about gender for most people is the equivalent of fish talking about water." So it's easy for us to pass on these ideas. We've taken them for granted our entire lives.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-Voltaire
I also remember seeing a study on the effects of color on gender and the sexes. And pink tends to give a more feminine feel and blue a more masculine feel as described in your part one. I wonder if that is another socialized response...or a neat color thing...i will see if i can find it.
And because i like to mention my kids and how weird i am ...my sons favorite color is, depending on the day, pink or purple and i, to keep things fair and open, at times dress my daughter in all blue. I wonder if this is going to mess them...eh anyway...keep going this is intresting...will you be majoring in sociology?
all truths are easy to understand once discovered; the point is to discover them ~galileo
Actually, I'm a botany major.
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Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-Voltaire
The problem is that these statements are very broad generalizations. Personally, I don't know anyone whose parents brought them up like that...
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"Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Live one day at a time, emphasizing ethics rather than rules."
-Wayne Dyer
These are broad generalizations. But while most people had parents who did not raise their children with all of these ideas, most parents raise their children with at least some of these ideas. And these ideas are prevalent in our general culture, too - our stories, the media, etc. So, it is difficult to escape them. However (encouragingly) part of the reason some of these ideas may strike you as wrong or outdated is because people's attitudes are definitely improving.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-Voltaire
I know a lot of people who do these things. And it went into overdrive when I had my kids and people were afraid because I cross gender boundaries so easily that I was going to turn my girls into boys (if that were possible there would be a lot of trannies kidnapped and put into forced resocialization)
www.worldcantwait.com