Growing up male and female By Gilbert

Brown and Hood (2002) in “Growing up Male and Female”,talk about four different methods which the society uses to bring up their children according to their gender. First of all they say newborn babies do not know whether they are boys or girls; they learn their gender roles by observing how the society treats them because babies are treated according to their gender. Baby girls are dressed up in pink closing and boys in blue. The society doesn’t give them the same toys. For example boys are given cars, guns trucks and girls are given dolls and beauty sets. Second they talk about when babies start to talk; the society teaches them masculine words and feminine words like “him” and “her” or “he” and “she”. Parents talk to their children in different ways, more politely to girls than to boys. I mean they use more emotion and feelings with their girls than with boys.Next Brown and Hood talk about behavior in which girls are tought to be “ladylike” polite, pretty, gently and sexy. They are tought also to rely on boys for help; they are though to express their emotions. Then boys are tought to be “Man like”, for example, they tell boys not to cry and not to loose. Because of this socialization boys grow up with a fear of being female. The authors talk about parent’s expectations of daughters and sons. Daughters are socialized more about the family; for example they expect them to remember birthdays, to take care of newborn baby in the house. Sons are not expected to do this stuff; they are expected to be more interested in the world, for example, getting a job and making money. The authors continue by discussing gender neutral socialization in which parents want to socialize their children into equal gender roles, but it is hard for them because of stores which make and sell specific gender toys; war toys for boys and domestic toys for girls. Parents try also giving their children gender neutral toys but it doesn’t work because of gifts from their relatives and friends.