Tammy Sauve

12/11/10
Early Childhood Socialization and it’s Influence on Gender
Soc 220 Final Exam

There are many aspects, with in a multi layered socialization process, during

early childhood, that influences the child’s view and beliefs on gender roles. Our

first socialization experience revolves around our parents, siblings and other family

members, usually made up of immediate family members. Infants start learning

and processing information around them, from the day they are born, like a sponge.

Both positive or negative attributes, relating to gender roles or gender identity are

soaked into the child from those closest around him, usually his parents or other

immediate family members that influence how the child will view his gender. The

information accumulated into the child’s thought patterns become categorized and

organized, creating a “schema”, a thought pattern in which the child uses to

understand his surroundings, including his gender identification. The parent/child

interactions play the most significant role on influencing a child’s gender

identification, primarily because they spend the most time with them,

inadvertently pick up on how male or female genders are treated differently.

In addition, to how each individual family member may affect the child and his

view on gender, there is also the “family unit” as a whole, that has an influence on
us. Each family unit has their own set of values, belief systems or expectations on

gender roles, that they instill and pass on traditionally, from one generation on to

the next, learned through “modeling” ones parents or family members. The child

follows suit and steps into the family’s assigned gender role, deeming the role

normal, through that particular family’s “reinforcement” practices on his or her

gender roles. Gender identification can vary widely from one culture to the next,

ethnicity, religion or social class affecting the punishment and reward system of

gender appropriate or gender inappropriate behaviors.

Culture plays a huge role in gender identity. Each culture has its own belief

system on how genders should behave, act or feel. These belief systems according to

Bem’s Enculturated Lens theory are called “Lenses”, a way each culture views what

their normative expectations are for gender, in their society. Cultures keep their

belief systems alive by “enculturation”, that is saturating their society on a daily

basis with their cultures beliefs through the media, school systems, traditions or

meta message’s. A culture in doctrines their society’s values on a daily basis, to

reinforce and institute enculturation, to the point that persons living within that

culture becomes unaware, that there are different ways to view ones gender roles or

reality, other than the one they live in. Bem’s used “biological essentialism” to

explain or rationalize different cultures gender polarization or andocentric views on

woman and men’s gender roles. This belief in traditional gender roles are explained

away by biologically, a belief that societies gender roles developed due to biological

differences and the development of these gender roles serve a necessary purpose for

a society to function properly.

 We are surrounded by things in our culture that influence our gender identity,

everywhere we turn, such as the books we read to our children or the toys we buy

for them, even peer socialization in school or daycares reinforce the traditional

gender role. Toy corporations still follow the traditional boy/girl gender identity

roles, making their girl toys to fit the traditional “motherhood or domestic” roles

and the boys toys made to express aggression or action through military, athletic or

action figures. These gender issued toys reinforce the traditional boy/girl gender

identification in our society, continuing gender polarization within our culture.

Children’s literature books follow the traditional boy vs. girl gender roles as well.

Such as illustrating girls doing domestic chores rather than working in careers or

girls putting on make up while the boys are depicted as doing something productive

and important, like building.

Early peer group socialization plays an important role in gender role formation,

by social differentiation, that is children naturally divide and segregate themselves

in same sex groups, in an effort to form their gender identity through same sex

socialization. The more they exhibit gender appropriate behavior the more likely

they will be accepted into the same sex group, further reinforcing traditional gender

roles, our society institutes and demands.