Influence of the parents on the children

My initial impressions of the reading are that it provides a convincing case for the social creation of gender roles in media. To begin, Kane (2006) claims that parents can influence their children's sexuality by dressing them or decorating their rooms, which is correct. Second, she points out that many people assume that parents alone shape their children's sexuality, denying their capacity to influence one another. Most people believe that children are passive participants in the formation of gender roles, with no ability to shape them independently. Kane, on the other hand, offers convincing evidence to the contrary. She says children can influence each other's sexuality by condemning or accepting people according to the gender norms that they have learned from their parents. Again, the observation bears truth.

The reading made me feel that the way people establish their gender roles is unfair. Individuals have minimal control over the creation of their sexuality because they have to conform to the standards created by parents or other children. As a parent in this situation, I would act differently. I would encourage my children to take control of their gender roles rather than allowing someone else to dictate it. By inspiring my children to pursue the activities they feel provides them with contentment, I can help them overcome the pressure that forces them to fit the set gender stereotypes. For instance, a female child who feels they are happy playing with toy cars and tries to fix them should be encouraged to pursue it. In most cases, parents will try to change the behavior of such a child. My approach allows a child to create his or her own identity.

As mentioned, my thinking concerning parenthood is to allow children to shape their sexuality. In this regard, I would avoid acting differently whether my child is male or female. My emphasis would be on enabling them to decide their gender roles to allow them to participate in the tasks and careers that would permit them to realize their full potential. However, this can be a problem. According to Cardwell & Flanagan (2003), the ego and superego form children's personality among human beings. Superego develops around the age of five years when children discover their genitals. After doing so, they reject parents of the opposite sex and adopt the attitudes and values of the same-sex parent. If this is the case, a mother may have difficulties influencing a daughter to take the views associated with men even though she excels at it because the child wants to identify with her mother. Nevertheless, as long as I consider it an independent choice, I would support.

My socialization into my gender informs my views on these issues. As a man, I have noticed that women tend to encounter discrimination because society places lesser importance to their opinions compared to men. My socialization into the male gender role motivates me to defend those who cannot protect themselves. As a result, it influences me to protect the female children. I achieve this goal by fighting for equality among the genders. Allowing children to decide their sexuality is a primary way for creating a balance because none of the gender roles receives more attention than the other. In this way, children learn to view each other as peers. Removing the elements that perpetuate the belief that gender roles make one person superior to the other is one way to guarantee equality.





References

Cardwell, M. & Flanagan, C. (2003). Psychology A”: The complete companion. Cheltenham, UK: Nelson Thornes.

Kane, E. (2006). No way my boys are going to be like that!: Parents’ responses to children’s gender nonconformity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.