I have no recollection of when I was born, but a baby responds to basic needs. A privileged position, in my case would be, receptive parents to these basic needs.
The cycle of socialization is an immediate process by which we are put into a position that we have no direct control over. Our privilege is somehow predetermined. The first exposure that we have to socialization is through gender identity due to the relative relationship to the biological nature of birth. Gender roles differ among individuals and culture, however in a universal spectrum gender is shared amongst humanity via physical anatomy.
My lens of identity was shaped through the experience of two parents that came from different multicultural backgrounds. Parents bring
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For example in church all of the liturgy I was exposed to entailed stories of male figures. Values were taught from the white male perspective in church. I rebelled against wearing a dress, putting my hair up off my shoulders and sitting quietly in the congregation and a protest of the expectations of conformist behavior and the oppression of the white Anglo-Saxon protestant church. In school, the oppression came in the form of being rewarded for good behavior like conforming and being punished for rebelling against pressures of societal norms. For example, if I wore clothes that were really feminine, I would get compliments on the choice and gratification from my peers and teachers in school. It was the actual response of others that I understood subconsciously. That would influence my decisions on what I would bring to school and wear on unconscious level of the subconscious. Literally, all material elements that you use to express yourself as a schoolgirl became increasingly transparent of gender identity. This included blankets, bracelets, lunch box, pencils with glitter and the stickers I chose to put on my work …show more content…
The change of my lens and experience through development came from the lack of knowledge that I had and lack of experience that I had made me more susceptible to societal norms. Had it not been for the exposure to parents who held non-traditional values in regard to gender roles. I was raised with an authoritative approach which is a moderate approach setting high standards and expectations in terms of hard work, focus and self-actualization. Simultaneously this approach shows responsiveness and respect for the child as an independent individual with the ability to self-identify.
The core of the cycle of socialization is fear, misunderstanding, insecurity and confusion. The way that I was able to overcome the pressures of institutions outside the home was through the nurturing and structure at home permitted me to choose my gender identity, but was firm and structured in the development of reasoning behind the structures. These structures were the expectations, but the fact that I could question and take a stand against the fear and other negative oppressive forces that acted upon me. The authoritative parenting style allowed me to question these gender roles and gave me reason to understand my own experiences of
A child's earliest exposure to what it means to be male or female comes from parents. From the time children are babies, parents treat their sons and daughters differently. Parents’ dress their children gender specific colors, give them gender differentiated toys, and expect different behaviors from boys and girls. Parents inspire their children to participate in sex-typed activities. Such activities include doll playing and engaging in housekeeping activities for girls, and playing with trucks and engaging in sports activities for boys.
The documentary “The Pinks and the Blues” and the podcast “Can a Child be Raised Free of Gender Stereotypes” discuss the unconscious gender stereotypes and assumptions that our culture places upon children. Children are enculturated with ideas about who they should be, how they should think and behave, and this enculturation has distinct effects upon the child psychology and way of living in the world. The viewer is left with the question: Is it possible to raise a child without gender stereotypes? “The Pinks and the Blues” states that gendered treatment of children begins within 24 hours of the child’s birth. Descriptors for male infants and female infants were different, with boys being labeled as big, strong, and alert while girls were labeled as being delicate, petite, and inattentive.
Burak defines gender socialization as “the process of interaction through which we learn the gender norms of our culture and acquire a sense of ourselves as feminine, masculine, or even androgynous” (Burack, 1). According to Burack, people of different genders behave differently not due to biological factors, but due to socialization that teaches individuals to behave in a particular way in order to belong to a certain gender. For example, women may tend to be nurturing, not because they are biologically programed to be caretakers, but as a result of society teaching them through toys and media to act as mothers. In this way, gender becomes a performance based on expectations rather than natural behaviors or biology, a phenomenon called “doing
Boys are told to not be a girl, that they cannot wear pink, and cannot play with Barbie’s. If a boy acts outside of this stereotype he is considered a homosexual. Stereotypes and traditional roles need to be squashed. Restricting a child to one set of behaviors can psychologically damage them. Maria do Mar Pereira, a sociological researcher, found in a study that “constant effort to manage one’s everyday life in line with gender norms produces significant anxiety, insecurity, stress and low self-esteem for both boys and girls, and both for ‘popular’ young people and those who have lower status in school” (Forcing
The most influential agent of socialization I the family. In this chapter this is shown, generally the kids in “street” families had the tendency to act similar to their parents. “The kind of home he comes from influences but does not determine the way he will ultimately turnout,” (105). The kids would be quick to hit someone else if they did not get their way, they would yell and argue in very unorderly fashions, just like they had seen their parents do or other adults they had been surrounded by. Aside from family peers are also a strong agent of socialization, especially in a system like this in which children are raised through accomplishment of natural growth, in which they are surrounded by other children in all their free time and often times children not in their age group.
