Gender Socialization Essay

The term, gender, refers to the socially learned expectations and behaviors associated with being male or female. Gender affects socialization in many ways, and begins primarily at birth. Gender affects how parents treat their children, how the work field treats males and females, and how each gender chooses friends. The gender of a child is extremely important to the parent. The gender will guide the parent on how to raise and treat the child. Parents are more likely to be more stern and rough with a baby boy rather than a baby girl. Parents of a girl are likely to be more gentle, soft, and patient with the new baby. This gender socialization example is due to our masculine and feminine culture. The most important and obvious gender socialization example is in the work field. Gender greatly affects the socialization process between males and females. Males are considered to be strong and powerful, while females are thought to be weak and secondary. From the beginning of time, men were to work hard and provide for the family, while females were to take care of the home and children. Today, men are still more likely to be powerful leaders, CEO’s, etc†¦ however; many women are top executives and are very capable of being so. Finally, gender affects the way people choose friends and social activities. Men are more likely to choose other men as friends, and same with women. Humans enjoy spending time with people that are similar to themselves. Men will also engage in masculine activities such as hunting, fishing, and running, while women engage in feminine activities such as shopping, tanning, and reading. Gender subconsciously helps make our daily decisions. I’ve never thought about gender being such an important aspect in our daily lives. Gender affects socialization in so many different ways; parents raising their children, the work environment, and choosing friends. Gender socialization is extremely important in today’s society.