A Parents Perspective on the Differences Between Raising a Son and a Daughter - Research Paper Example

They experience different forms of gender discrimination from very first stage of their childhood which begins from home which are reinforced by various other elements contributed by external environment. Hence with the passage of time, these experiences grow stronger as they enter in their phase of adulthood. Parental Influence: Parents play a key role in shaping the personality of their child. It is from the home that children learn to know that what it means to be a boy or a girl. From the early childhood, children are treated differently by their parents on the basis of their gender, they are dressed differently in gender-specific colors (For e.g. blue for boys and pink for girls), they are given gender differentiated toys (for e.g. dolls for girls and cars for boys) as well as parent expect a different behavior from both of these genders (Thorne, 1993).

This gender differentiation by parents affects greatly on shaping the behavior and attitude of their children. Majority of parents give preference to their sons as compare to daughters. Parents prefer male child over female child for various reasons around the world. Women prefer giving birth to male child instead of females to please their husbands. It is commonly perceived that having a son helps in carrying the family name and they are considered as a mean of financial support in the future (Hoffman, 1997).

Raising Sons- A Mother’s Perspective: It has been commonly observed in our society that raising sons can be difficult. Being a part of a dominant gender, it is hard raise a son as they seek for extra care and attention by their families as compare to daughters. However, according to Mary Gordon’s (2002) own experience of raising her son along with her daughter was less complicated. From her own past experiences of being brought up as the only female child of her parents and surrounded by same gender; she thought that it would be difficult for her to cope with a male child.

Being brought up in the world of feminist, Marry thought that she would not be able to justify in her actions and behavior of as a mother with her son. In the society we live males are portrayed as cold, selfish and dominant genders with suppressing females. However, she found it extremely easy to raise her son as compared to her daughter. She believed that it depends on parents that how they raise their children regardless of their genders and the role they play in their lives. In a stereotyped society, she found her son to be more understanding and focused as compare to her daughter in behavior and attitude.

According to Mary Gordon (2002), it completely depends on parents that how they can contribute in developing a positive personality in their children without creating any gender bias which would enable them to play a positive role in the society. Parental Role in the Development of Gender Expectations in Sons and Daughters: Presence or absence of a father can have a significant affect in the development of gender. It has been observed that mothers being the primary care takers of children may influence differently in developing the behavior and attitude of their children.

However, this could result in making females feel more over-protected and males as under-protected. It has been observed that parents should have an equally important role in developing the bond with their children from the moment of their birth. This can give rise to a strong family structure. In our