Gender Role Socialization Study

1511 Words7 Pages
In the society we live in today there is a strong difference between what is considered “boy” and what is considered “girl”. This is because from the time we are born; to the time we die we are expected to conform to a gender role. A gender role is a set of behaviors, attitudes, and personality characteristics expected of a person based on their sex. This process of getting people to conform to their gender roles is called socialization, and it affects children very drastically. There are many different places that gender socialization comes from. It comes mainly from family, peers, and the media. Girls are made to believe that they are supposed to be gentle and nurturing, whereas boys are taught to be tough and even aggressive. Personally, as a child, I learned and have kept to the idea that I’m a girl, and I find that I identify with the things that would make someone a “girl”. These past few chapters have really made me really look into how much of the “girly” things I really like, and how much of it is socialized behavior- where I say that I like something because it’s what I grew up knowing I was supposed to like. Today it’s nearly impossible to go a day without seeing some kind of these gender stereotypes. We socialize our children in a constant cycle of what’s “boy” and what is “girl”.

Gender socialization is most commonly found in the media, and not only is the media a big socializer, but it influences other areas of a child’s life to do the same. It’s not only socializing the child to think in terms of gender separation, but it’s encouraging the parent, teacher, and friends of the child towards that same thing. For this assignment we were told to go to a department store and look at clothes for children, which I did. ...

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...bout boy or girl, it should be about who the child or person really is. This is important because everyone, especially children, should feel like they can do, be, and accomplish anything they set their mind to; they shouldn’t feel like their gender is an obstacle.

Works Cited

"Early Childhood." UNICEF. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Ironside, Andrew. "Marc Rudov on "the Downside" of a Woman President: "You Mean besides the PMS and the Mood Swings, Right?"" Weblog post. Media Matters. N.p., 11 Mar. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
"Glass Ceiling." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Nov. 2013.
Sweet, Elizabeth. "Guys and Dolls No More?" New York Times. N.p., 21 Dec. 2012. Web.
"Common Stereotypes of Men in Media." MediaSmarts. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Marinova, Jivka. "Gender Stereotypes and the Socialization Process." Un.org. N.p., 13 Oct. 2003. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
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