Differences In Parenting

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Sex-Based Differences in Parenting Style In today’s society, scientific studies are influenced by stereotypes and beliefs related to gender when it comes to parenting. Most people believe that mothers and fathers have different roles when it comes to child rearing. In child rearing, mothers are considered to be more nurturing and comforting while fathers are considered strict and the “harsher” parent. However, this is because of the numerous stereotypes that we have, even as a young child. Some of these stereotypes cause children to more often than not go to their mothers when they need comfort, but when they need a solution to their problem, the child ends up going to the father so they can solve it. Along with that, mothers are considered …show more content…

Therefore, if a family has both parents, then one parent provides love and care for the child while the other parent can provide more of recreational activities for the child. Research has shown that there are differences between “typical mothering tasks which consist of things such as bathing and clothing children while typical fathering tasks include bread-winning and recreational activities” (Dufur 1093). Because of different kinds of parenting, this has lead to “broader societal norms about appropriate behaviors” (Dufur 1093). It has been proven that men and women typically parent differently. Women typically provide daily necessities for the children such as clothing them, feeding them and changing diapers while men tend to engage children in play and interact with children in that …show more content…

This is because “mothers use more reasoning/induction, warmth, and involvement, and democratic participation than fathers; fathers use more non-explanation type responses” (Russell 93). However, not all mothers and fathers are the same. In some families, the mothers are the strict parent while the father is considered the nicer parent. Therefore, not all mothers use authoritative parenting and not all fathers utilize authoritarian parenting. Instead, the type of parenting style that one utilizes is based off one's personality. Not all individuals are capable of standing their ground, therefore, they will either alternate the type of parenting style the use or utilize the permissive parenting style. Between mothers and fathers, fathers are at a higher risk to utilize the permissive parenting style since fathers tend to “lack on the follow through in discipline” (Russell 96). This can be because of multitudinous reasons. For example, the father may either be too busy in his work life to follow through on discipline or may not want to be considered the “bad” parent, so they tend not to follow through on what they say they are going to disciple their child