Factors Affecting Gender Roles: Parental Influence and Play Patterns

Running head: GENDER ROLE
Gender Role
Name of the student
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Author note

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GENDER ROLE
Gender refers to range of the characteristics that helps in differentiating between that
of masculinity and the femininity (Oakley, 2016). There are various factors that have an
effect on gender roles along with sexuality. This essay discusses about the different factors
that affects the gender roles. It talks about parental influence and the pattern of the play that
has an influence on the aspect of gender roles.
An important factor that has an effect on the formation of gender role is socialization.
In the process of socialization, children get introduced to roles that can be said to be linked to
the biological sex. The parents have a great influence in relation to the development of
sexuality of children. The children learn the gender roles with the help of play. Parents are
instrumental in supplying the boys with the trucks and the toy guns that helps in the
promotion of aggression in the male gender (Shaw, 2015). The girls on the other hand are
provided with dolls along with dress-up apparel that helps in the fostering of the aspect of
nurturing. The society plays an important role in affecting the sexuality of a person as the
male infants are dressed in blue whereas the girls are dressed in the colour pink that signifies
the element of femininity in the female gender.
Schools act as a major context in relation to gender socialization as the children spend
a large amount of time in the school where they engage with the peers. The schools has an
influence on the gender roles as it plays an important part in magnifying or diminishing the
gender differences. The school provides them with an environment that promotes the aspect
of within-gender similarity and that of between gender differences. The teachers along with
peers influences the aspect of gender differentiation by providing the boys along with the
girls with various kinds of learning opportunities (Somech & Drach‐Zahavy, 2016). The
teachers are instrumental in presenting the curricular materials which contains behaviour
related to gender stereotypes. The children in the school internalize the concept of gender
prejudices that guides the preferences and the behaviours of the children. There are many