Parent's Gender Spectrum

Parents’ Perception on Gender Spectrum. In a society that is negatively rich with gender stereotypes and biases, children regularly resort in adopting gender roles which are not always fair to both sexes. Children who are exposed to both internal and external factors shapes their attitudes and behaviors towards traditional gender roles as they move through stages of adolescence and ultimately in adulthood. Witt (1997) argued that these attitudes and behaviors are learned at firstly at home which are then heightened by the child 's peers, school experience, and television viewing and other external factors after social bonds are formed outside a family setting. However, it is primarily the family setting that stongly influences the child’s

The parent-child relationship has effects on development that lasts well until they turn into adults. Because of these long-lasting effects, argues Miller and Lane, et al., in 1993, the parent-child relationship is one of the most important and should be premiumed developmental factors for the child’s gender social standpoint. Parental attitudes towards their children have a strong impact on the child 's developing sense of self and self-esteem, with parental warmth and support being prime factors for the child (Richards, Gitelson, Petersen, & Hartig, 1991). Often, parents give subtle messages regarding gender and what are the only acceptable things attributed for each gender, which, according to Arliss (1991), these are messages that are easily absorbed by a developing child. Sex role stereotypes are well established in early childhood. Messages about what is appropriate based on gender are so strong that even when you expose children to different attitudes and experiences, they will return to their old stereotyped choices (Haslett, Geis, & Carter,

These costs include limiting opportunities for both boys and girls, ignoring talent, and unfairness that is perpetuated in our society as Beal (1994) states. Parents who espouse an egalitarian attitude regarding gender roles are more likely to foster this kind of attitude in their children. Androgynous individuals have been found to have higher self-confidence (Lundy & Rosenberg, 1987; Shaw, 1983, Heilbrun, 1981), higher levels of identity achievement and self-worth(Orlofsky, 1977), and more flexibility in dating and love relationships (DeLucia, 1987). Children whose parents have very strong egalitarian values tend to be more knowledgeable about nonsex-typed objects and occupations than other children (Weisner & Wilson-Mitchell, 1990). Children whose mothers work outside the home, meaning that the parent-child interaction is limited, are not as traditional in sex role orientation and gender typing as children whose mothers stay at home with focused parent-child interaction (Weinraub, Jaeger, & Hoffman, 1988). In fact, according to the study by Davies and Banks (1992), preschool children whose mothers work outside the home experience the world with a sense that everyone in the family gets to become a member of the outside