Assignment 4

Write about whether you believe children "naturally" act like girls or boys or how this behavior might be learned or fostered by the larger society and/or social institutions like education, the economy, government etc. For example, think about toys that children play with or the clothes/colors they are dressed in.
     The discussion between nurture or nature applying to how child act like boys or girls has arguments defending each side, but I personally believe that nurture is the winning side in this case. Children growing up in America are lead into their stereotypical genders from birth with simple things like how boys come home to a blue room and girls come home to a pink room. Parents have a great impact by buying trucks for boys and dolls for girls at a young age, but peers are an equally large impact, as the text stated, as fitting into a group has a drastic impact on the actions of children. Playing with dolls may have been alright for a boy to do when he was young, but these feelings and emotions get covered up as he interacts with his peers and finds that boys should not play with dolls and even more so, he will be made fun of for doing so. These stereotypical gender roles have an enormous impact on children, and I think it is really impossible to say that it is a form of nature, because we have become so dependent on our society, that nature in many cases is not a focus point. 

Do you think children want to play with these toys or do we create gender roles by rewarding children for gender appropriate behavior or punishing them when they display gender inappropriate behaviors? Many of you work in day care centers or schools - how do teachers react when boys want to play dress up versus when girls act aggressively? Why do girls like pink and boys blue?
     I think that as an infant, when something is in front of you, you want to play with it, not really caring whether it is a doll or a toy truck. With that being said, many times this is not an option because parents create these gender roles by giving their children gender specific toys. Due to having these toys and growing up seeing that dolls are for girls and trucks are for boys, we view our gender roles almost as a natural occurrence, even though it has been implanted in us at an early age. After being enrolled at MSU and discussing these issues before, when I personally see boys dressing in gowns and girls acting aggressively,  I let the situation play out, because they are doing something that they enjoy and are having fun. I have also witnessed this same behavior at the Ben Samuel's Day Care Center on campus and thought that it was great that teachers did not intervene and offer for gender specific toys to play with. With this being said, what I believe and let go on with the children that I watch does not always compare to what parents what to see their children doing, and it is sad that some parents really care that their children even as young as 1 or 2 be playing with stereotypical gender specific toys. As for the final question, the only reason that boys wear blue and girls wear pink is because of society. Clothing companies do not make pink shirts for boys because society will not buy a pink shirt for a boy because fear of him turning out "gay" or not participating in masculine activities. It is a vicious cycle, and is all to blame on American psychological views on gender.

1. __F___ In the year 2000, 64.6 percent of mothers with children younger than age 6 were part of the labor force.
2. __F___ The number of working mothers with children ages 6 to 17 increased by 15 percent between 1975 and 1980.
3. __F___ During the period 1995 to 2001, the number of working mothers with children younger than age 6 increased by more than 5 percent.
4. __T___ In the last five years on the chart, the percentage of working mothers with children younger than age 18 decreased.
5. __T___ The number of working mothers with children younger than age 6 went above the 50 percent mark for the first time between the years 1980 and 1985.
6. __F___ The number of working mothers with children ages 6 to 17 has not been below 70 percent since 1980.
7. __T___ The number of working mothers with children younger than age 6 decreased between 1997 and 2001.
8. __F___ In 1955, fewer than one-fourth of all mothers with children under age 18 were part of the U.S. workforce.
9. __T___ Working mothers with children younger than age 6 have always made up a smaller percentage of the workforce than those who have children ages 6 to 17.

10. __T___ In the year 2001, more than three-fourths of all mothers of children ages 6 to 17 were part of the labor force. 

Do you think women are doing as well as you as expected, less well, or better and why?
I do think women are doing as well as I expected. When you look at this chart, there is a steady increase of women in the workforce, though some years it has dropped, but in the long run, the statistics show that more women with children of all ages are taking up work. It really shows that they are not excepting being a "stay at home mom" and see that they can offer even more for their families but holding a job.