Gender role sociolisation
In order to establish if gender role socialisation manifests in young children through play, ethnographical research was carried out on primary school children between the ages of 6 and 7. In order words will children play with the toys, which are thought of, as traditional toys depending on their gender? The classroom was ideal for this type of research as the setting would not be manipulated in order to give a true reflection on the social patterns emerging. Through observing the children I could see which toys the children played with and also how they reacted when playing with the particular toy. It is through Piaget’s observations of his own children that we can see the developmental stages in children and we can realise just how crucial and how much we learn about the subject studied during observations. Watching these children communicate their feelings through play will help to confirm gender role socialisation. According to Taylor (1993) “Gender refers to the cultural classification of people as masculine or feminine…people are encouraged to think, act and feel in a manner appropriate to their sex.” In my opinion this statement is very true to our society as people are ‘encouraged’
At this station was the green grocers shop, many of the children played here especially three children, one boy and two girls. The boy remained behind the shop ‘selling items’ to the children, whereas two girls were tidying the items and helping the ‘customers’. Through using observation as an ethnographical research method the results proved inconclusive in establishing if gender role socialisation manifests in young children through play. By analysing the children’s choice of toys there was no distinct pattern emerging. The boys played with both ‘stereotypical’ boys and girls’ toys for example; the dolls house and figurines building blocks and the girls played with ‘stereotypical’ girls and boys toys, such as the Luna Park and dolls house. Although the children do not fit the traditional idea that girls play toys designed for females and boys play with toys designed for males their reaction to each toy formed a gender pattern. Gender patterns are created through society; they are then transmitted through a process of socialisation, which is seen in this observation. Take for example in station 1 were the boy is being destructive with the trees this behaviour is treated as a ‘normal male’ who is somewhat aggressive while it is ‘normal’ for the girls behaviour with the figurines to be seen as gentle and compassionate.
Some topics in this essay:
Luna Park,
According Taylor,
Results Using,
Education Moore,
,
Source Method,
Participants Taking,
Materials Toys,
children play,
play dough,
gender role,
luna park,
wooden bricks,
dolls house,
observing children,
research carried,
role socialisation,
play toys,
gender role socialisation,
Northern Irish,
role socialisation manifests,
socialisation manifests children,
research conducted spending,
conducted spending minutes,
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Approximate Word count = 2133
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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