What Are Gender Roles In Boy Culture

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The culture and norms existing during a specific time period represent how people expressed their beliefs, traditions and governance for themselves and those who share the same geographic area. As these elements change over time, they establish the social construct of the given society, shaping the roles, expectations and social order of the population. The early to mid-nineteenth century brought a great deal of social change, most notably the Civil War and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. One element of daily life that remained stable during this time period was the structure of the family hierarchy. Patrias potestas, the power of the father, or patriarchal dominance, remained prevalent within most households (Lavisano, Justice for Children, September 22 slides) as it had for many prior generations in Europe.
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For the children of these families, particular behavior within the household was expected, encouraged, and valued. In her chapter The Politics of Dollhood in Nineteenth-Century America, Miriam Forman-Brunell examines the role of doll play in respect to the development of girl culture during the early to mid-nineteenth century. Anthony Rotundo provides a similar assessment of boy culture during this same time period in Boy Culture. Both authors assess primary and secondary literary sources to examine the play habits and practices of boys and girls. Compared, these two accounts provide support to the belief that the gender play exhibited by these children separated boys and girls into two distinct spheres, of domesticity and service, versus public employment and

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