Gender Development

This week we talked and read about gender development. This is a topic that has always fascinated me, and while I don’t have any children of my own, I love watching and studying my friends and families children as they grow up, and how they view gender. It has always been surprising to me how some children will develop stereotypical feminine or masculine qualities at such a young age, even if they aren’t shown or taught those things at home by their parents. One example is with my niece; her mother never wears makeup, and she is generally not exposed to any womens’ fashion advertisements, or even television shows that aren’t cartoons. Yet at a very young age, she would ask her grandmother if she could wear makeup, and would try to mimic it. This leads to the nature vs. nurture idea. I have always been a believer that nurture is far more important in the developmental phase of children, but when I look at gender identity I feel nature may have a part to play. I understand and love that everyone is different, and any person may be born or raised under any gender identity, but when I look at the young people in my family grow up, I can’t help but feel that nature is responsible for some aspects. I think that gender identity is something that shouldn’t be taught to children, and whenever I see shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, it makes me absolutely sick. That being said, I want to research more on how gender is developed, and whether it is a taught idea, or if people are born one way.