Final Summary/Reaction 



     I felt as though my project was successful.  After posting my survey, I received a total of 15 responses.  In the true or false questions, the correct answer for both questions one and two were true.  It is true that by age two, most children know for sure what sex they are.  It is also true that parents play a large role in the gender development process.  10 out of 15 people got the first question right and 12 out of 15 got the second question right.  I was excited to see so many people getting the first two questions right because it showed how aware these people were about my topic.  The last true or false question's correct answer was false.  Gender Socialization starts even before the baby is born.  5 out of 15 people go the last question right. Although a lot of people didn't get the last question right, I knew that my topic isn't as well known as the other topics.  

     The results to the question whether or not the person felt that boys and girls can be both feminine and masculine also surprised me.  4 out of 15 said that we should teach boys to be masculine and girls to be feminine.  The rest of the people said that we shouldn't teach our children how to be boys or girls.  I didn't think a lot of people would think that boys could be feminine and girls could be masculine because of the many stereotypes out there.  7 out of 15 said that they would let their son dress up as a princess for Halloween.  12 out of 15 said that they would let their daughter dress up as a super hero or zombie for Halloween.  I expected these results because I feel as though it is harder to let the boy be feminine than it is for the girl to be masculine.

     Overall, I feel as though I picked the right topic. Researching about this topic not only helped me understand more about it but also got me more aware about it.

                                                      Revised Summary /Plan/Update


I posted my survey on Facebook and in 2 minutes already got two responses.  I posted it on my timeline to try to get adults to respond and posted it in my class page to get people my age to respond.  So far in my results, people are getting some true or false questions correct.  Also a lot of people say that if they saw something out of the ordinary they would be disturbed but not say anything.  My hypothesis is right so far.  Most people are going to be my age in responding to my survey.  I think I'm seeing the results I'm seeing because this is not an easy topic for some people to discuss.  With society consisting of certain norms, it either brings people to have new perspective on things or stick with what they believe is right

                                                             Strategy/ Plan for Research

     For the 2nd Part of my Research I intend on creating an online survey.  I will be creating this online survey by making a Google Doc.  I will also send this survey out through email.  My participants will consist of both genders, my age group to parents age group and of all social classes.  My Hypothesis is that most people in my age group will be more aware with what Gender Development consists of.  I feel as though most people in my age group will differ a lot with answers of a parents age group.  

                                                      Suggested Research Method

For Semester 2, I have to do the Applied Research part of my project.  My plan is to use the survey research method.  I chose the survey method because I feel as though I can help people through my survey get a better sense as to what Gender Development is.  In some parts of the survey, I plan on including true or false questions to test people's knowledge about Gender Development.  The rest will be other questions to discover people's feelings on the topic.

#8

Months ago (before this blog), I didn't have a clear understanding about what Childhood Development was.  After watching videos and reading articles, I was fascinated with all the information I discovered.  We don't always know it but when we teach or raise a baby to behavior in a certain manner, we are enforcing them to act the way we think is acceptable or not for our society.  There is a lot in our society that influences children to act as a boy or a girl.  Also, with parents there is a lot of pressure with this issue.    "Do I give my boy a doll because he keeps pulling my hair?" "Can my daughter not play football because it's too boyish?"

I have learned that by age two, most children are fully aware of their gender.  I have also learned that by giving a child a certain toy or type of clothing, we are right then and there teaching them what gender they are.  There is pressure from not only parents and peers, but also from society.  Society has norms that define manly/womanlike characteristics.    

As a conclusion for this blog, I have gained a lot of knowledge and a more clearer understanding about what Childhood Development really is.

# 7

So going off of my last post, something to think about is how Gender Developments and Gender Roles all start.  The whole not knowing which gender baby Storm was, was a direct result of the parents decision.  This new article I found, Why are Parents So Important in the Gender Socialization Process, talks about how big of a role parents play in the child development process.  Although in the future it is said that the media can overpower the parent's influence, it is the parents the child is first exposed to.  The parents are in charge of teaching the child manners, buying the child cloths/toys and later on letting the child participate in a certain activity.  Which type of clothing do I buy for my child?  Do I tell my daughter that she can't play on the football team because it's better for her to try ballet?  Do I let my son have a tea party?

