Assigning gender roles starts very early and it creates a segregation in children's future - Essay Example

These mainly include parents, teachers, peers, social media, religion, music, books and literature, among others. Therefore, each community has distinct gender roles, which define masculinity and femininity in the community. Nonetheless, the aspect of gender roles begins even before birth, and this has an effect in society, as it promotes an acceptable segregation in society. This will be shown in this essay through comparison of the views of two authors on the aspect of gender roles. In the article, Welcome to Your World, Baby, Willer notes that the aspect of gender role socialization begins immediately when a child is born.

Normally, before seeing the baby, people will want to know the sex of the child; whether it is male or female. On the other hand, during the growth process of the child, parents raise them differently, according to their sex. Boys will be taught how to do things, and what things they should not do, and this is normally different from how girls are advised. (337). Additionally, the Willer posits that depending on how a parent brings up their children of different sexes, they will have different expectations of their boys and girls (337).

On the other hand, Bennhold (Web) shares a similar view, as she argues that mothers are responsible for nurturing stereotypes in their babies. This is because ideally, mothers are the ones that play the biggest role in taking care of their babies, and socializing them into the society. However, mothers treat and teach their boys and girls differently, thus nurturing in them stereotypes, which act as an obstacle to gender equality in later life (Bennhold Web). Additionally, in the article Welcome to Your World, Baby, Willer notes that the greeting card industry contributes to the early assignment of gender roles in society.

The congratulatory messages on cards are different for boys and girls. In addition, the colours used on the cards, as well as the pictures are different in congratulatory cards meant for baby boys and baby girls. For instance, when pictures on the boys’ cards show young boys participating in active activities such as sports, while those on girls’ cards show young girls in passive activities, this already portrays the difference that exists in boys’ and girls’ roles (Willer 344). Similarly, in the article Toys Start gender Equality Rift; the author associates the differences in the positions of men and women in society today, to their early socialization in the gender roles.

For instance, this author observes that gender roles have resulted in segregation, as in the past, women were denied leadership positions, and today, women are lowly represented in the leadership arena (Bennhold Web). Nonetheless, in the article Welcome to Your World, Baby, apart from the message cards, which portray boys involved in active activities and girls in passive ones, the toys bought for boys and girls also vary. While boys are bought for gun and car toys, girls are given dolls. This therefore, shows that boys are more aggressive than girls.

Girls are seen as tender and caring (Willer 340-1). Similarly, the author in the article Toys Start gender Equality Rift notes that the toys young children are bought for are the ones, which influence segregation and the division in gender. Since boys are perceived more aggressive in society, the men are given more leadership position, since leadership is believe to suit people who exhibit high levels of aggressiveness. On the other hand,