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Gender Stereotyping

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Gender Stereotyping
Gender Stereotyping in Children

Alisha Gordon
Blue Ridge Community College

Gender Stereotyping in Children Delaying exposure to gender stereotyping in young children helps avoid disapproving gender views that limit children’s behavior and learning abilities, which plays a vital role in their social and cognitive development.
I. Beliefs and Behaviors
II. Influences a. Biological b. Environment 1. Family 2. Teachers 3. Peers III. Identity a. Emergence of gender identity IV. Gender Schema
Children who hold a flexible gender view of what boys and girls can do tend to see the world in a less gender biased fashion and increases their social and cognitive development, which helps prepare them for entering society.

Alisha Gordon
Tracey Johnson
Eng. 111
4/24/12
Gender Stereotyping in Children Parents play the role of nurturing their children and preparing them for society, and somewhere in between they have unintentionally introduced their children to gender stereotyping (beliefs and behaviors acceptable for girls and boys). As children grow they start to learn gender typing on their own through biological and environmental influences. Then through observation children develop their own identity towards male or female, and they start to organize their experiences through gender schemas. This is how children start to interpret what’s happening in their world. Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Bandura’s social learning theory explain how children learn through modeling and actively constructing knowledge as they manipulate and explore the world. So, parents should try to reduce or delay gender stereotyping to allow their children the opportunity to learn without restrictions. Before children can fully understand their own gender, they have been subtly introduced to society’s views of what is correct for beliefs and behaviors for boys and girls. By 18 months they can associate things with


Cited: An Educator’s Guide to Gender Bias Issues. n.p. 19 April 2012. Web. n.d. . Berk, Laura. Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, (2012): 390-396. Print Freeman, Nancy. "Preschoolers’ Perceptions Of Gender Appropriate Toys And Their Parents’ Beliefs About Genderized Behaviors: Miscommunication, Mixed Messages, Or Hidden Truths?." Early Childhood Education Journal 34.5 (2007): 357-366. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. Gender Dynamics in the Classroom. n.p. 19 April 2012. Web. n.d. . Julie A. Eichstedt, et al. "Gender Stereotyping In Infancy: Visual Preferences For And Knowledge Of Gender-Stereotyped Toys In The Second Year." International Journal Of Behavioral Development 25.1 (2001): 7-15. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. Martin, Carol Lynn, and Diane Ruble. "Children 's Search For Gender Cues Cognitive Perspectives On Gender Development." Current Directions In Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell) 13.2 (2004): 67-70. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. Witt, Susan D. "Parental Influence On Children 's Socialization To Gender Roles." Adolescence 32.126 (1997): 253. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.
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