Society and the social norms of a society are the second factor that influence children.  For a long time the social norm for distinguishing a boy from a girl was a color. The expected color for a girl was pink and the color for a boy was blue.  So today if you saw a baby wearing a pink outfit, you are automatically going to assume that the baby is a girl.  In class we discussed the idea behind Deviance.  Deviance is violating a social norm.  In this case an example would be boys wearing dresses.  Also in class we discussed that without norms, we would experience Social Chaos.  Yet would it really be chaotic if girls wore the color blue.

#6

This article is about a baby named Storm.  Storm was born in 2011 in Toronto, Canada.  When Storm was born, Storm's parents would't say whether Storm was a boy or a girl.  Only a few people know about Storm's gender but the parents didn't want Storm to be exposed to the gender messages/roles.   The parents want Storm to share his/her gender when the time is right.  Storm wanted to be a monster for Halloween in order to roar.  Some people are saying this is child abuse and that Storm's parents are using Storm as an experiment.  Storm has also been known to say "I am a girl" or "I am a boy" at different times.

Looking at this story with Storm there are a lot of things to consider.  In class we learned that Gender means what society considers appropriate for males and females.  On one side we could argue that in order to shelter Storm from these "expectations", pressures and stereotypes society has, Storm's parents tried something new in order to give their child a choice.  Yet on the other side we could view this as now confusing and making Storm uncomfortable.  While Storm's friends grow up already aware of what gender they are, Storm has to figure out what gender he/she is.

This is the link to the article:
http://www.thestar.com/life/parent/2013/11/15/remember_storm_we_check_in_on_the_baby_being_raised_genderneutral.html

#5

The video below consists of young children (both boys and girls) being questioned about their gender.  It is said in the beginning of the clip that most two year old children know for sure what sex they are.   The children are also questioned on the "roles" boys and girls are expected to have.  At one point the interviewer asks these children to point to a certain doll that is known for a certain "role."  There comes another scene when the dolls are positioned in a way that looks like the opposite gender.  When asked about the dolls positions, one of the kids disagrees that this would be okay.

In class we talked about how the definition of a role is a behavior, obligation and privilege attached to a status.  There was also the theory behind Status Inconsistency.  The theory is that statuses come with built in norms. When there are violations of these norms, we see them not fitting into our expectations.  An example in class was a 15 year old becoming a college freshman.  Relating this idea back to the video, the violation would be a boy wearing a dress or a girl wearing boy cloths.  

#4


Gender Development is all about how female and male children are "supposed to act."  In this first picture, it shows the stereotype that in order to be classified in the male gender, there is this expectation of  being tall and muscular.  On the other side of this, the female gender expectation is to typically be the teacher and be the one to take care of the children.

In class we learned about Socialization.  Gender Socialization is learning about society's "gender map." There are different Agents of Socialization that help shape your identity.  An example would be your family class and work.  There are situations today where it is common for one parent to stay at home while the other one works.  Sometimes a family will consist of only one parent/guardian.  So, the picture is stereotypical because you could have a situation where the man has to be feminine and stay at home to take care of the children.

 "Boys can't cry and need to be manly"...."Girls need to act ladylike"...In this case it's "Boys are football players"..."Girls are cheerleaders."  This next picture is another example of the Gender Development's role in what boys and girls can do.

  

#3/2

So in my last blog, I had posted a website that mentioned how there are "expectations" to being female and male.  These "expectations" are believed to be one of the reasons Gender Roles are an issue. This video, from the TV show What would you do?, shows an example of how the expectations effect our society.  You will see a little boy trying on a girly costume and a girl trying on a boyish costume.  The mom's job is trying to discourage the child from wearing the costume.  When you watch the video you will see how other people will respond to the child's behavior. 

In class we talked a lot about Culture.  The difference between Culture Relativism and Ethnocentrism is that in Culture Relativism, we see people trying to appreciate another group, culture or way of life.  However in Ethnocentrism, it is hard to look at another viewpoint and people think their culture does a better job in doing things.   Let's say we split our own culture into two different groups.  One group has gender roles with expectations and one doesn't.  Most likely we would see more of Ethnocentrism.  

First personal blog

#1-Intro to Topic-Childhood Development


For my first personal blog, here is a website to explain more about Gender Development.  The website is about the organization, UNICEF, that helps give the rights to all children (no matter their gender).



http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_40749.html

Intro to Childhood Socialization: Gender Developement

Hi!  I'm Amanda Emmer.  I chose Gender Development because I feel as though this effects and impacts our society tremendously.