Gender Recognition Essay

Gender recognition is one of the first cognitive developments in a toddler. Many scholars from both the sciences and humanities have been very interested in trying to the origin of gender recognition within toddlers and the effects it has on developing social lives. Some scientist have determined that gender is not something that is “hardwired” into your brain (Elliot, 1), it is a trait that is learned through experience and how one is raised. Toddlers learn their roles they take on in their playgroups, as either boys or girls, from their interaction with the influential adults in their lives and the limited social experiences they have encountered.
“Knowledge about one’s own sex and the sex of others may influence behavior” (Campbell, 8). Some scientist have concluded that children begin to “categorize themselves and objects and characteristics to girl or boy within their first 24 months of life” (Freeman, 357). This is when the child will start distinguishing what is similar or different from them and the concept of “‘mine’ and ‘not yours’” comes into play (Levine, 456). After this has developed, toddlers will begin to expand their gender-specific play preferences within the first 36 months of their lives. This shows that a complicated and fully developed mind is not necessary to obtain an understanding of the social structure of one’s society. “Both gender identity and sex differences in behavior broadly emerge in the first three to four years of life” (Campbell, 1). This means that by age three, children already have already confined themselves to the limited and rigid restrictions of their gender. The effects manifest in various ways depending on the child.
Color is the most influential part of a young child’...

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...ouraging boys to explore, while positively responding to girls request for help” (Levine, 456). This creates girls who are good communicators and very emotionally aware, but not always very self-sufficient. Some of these traits show up in the conflicts that are inevitable when play is involved. One of the biggest recent discoveries is “children.., as young as four years old,.. use social ostracism and other, relatively subtle manipulative tactics that are intended to damage another’s self esteem or social standing” (Ostrov, 256). This is such a miraculous finding because it shows that children are able to execute indirect aggression earlier than they did decades ago showing that the aggression in children is shifting from physical to a more mental onslaught. Since “boys emphasize dominance whereas girls emphasize intimacy”, they handle their aggression differently.