From the moment of my birth, I was declared a girl and my parents immediately attempted to raise me to be every aspect of my gender, from behavior to beliefs. In sociology, this is known as gender role socialization, which is the process of socializing boys and girls to conform to their assigned genders’ attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, values, and norms. My parents taught me how think and behave like a girl through the way the way they dressed me, how they did my hair, and the toys they allowed me to play with. However, having been raised with a brother, I also picked up on some of his supposed gender roles. I am exactly who I am due to the way I was socialized by my parents and others around me.
The question about whether or not an individual’s identity is innate or acquired, has always been a debatable issue. Some people argue that gender identity is a result of the social context they live in, while others believe a person is born into it. Gender identity is a “person 's subjective sense of themselves as masculine or feminine and is exhibited by the degree to which they act upon their gender roles” (Whalen & Maurer-Starks, 2008). However, based on the current society people live in, it is more likely that an individual’s identity, such as their sexuality, education, and social status are acquired as a result of the social context they live in.
There are many processes of socialization. Some being learning how to think, feel, be normal, moral, and even how to be feminine or masculine. Learning how to think begins at birth and as they grow through adolescence they develop advanced mental capabilities. Children learn how to feel largely through their parents, beginning with identification of
After my gender reveal, my mother started getting the baby room ready, decorating the walls pink with a lacy border. My clothes were dresses with little bows. As I grew, my gender became one of my core identities. I have memories of being told by my father that it was okay I struggled in mathematics, because “most girls aren’t good at math.”
Growing up around social media and movies that contrast stereotypes frequently, it has become almost natural to presume a way about a group or individual without knowing one’s identity. Before interacting with those who attended a private school, my mind was entrenched to the assurance that those students were wealthy, preppy, and superior who wore the same uniform everyday, resembling everyone else. From kindergarten till seventh grade, I attend a small charter school called Sherman Thomas where uniforms were enforced. Being mistaken as a private school majority of the time, outsiders viewed me differently. Mrs. Napier, the principle felt as if all students wore the same attire, no judgement towards the less fortunate would take place.
Introduction Parents play an important role in guiding the development of their child in the early years, before the influence of teachers and peers comes into play (Diem-Wille, 2014). This influence that parents have on their children would naturally affect the child’s perception of gender roles and stereotypes. Following the approach of the Gender-Schema Theory, the child learns about gender in his or her society by observing behaviours of the people around him or her and then classifying the information as characteristic of different genders (Bem, 1983). The family environment and experience would therefore be central to helping the child construct schemas about gender roles since parents’ actions and attitudes are part of the information that the child receives from the environment that is integrated into the schema (McHale, Crouter, & Whiteman, 2003).
Indeed, parents begin to impart knowledge of sexual identity and gender roles to newborn babies. Girl baby and boy baby are perceived and treated differently from the moment of their birth. Mothers will more concentrate on their little girls’ appearance than their little boys. Based on Cartel (2014), discovered that girls are wrapped in pink blankets and boy in blue ones which are symbolically attached to gender during childbirth (p. 244).
Sexual Identity In “Gender Socialization and Identity Theory” by Michael J. Carter, he asserts gender identity originates with the family. The writer maintains that families are the agents of identity socialization. Carter argues that beginning with infancy children are taught how they are expected to socialize primarily by their families, simply due to the continuous contact with one another, boys are dressed in blue while girls are dressed in pink. The author plainly elucidates children gain knowledge of homophily through playmates by self-segregation into homogeneous groups.
And they start to prepare its arrival depending on which sex the baby is. The article questions the audience, “Does knowing all this makes a difference on how the parents treat the child?” Scientists are concerned about when and how do the children start to act according to their gender. The late 1960’s to 1970’s had been a turning point for the gender identification. For example, during this time period, women got the right to go out and work.
Every culture has different guidelines about what is suitable for males and females and family members may socialize babies in gendered ways without consciously following that path. For example, in a modern society, the colour pink is associated with girls and the colour blue with boys. Even as tiny babies, boys and girls are dressed differently according to what is considered ‘appropriate’ to the respective sexes. Even parents who strive to achieve a less ‘gendered’ parenting style unconsciously reinforce gender roles. A family structure acts as the most important agent of gender socialization for children and adolescents as it serves as the centre of a child’s life.