Gender Appropriate/Inappropriate Behaviors
Commonly we all agree to this point that biological differences between male and females are resolute gender classifications through which we can identify capabilities and nature and these differences refer for each person as masculine and feminine which means to what society called them as male and female.
However, masculinity or femininity are injected in any individual socially rather biologically. Societal members decide what being male or female according to norms, which means, therefore, those norms or subjective thoughts can be varied from society to society.
For instance, men are usually associated as being dominant or aggressive, brave or tough while women are assumed to be emotional and soft-hearted. However, in western societies, it is a stereotypical concept that men are aggressive, instrumental and competitive while women are passive, expressive and cooperative.
Therefore, it is safe to say that gender specification and classification is not innate on the fact it is based on social and cultural conditions or norms. Since it is a subjective thought that means it is socially acceptable that any female can see herself as masculine or male as feminine.
This article is on gender appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and highlights different factors that might influence it such as social norms, cultural thoughts, beliefs biological. We will also address the issue of children who adopt gender behaviors that are considered to be inappropriate due to the fact that they don’t reflect traditional cultural norms and are considered homosexual.
This article includes discussion on related literature and studies which provides relevant facts about the society’s level of both acceptance and unacceptance for the homosexual orientation among children and other entities in the society.
Beginning at the time of birth self-meaning in respect to one’s gender are formed automatically that curtails from the ongoing social interactions and significance which are more often influenced by child’s parents, peers, and educators. It is somehow assumed that a person with a masculine identity must act more like masculine which means he should be engaged in behaviors that are associated with the meaning of masculine; such as dominant, autonomous and competitive, and aggressive manner.
Therefore, it can be stated that behavior themselves are not important but actually meaning oblique by those behaviors. Any individual can label himself/herself as female or male despite seeing himself/herself in a stereotyped female or male manner. He/she may view himself/herself as masculine or feminine fashion. This explains his/her gender identity and this approach is what guides or influence many social behaviors toward gays in the present day.
Sexual development of children occurs as they grow older and become more mature, as a result, curiosity becomes a very important factor in child sexual development. This also affects their social and cultural factors and experiences that include their family background, status standards, peer pressure, etc. may influence a child’s sexual development (Tyson et al., 2013).
Moreover, it is assumed that children who prefer these traditional cultures of opposite sex indicate homosexuality. Homosexuality is not a role but it is, in fact, a sexual orientation. It is an old perception that many people believed that homosexuality is caused by homosexual subculture and was labeled as a “Mental Illness.”
However, such belief is incorrect because homosexual subculture is not the reason for homosexuality or mental illness. It is in fact, a sexual orientation, a way of being (Tyson et al., 2013).
Many studies have been conducted in recent times in this manner. For example, many reports show that many children who become homosexuals were not in contact with homosexual subcultures until high school or college. This observation proves that many individuals are more attracted to those of their own gender genetically not because of environmental forces, but biological ones.
However, environmental factors and other factors may also contribute to a person to become homosexual. Other than genetics, parents and the environment where a person grows have more influence on a child’s behavior than any other forces.
For example, in the book My Princess Boy by A J Crew focuses on a mother who loves to put hot pink neon toenails paints on her young boys. She said her boy love the pink color on his toe and she enjoys painting her nails. On which there was a mix reaction from society. Some called this act “disgusting” while for others it does not make any difference (A J. Crew, 2011).
It’s somehow observed that this trend of adopting opposite culture traditions is becoming a common trend where many celebrity’s children are also adopting opposite gender culture thus setting up new trends for others to follow (A J. Crew, 2011). However, the majority of the people in the United States do not accept this opposite cultural tradition adoption and cannot cope up with this trend easily.
Secondly, younger children are unable to generate any discrimination in their thoughts regarding sex-typed characters, unlike older children who respond more negatively towards those children and peer groups who have cross-sex type character.
However, in many westernized countries, it can be observed that most children of all age groups do not consider cross-gender type behavior in their society as negatively, but studies also show that many of them will, in fact, avoid associating themselves with those who violate so-called sex role norms (Laura Z et al.., 2014).
Although a lot of progress has been made on this issue, there's still more that needs to be done to promote tolerance and equality.
References
A J. Crew, 2011, My Princess Boy data retrieve from http://books.google.com/books?id=FodebKRMNuEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=My+Princess+Boy.+A+J.+Crew&hl=en&sa=X&ei=N99GU7KDDs-u7AbU64HQBQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
TYSON C. KREIGER, BECKY KOCHENDERFER-LADD. (2013), Gender behaviors as predictors of peer acceptance and victimization, data retrieve from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pere.12003/abstract
Laura Z. Rabelo, Renato Bortoloti, Debora H. Souza. (2014), Dolls are for Girls and Not for Boys: Evaluating the Appropriateness of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure for School-Age Children data retrieve from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40732-014-0006-2#page-1
