Identity Paper

            The cultural topic I chose to write about is gender stereotypes in grade school-aged children. My goal was to figure out if gender stereotypes have been instilled in us since childhood or if they are something that have developed as we have gotten older. There are many different factors that can affect these gender stereotypes such as the region you grew up in, who you were friends with, and who your parents and family members are. I believe that the people around you can have an extremely strong influence on what gender stereotypes end up affecting you.

            Growing up with three older brothers, there weren't many so-called "girly" things like dolls and makeup kits, lying around my house. It was all sports equipment here and action figures there. I guess you could say I was pretty much your stereotypical boy. Was it because I did grow up with three older brothers, so their likes and interest just sort of grew on me? If that’s true, why did my first-born brothers, who were twins, end up liking all this stereotypical boy stuff? Was it what my parents bought for them? Was it what society geared them to like? There are a multitude of different reasons for why my brothers and I began to like certain things and dislike others, but a big part of it is probably because of gender stereotypes that have been ingrained in us since we were little kids.  It is stated in Sex Roles in the section Accessibility of Gender Stereotype Domains: Developmental and Gender Differences in Children, “From birth, children are surrounded by information that communicates the beliefs and behaviors that are considered appropriated for each gender group. It is, therefore, not surprising that they amass a fair amount of gender stereotype knowledge early in life” (Miller 870).

            Girls liking pink and boys liking blue is one of the most basic gender stereotypes. Usually if parents are expecting a girl, everything they buy is going to be pink, and if it’s a boy, everything’s going to be blue. In a study done with American children who were aged from 2 to 5 years old, they were shown toys in a catalogue and were asked to identify whether it was for boys or for girls. Adults had identified the toys as masculine, feminine, neutral, or ambiguous previously. When identify the neutral or ambiguous toys as gender specific, none of the boys or girls differed in the fact that they identified it that way because of its color, “suggesting that even at this young age, both male and female children clearly associate color and gender” (Karniol 120). 98 Israeli preschoolers and third graders were examined as they colored in their coloring books. More colors in general were used for figures stereotypically associated with one’s own gender. Boys avoided coloring the figures more associated with girls and using the color pink entirely, while girls used fewer female stereotyped colors for the male figures, but used both types of colors equally for the other figures.

“The rigidity of boys’ gender stereotypes may partially reflect the greater restrictiveness of parents with respect to gender counter-stereotypic behavior in boys than in girls. Thus, American parents hold more rigid stereotypes of males and exert greater pressure towards conformity to gender-stereotyped behavior in boys” (Karniol 121). Parents in America have actively prevented their sons from liking what they considered to be “girly” things, such as the color pink, with one parent saying, “He likes pink and I try not to encourage him to like pink just because, you know, he’s not a girl” (Karniol 121).

“Findings on gender differences in self-perceived gender typicality have been somewhat mixed. Some studies have found higher levels of self-perceived gender typicality among boys than girls… Researchers have posited that the observed higher levels of gender typicality among boys may be due to greater pressure for gender conformity among boys…” (Patterson 423). I’m inclined to agree with the researchers who believe there’s higher gender typicality in boys because of societal pressure. If you wear a pink shirt or read something like the Twilight series, you’re automatically labeled gay. Society forces boys into these rigid stereotypes like “you must like sports” and “you can’t cry” in order to be “manly.” Boys can only like “boy” stuff, while on the other hand, girls can like “girl” stuff and “boy” stuff and nobody seems to care. Everyone should be able to enjoy whatever they like, regardless of gender, without being labeled.

I conducted a short experiment and interview with my 6-year-old niece to see if and how she has been affected by gender stereotypes in her life so far. The experiment is loosely based on the study done with the 2 to 5 year old American children with the toy catalogue. Like the adults who had decided on which gender the items were targeted towards before they conducted the study, I did the same with what items I presented to my niece. The experiment differed in the fact that while the boys and girls were just identifying whether the toy was for boys or girls, my niece was choosing which she preferred out of the choices. While they boys and girls who were surveyed in the study usually relied on color as their main identifier on which gender the toys targeted, my niece differed in that fact in that color had no influence on her decisions, but on what she personally enjoyed more. My niece has one younger sister and no brothers, but the ratio of the number of uncles to aunts is 5 to 1. The questions usually revolved around choosing between two stereotypically gender specific items, whether it be a toy, game, or book. The first question I asked her was whether she would like to read a Batman comic (the stereotypically male item) or a Cinderella book (the stereotypically female item), to which she responded, “Batman” (Greenwood). I followed up with why she chose Batman over Cinderella and she said because it’s superheroes, to which she prefers over princesses. She chose the opposite of what her gender would stereotypically choose, which might surprise some, but knowing she’s growing up with a dad and three uncles who like Batman, her choice would be seemingly obvious. I then asked her to choose between a My Little Pony DVD and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVD. She chose the My Little Pony DVD because “[she] watches it a lot and like it better” (Greenwood). A Spider-Man action figure versus Rarity, a My Little Pony, was next up and she said, “Rarity because she’s pretty” (Greenwood). I also gave her the choice between Candy Land and Joker’s Funhouse with her choosing Joker’s Funhouse because you’re able to shoot down the Joker with Batman’s batarang and use Superman’s x-ray vision. I then gave her My Little Pony and Batman. After a few seconds of thinking, she said, “It’s too hard to decide because they’re both my favorite things” (Greenwood). My final question was if she ever got picked on or made fun of at school because she liked things girls don’t usually like and she said no because her friends, both boys and girls, like the same things she does.

My niece’s answers and choices were greatly affected by her surroundings while growing up. Had she grown up with more aunts than uncles, and those aunts loved the Disney Princesses, I’m sure her choices would be radically different. It helps strengthen my belief that the people around you have a strong influence on what gender stereotypes do affect you as you age.

Works Cited

Karniol, Rachel. Sex Roles: The Color of Children’s Gender Stereotypes. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2011. Print.

Miller, Cindy Faith; Lurye, Leah E; Zosuls, Kristina M; Ruble, Diane N. Sex Roles: Accessibility of Gender Stereotype Domains: Developmental and Gender Differences in Children. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2009. Print.

Patterson, Meagan M. Sex Roles: Self-Perceived Gender Typicality, Gender-Typed Attributes, and Gender Stereotype Endorsement in Elementary-School-Aged Children. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2012. Print.

Greenwood, Alexis. Personal interview. January 2015.