In a society filled with gender stereotypes and biases, children often adopt gender roles

which are not always equal to both males and females. As children move on through childhood

and later into adolescence many factors influence their views and behaviors towards gender roles.

These attitudes and behaviors are learned initially in the home, and later reinforced by many other

outside influences such as their school experiences, friends, teachers, and television. Children turn

out to internalize many of the gender stereotypes and behaviors of the past. Where are these

stereotypes coming from? The strongest influence on gender development occurs in the home,

with parents passing on many of the beliefs they have about gender roles.

Children learn at a young age what it means to be a boy or a girl in our society. Through

opportunities, encouragement and discouragement, obvious behaviors, covert suggestions, and

various types of guidance, children experience the formation of their gender role socialization. It

is hard for children to grow into adults without experiencing some form of gender bias or gender

stereotyping, whether it be that boys are supposed to be tough

(Thorne 1993). Children internalize parental messages at a young age. Sex role differences have

types of household chores lead children to link types of work to gender, thus enforcing gender

Parental attitudes toward children have a strong impact on developing their sense of self

stereotypes to their children. Fathers seem to have a greater impact than do mothers on gender

surprised at the outcome of my research. Children raised to be androgynous have been found to

McCreary, Donald R. "The male role avoiding femininity." Sex Roles: A Journal of

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Approximate Word count = 1548
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)