Kylie Schmidt
SOC 101-016
22 February 2014
Gender Roles
The Impact of Gender Roles In My Family The textbook definition of gender roles refers to the expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. Basically, we are born either XX or XY but we are not predetermined to occupy roles as male or female. Rather, we assume these roles through a process called socialization. Socialization is a process by which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of their culture, in this case, male and female roles. There are a lot of factors that impact a child’s socialization into feminine and masculine forms. These include the adults, older siblings, mass media, and religious and educational institutions that surround us. This paper will focus on the primary agents of childhood socialization: parents. Specifically my parents, and how they played a critical role in my socialization and gender role process. Firstly, my mother played a important role in guiding me into the feminine norm for our society. When I was born, immediately I was dressed in girly, pink, or frilly outfits. I grew up playing with dolls, pretending to be their mom, caring for them, etc. I helped my mom in the kitchen and helped her clean. My room was painted pink with flowers along the borders. My mom put into dance as a young girl, rather than football if I had been born with a Y chromosome. These are the first experiences I had as a child so of course I grew to be a female norm. However, I was not just mainly socialized by my mother. My father also played an important role in my socialization. My fathers role in my my life obviously didn't affect my gender role. However, he was critical in my childhood socialization by raising me to be a well-rounded individual. I assumed my feminine gender role mainly from my