Gender Roles

Society has a major influence on gender roles for children. It is apparent that when children get older, there are often more gender differences that appear. At the age of one, infants are capable to differentiate among males and females. Girls at 1 year desire to play with baby dolls, while boys will play with trucks, blocks, and enjoy playing Spiderman or batman when role playing. Usually, parents provide children with certain toys for their child. For example, my mom would buy me Barbie dolls, and girly things. My mom would also buy my brother dump trucks, and action figures. Parents have a strong influence on their children, especially when it regards choosing a specific toy to play with. For example, my mom did not want my brother playing with dolls. My mother saw it is too feminine like. Society has a great influence as well. For example, society has influenced our ways of thinking that boys should play with toys that are “masculine,” and girls should play with toys that are “feminine.” I learned from reading chapter 7 that society has influenced our ways of gender roles. Reading this chapter influences me to go beyond to know what other factors influence gender roles for children.