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Compare and contrast two theories of gender role development A dominant debate in current psychological research is one on gender development. Psychologists try to understand relative importance of social and cognitive factors. Various theories are brought up in this field and in this essay two of the most standard theory in this field are going to be explained. The theories covered in this essay relate to aspects of children’s thinking that are central to their gender development. This will include, Kohlberg‘s theory of gender development (1966) and Bandura‘s theory of social cognitive development (1986). Theories like these help psychologists understand how and in which way children understand behaviour and which leads them to do so. One theory of gender role development would be Kohlberg's theory of gender development (1966). His theory indicates that gender develops throughout different stages. Therefore, he predicts that children think about gender in characteristic ways in each stage. Going through the various stages children develop a more complex understanding of behaviour. The different stages are gender identity, gender stability and gender constancy. Children reach the first stage, gender identity, in which they are supposed to label their own gender, by the age of approximately two years. Also, children tend to be able to label others, such as their parents as male or female. Nevertheless, their gender believes are still based on physical characteristics. In the stage of gender stability children are able to indicate that a gender remains the same throughout time and therefore, children start to realise that they will be male or female for the rest of their lives. Nevertheless, their understanding of gender i... ... middle of paper ... ...(4th Ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. Santrock, J. W. (2006). Life-span development (10th Ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Works Cited Björklund, D. F. (2000). Children‘s thinking: Developmental function and individual differences (3rd. Ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Björklund, D. F. (2012). Children‘s thinking: Cognitive development and individual differences (5th Ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Cervone, D., Pervin, L. A. (2008). Personality: Theory and research (10th Ed.). New York: Wiley. Colman, A. M. (2009). Dictionary of psychology (3rd Ed.). Oxford: University Press. Davey, G. (Ed.) (2012). Social psychology. Complete psychology (2nd Ed.), 5. London: Hodder education. Miller, P. H. (2002). Theories of developmental psychology (4th Ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. Santrock, J. W. (2006). Life-span development (10th Ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
The creation of an identity involves the child's understanding of the public disposition of the gender normalities, and the certain gender categories that
"Learning to Be Gendered" is an article written by authors Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet, where they examine the reasons behind why children are assigned gender roles in society. In the text, they explore how behavior and language are used to identify a child's gender and the unnecessary stereotypes and sexism perpetuated by this. The authors also address the pressures and expectations that are placed on children to fulfill various gender roles. They attack the theory that children fall into their gender roles due to behaviors and biological reasons. Their article outlines the difficulty to escape the gender stereotypes that have overtaken society and also demonstrate a clear presentation of problems and solutions to this issue. I also think that the article bases its arguments on
The actual timeframe in which kids discover their genders is open for debate, as not all scientists agree on the ages. Blum states, “some scientists argue for some evidence of gender awareness in infancy, perhaps by the age of 12 months. The consensus seems to be that full-blown “I’m a girl” or “I’m a boy” instincts arrive between the ages of 2 and 3” (Blum 208). Furthermore, the family environment plays a massive role in helping children discover their sex. Children living in a long-established family setting that has a father and a mother might develop their gender identities more closely. In contrast, children in a contemporary family environment might grasp a more diverse view of gender roles, such as everyone participating in cleaning the house and not just mom. As children grow older, they naturally develop behavior patterns of close relations with the kids of the same sex, and prefer to spend their time with them. Blum explains “interviews with children find that 3-year-olds say that about half their friendships are with the opposite sex” (Blum 208). In this stage of life, the boys want to hang out with other boys. Similarly, girls wanted to spend more time with the other girls. As a result, each gender has little or no contact with each other until they approach their teenage years. Overall, the question here is whether our gender roles occur naturally or affected by family and friends. I believe it is a case for both, because I remember growing up in a “traditional” household where I saw the distinctions between my mother and father. My father went to work every day and my mother took care of me and my brother. Furthermore, my understanding of gender carried on into my school years, as I preferred hanging out with other boys and did boy stuff until I started dating. I also understand that gender behaviors and roles do not stop at this point, and we continue to develop other behaviors
How do children learn to be men or women? Penelope Eckert is a professor of linguistics and anthropology at Stanford University, and Sally McConnell-Ginet is a professor of linguistics at Cornell University. They wrote an article “Learning to Be Gendered,” published in 2013 in the book “Language and Gender.” The authors argue that society has many ways to shape children’s gender by their behaviors since their birth. Eckert and Ginet show to the readers that the parent teaches their child’s behavior.
