Parenting Using Gender Norms

Parenting using gender norms is when a parent forces their children to abide by the stereotypical roles assigned to their gender--boys must be strong, girls must be obedient. To parent in a gender-neutral way is to raises one’s child without pressuring them to conform to society's standards based on their gender. A parent would therefore raise two children of differing sex in the same way, allowing them to, for example, wear both blue and pink clothing, play with both dolls and toy cars, and do both stereotypical masculine and feminine activities.

Gender-neutral parenting allows individuals to raise their children in a way that will allow them to develop without the added external pressure of forced gender roles. The way gender roles are reinforced

Rebecca Hains, who states: “The way items are marketed to children impacts young children's sense of who they are, what's available to them, what's appropriate for them, and what the possibilities are for themselves versus the limitations." Children’s clothing is often decorated with elaborate colors and designs. However, more often than not, the designs are marketed towards strictly girls or boys: girl clothing is generally light in color, sparkly and features cartoonish animals, while boy clothing is darker in color and shows superheroes, dinosaurs, and trucks. So, these stylistic choices, which look harmless enough, are actually demonstrating to the children that they are not allowed to partake in the activities or like the items featured on the clothing target to their opposite sex. That is why multiple people mentioned within Bischoff’s article have started their own clothing companies focused on producing children’s clothing that can be worn by both girls and boys-because in order to teach children that they are not confined by their gender, parents must teach that all things, clothing included, are not exclusively targeted towards a specific

Within Linda DiProperzio’s article, she quotes two people who see the benefits of raising children without heavily enforced gender roles. Israel Martinez is a licensed clinical social worker who understands that while the human brain automatically separates topics, ideas, and objects into certain categories, this strict division of gender can be harmful, both physically and mental (DiProperzio). If people are forced into roles that they do not fit into, the act of having to mold themselves everyday would become exceedingly strenuous, and that stressor should not be placed on anyone, specifically a child who is still developing. Jane Ward is an associate Women’s Studies professor at the University of California, Riverside who raised her son without gender roles, because she viewed them as limiting her child’s ability to enjoy a multitude of experiences due to his gender tying him into the stereotypes of his sex (DiProperzio). Again, it is clear that gender roles are inseparably connected to society’s ideas about what biologically female and male people must behave like. A large benefit of gender-neutral parenting is that it allows children the freedom to choose, which is why many people argue for