Gender Roles

The Effects of Gender Roles in Early Childhood Development
Kamille Culpepper
Kennesaw State University

Abstract
Childhood development is one of the most influential times in a person’s life. At an early age a person’s brain is at its peak of learning. So everything that is taught during this time will affect the person’s life and our society. One thing that is implicated is gender roles. Gender roles are the overt expression of attitudes that indicate to others the degree of one’s masculinity or femininity. Gender roles are based on two categories which all people do not fit in. So children are often affected by these roles due to the bias and lack of understanding. Also gender roles affect the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) society by making them outcasts due to the sexist rules gender roles implicate.

The Effects of Gender Roles in Early Childhood Development
In early childhood development gender roles and gender stereotyping are a part of a child’s everyday life. Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology indicate that children play an important role in developing gender beliefs and determining gender behavior based on Lamb, Bigler, Liben and Greens research in Teaching Children to Confront Peers’ Sexist Remarks: Implications for theories of Gender Development and Educational Practice. Lamb et al. (2009) suggests that children often pressure their peers to adapt to these traditional gender roles. Also Children will use verbal and nonverbal behaviors to influence their peers’ gender role development. For example, children instruct peers about the content of cultural gender stereotypes, exclude peers on the basis of gender, tease peers concerning violations of gender norms and in extreme cases, harass and physically attack peers who are gender atypical.
In our society we encourage a strict adherence to traditional gender roles. For example girls are taught to be gentle and polite as well as to cook, clean, and be an overall

Bibliography: Lamb, M, Bigler, R, Liben, L, Green, V. (2009 May 8). Teaching Children to Confront Peers’ Sexist Remarks: Implications for Theories of Gender Development and Educational Practice. Springer Science and Business media. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=eeff74ce-96b5-450b-8976-422726d1b1a5%40sessionmgr13&vid=4&hid=6 This study displays how kids are affected by gender roles and how they perform based on the knowledge they are given. In this study kids are asked gender based questions in order to see how they will respond. Often, verbal and physical abuse is seen from kids when faced with children who do not fit in with the traditional gender roles. Nadia, Steve. (2010, June). Kids Brain Power. The Riggs Institute. Retrieved from http://www.riggsinst.org/brainpower.aspx This article cites the research findings of several brain researchers on the subject of the young child’s ability to learn and the U.S. educational systems. But over it is a conglomeration of different articles about the brain and learning in young children. The articles illustrate the brain and the important parts that are vital in the learning experience. Mustanski, Brian. (2012 Mar). A healthy Chicago for LGBT Youth. IMPACT. Retrieved from http://www.impactprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMPACT-White-Paper-2012.pdf This was a study done on Chicago’s LGBT youth. It researches the affects the society has on LGBT youth. These are but are not limited to depression, suicide, non-suicidal harm, violence, and eating disorders. His research shows that LGBT youth are at a much higher risk then heterosexual youth. But from his research he also proposes solutions to help LGBT deviate from these extreme risk. Witt D. , Susan. (1997). Parental Influence on Children 's Socialization to Gender Roles. School of Home Economics and Family Ecology. Retieved from http://gozips.uakron.edu/~susan8/parinf.htm In a society which is rife with gender stereotypes and biases, children regularly learn to adopt gender roles which are not always fair to both sexes. As children move through childhood and into adolescence, they are exposed to many factors which influence their attitudes and behaviors regarding gender roles. These attitudes and behaviors are generally learned first in the home and are then reinforced by the child 's peers, school experience, and television viewing. However, the strongest influence on gender role development seems to occur within the family setting, with parents passing on, both overtly and covertly, to their children their own beliefs about gender. This overview of the impact of parental influence on gender role development leads to the suggestion that an androgynous gender role orientation may be more beneficial to children than strict adherence to traditional gender roles. Mishna, F, Newman P, Daley, A, Solomon, S. (2008 Jan.). Bullying of Lesbian and Gay Youth: Qualitative Investigation. The British Journal of Social Work. Retrieved from doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm148 The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of service providers and youth advocates working with lesbian and gay communities in order to increase understanding of bullying of lesbian and gay youth. In depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine key informants from various education and social service settings. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive data analysis was conducted using a constant comparative method. Six major categories emerged: prevalence, sites and perpetrators, institutional and community factors, effects of bullying, and barriers as well as strategies to address bullying. Several dimensions of bullying that may be specific to lesbian and gay youth (e.g. pervasiveness across their social ecology and risks to coming-out; sexual prejudice in the media; and ‘conversion bullying’) suggest the importance of investigations to support development of targeted, multi-sectoral interventions.