How do children learn to be men or women? Penelope Eckert is a professor of linguistics and anthropology at Stanford University and Sally McConnell-Ginet is a professor of linguistics at Cornell University. They wrote an article “Learning to Be Gendered,” published in 2013 in the book “Language and Gender.” The authors argue that society has many ways to shape children's gender by children behaviors since their birth. Eckert and Ginet show to the readers that the parent teaches their children behavior. The author is using ethos, logos, and pathos to support the thesis statement.
In order to explore the origins of how gender roles are learned, a solid definition of gender versus sex must be developed. Sex is completely biological, and the physical sex organs one is born with are determined by nature. Gender, on the other hand, is not biological in any sense—it is in fact something that is decided and dictated by societal and parental influence. What it means to be male or female is something that we are taught. Contrary to popular belief, it is clearly not something that comes preprogrammed into our brains. The American Psychological Association defines gender as “…the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. These influence the ways that people act, interact, and feel about themselves.” This definition confirms that gender is learned, rather than inherited. As psych...
Siegler, R., & Alibali, M. (2005). Children’s Thinking Fourth Edition. Prentice Hall Inc. Upper Saddle River NJ.
It is not an easy task for a child to understand the obligations that accompany their assigned gender, yet while they encounter difficulties processing these thoughts they are also achieving a greater sense of identity. Different stages of life consist of social rules that encode how one is to behave, however, it is not clearly defined when the transition should occur from young girl to young woman. It is not surprising that learning about gender roles and their associated responsibilities is not an easy part of a young child’s maturation and is often the result of a very emotionally charged collection of experiences.
In regards to the development of gender identity, it is a more complex issue to deal with, as one has to be concerned about all aspects of the person life, starting from even before they have been born (Swaab, 2004), to a point in their life where they are settled and satisfied with their identity. The American Psychological Association states that while development is very fluid among young children, it is usually believed to form between ages 3 and 6, however many transgender, individuals are not able to embrace their true gender identity until much later in life, largely due to societal stigma associated with these identities.
Kohlberg defined the steps in gender role development to three steps. The first step, the kids (ages 1-3) begin learn their gender identity by their parents (adult) education. In this step also Kohlberg mentioned that the kids know their gender by observations of sex differences. As Kohlberg says “ they categorize themselves as a boy or a girl during this period” (Bergen 2008, p. 153). Teaching kids in early periods of their life makes them more receptive to their identity, even their knowing about their gender still changeable.
Gender identity has been a delicate issue when it comes to determining if a person's gender is set at birth or develops and changes as a person ages. A person’s gender is not as simple as being classified as either male or female. There’s a considerable amount of external factors that can influence someone’s identity. Although society has a major role in gender identity, sex assignment at birth is not final; furthermore, a person's gender can be influenced by psychological, physiological differences and undergoing changes to the human body. A common misconception many people believe is that gender and gender are the same or go hand in hand with one another.
Cognitive development in retrospect is the building of thought processing, decision making, problem solving, and critical thinking skills (Merriam-Webster). By engaging in imaginative play, children are forced to imagine make-believe scenarios and maintain a single roll captivating that roles thoughts and actions. Such situations make children express both positive and negative feelings as well as work through problem solving scenarios where they may be led to critically think their actions and what each outcome could lead to. As children are forced to integrate emotion with cognition, the mental growth occurs at the hands of the child (Jent, Niec, & Baker, 2011; Seja, & Russ, 1999; Slade and Wolf, 1999). The building of cognitive skills at an earlier age will encourage children to explore the world around them making the world their eternal classroom leading them to
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2012). Personality: Classic theories and modern research (5th ed). Boston , MA, USA: Pearson
This essay will argue that children should definitely be raised with gender, and address some key concepts and perspectives used in sociological analysis.
Piaget theorised that children’s thinking goes through changes at each of four stages (sensory, motor, concrete operations and formal operations) of development until they can think and reason as an adult. The stages represent qualitatively different ways of thinking, are universal, and children go through each stage in the same order. According to Piaget each stage must be completed before they can move into the next one and involving increasing levels of organisation and increasingly logical underlying structures. Piaget stated that the ‘lower stages never disappear; they become inte... ...