a boy playing with a doll). Furthermore, social learning theory supports the nurture side of the nature nurture debate by stating that gender role is learnt through upbringing. Bandura found that children can tell the difference between male and female behaviours and they then use this to influence their own behaviour. For example, Bandura et al found that children do no model the behaviour of both of their parents (i.e. a boy may not cook dinner even though they observe their mother carrying out this behaviour).
Diamond and Sigmundson’s completed a study of a little boy named David who was a twin who lost his penis during a circumcision so at the age of 17 months old he was then raised as a girl named Brenda so that he could feel like he fitted in. The results of this study were that he started showing masculine traits and decided he wanted to be changed back in to a boy. This study supports the biological approach towards gender as it shows that Bruce developed masculine traits because of his biological sex (male). However, David could have learnt these masculine traits during his first 17 months of being male as his gender was resigned after a child starts learning and developing. He could have also picked up some of these traits from his twin brother.
Gender Stereotyping in Children’s Toys Today, toy stores divide the many toys, games, and movies into two primary categories: boy and girl. Toys teach children at such a young age what their roles are in society and that they cannot stray from these roles. Through their gender-biased toys, boys learn to be tough, “warrior like” leaders and girls learn to be nurturers. Girls’ toys stress physical beauty and appearance while boys’ toys focus on respect for their physical abilities (Campenni 122). Gender socialization through toys, teaches and reinforces stereotypical gender roles.
A criticism of this would be that genes is not the main factor in gender development. Money and Ehrhardt argue that being socialised as a certain gender (being labelled as a boy or girl) has a larger influence than biology. For example, sometimes children can be born with ambiguous genitalia and it is not completely clear what sex they are – Money argues that if a child's gender is decided before their third birthday, then the social factors will be so influential that the child will accept their assigned gender identity despite their genitalia. After this critical period, it cannot be changed as it may cause the child serious psychological
It is thought that these brain differences cause differences in the behaviour of males and females and could provide insight into the cause of gender dysphoria. The suggestion is that pre-natal hormones cause atypical brain development in the foetus and the child’s brain develops in a way that is not consistent with its genitalia and chromosomes. A strength of the brain sex theory is that it has supporting evidence, Kruijver (2000) carried out a post mortem analysis of
Treating all boys like warriors and girls like homemakers is insulting to their intelligence and abilities, and is taking too strong a stance on gender differences. Rather, subtle differences in treatment would be more suitable, such as not allowing a girl to walk alone at night, or not encouraging a boy to play with dolls. It’s ok if he does want to play with dolls (and says very little about his masculinity), but there’s no need to force it on him like a parent would with a girl. There are many situations in which boys and girls should be treated the same. Teaching a boy that it’s ok to push and shove because of his testosterone levels will probably make him more violent in the long haul, and it’s a better idea to show kids of both genders that violence is never O.K.
Should sex education be taught in schools? There have been many debates over this. Studies show parents say that sex education only destroys the morality of people because they think that sex education teaches students about how sexual intercourse is done. Although sex education lowers the morality of people by teaching students how to use condoms and contraceptives, it should be taught in primary school and secondary school because its a prevents sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy, it is indeed a need in case of parents’ absence, and it gives children the idea of what is right and what is wrong. Research shows that teens are more sexually active now than before.
This is supported and was shown by McConachy’s study of gender stability where they asked young children to identify the sex of a doll. They found that children aged 3.5 to 4 used hair length to decide on the sex of the doll. The third and final stage is gender constancy or consistency. At around 6-7, children realise that gender is permanent; if a woman has her head shaven, she is still female. Gender understanding is only complete when a child appreciates that gender is permanent over time and different situations.
Kohlberg related many of these ideas to gender development. Kohlberg believed that children actively structure their own experiences, rather than passive learning through observing and imitating. According to his theory, children acquire understanding of gender in three stages. The first stage is gender labelling (2-3.5 years). At this stage children label themselves and others as girl or boy, but this is based only on outward appearance.
That is the relationship between the two genders, and the relationship between gender and society. Girls and boys are encouraged to adopt female and male characteristics that are determined by society. Their behaviour is reinforced by praise or reward for being appropriately masculine or feminine. (Buckingham-Hatfield, 2000). Freud’s psychodynamic theory implies that a child’s gender identity is absent before the age of around three and that it is not fully formed