The Importance Of Childhood Essay?

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Recommended: Female gender roles and their effects

“Your little girl is adorable!” is a compliment I receive every time I take my child out in public around strangers. And just for the record, my child is a little boy. My son has a bundle of curls, all looped and curled around each other, each tight ringlet continuously finding its way down to his face and back. In absolutely no way, shape, or form does he resemble a little girl, but he is constantly mistaken for one. Why? Because of his hair? Should girls only be the ones to wear their hair long? These standards and beliefs society has crafted for men, women, and children, are regularly influenced by parents as well. Parents tend to encourage gender roles, often without intentionally trying. Just the tiniest influence is all society needs …show more content…

A lot of the times I was not taken seriously. The fact that a girl had boy qualities, such as an interest in sports, being independent, and not emotional, came as a shock to a number of the boys. Even today, at the age of twenty four, people still have reservations about my abilities. One of my biggest passions is building, and I do not mean building blocks with my son, I can build, fix, put together just about anything, well most things. My son’s father, who I live with and have spent years with, still laughs and has doubts when I tell him I am rebuilding the stairs outside, or ripping out the carpet and putting in hardwood floors. It is not something I take too personally. I understand that these standards created for men and women, where men are to be dominant, independent, aggressive, and strong, and women are expected to be nurturing, dependent, emotional, and weak, whether it is believed in or not, these expectations are constantly being influenced by one or more sources. I witnessed the influence my mother had imposed on to my sister when putting a dress on her. I felt influenced by my peers when our common interests suddenly differed. And even today, when taking a trip to the toy store with my son, passing by the bright pink aisles filled with dolls and a number of toys intended for little girls, or browsing through the toy catalog and noticing how girls are pictured playing with dolls, and the boys are playing with the remote car. The influence of gender roles is

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