Gender Roles On Children

Gender Role Development and the Effects on Children Children’s development is very important for them to identify themselves and learn about who they are. Gender roles creates a bit of a conflict because it teaches children at a very young age what they should and shouldn’t wear, what sports or activities are deemed acceptable, and they should act based on their gender. Most kids grow up to believe in this gender stereotype that girls are so supposed to act and dress a certain way and the same with boys. By breaking these social norms, it would be showing kids at a young age that they do not have to conform to these schemas. Gender roles are designed to put boys and girls into two different categories. Girls are supposed to be nurturing,

I dreamt of the day that I could be one because what girl didn’t want to wear skirts, bows, and shake pom poms? I thought that boys were supposed to play football and basketball and that girls were supposed to cheer them on. I hadn’t seen a girl on a football team so I didn’t really know otherwise and in movies/ shows guys were always the athletic ones while the girls just looked cute. I’m an only girl and the middle child. I have two older brothers and 2 younger ones. My parents like to start us young in trying to play sports so my family was typically very active and athletic. My dad had played football when he was younger and is a football coach and my mom played softball. My parents had put my two older brothers in football and my mom and I use to watch their practices. One day I noticed that a girl from my school was at the practice too but she was in football gear. I couldn’t believe that a girl wanted to play tackle football with boys? I mean a girl getting tackled by big guys and getting hurt. Football is a dangerous sport and girls typically wasn’t into dangerous sports. I had known a lot of girls who danced, cheered, and did gymnastics because those seemed like appropriate sports for us. One day after my mom had dropped off my brothers at practice I told her that I wanted to play football. She told me “No, that football was no place for young ladies.” I said that “Sarah was on the team and that she’s a girl so why couldn’t I play?” My mom had said that “No daughter of hers was going to play football and that football was a boy’s sport. That I could get hurt because I’m a girl.” I was kind of upset that I couldn’t play football but my dad being a football coach use to take me to his practices and the cheerleading coaches at the time had taken a liking to me and asked if I had wanted to cheer with them at the next