Skylar Foley
Southern New Hampshire University
Project One: Research Investigation Work
The social science issue that I have chosen is “the influences of gender-specific toys on children.” There are a couple of reasons I have chosen this issue, one being that children are constantly learning, they are our future and we want to teach them that they have the freedom to choose for themselves. Another reason being that some parents truly believe that boys playing with Barbies and girls playing with G.I. Joes would turn them into becoming a homosexual. I’m a firm believer that homosexuality is not developed but the person is born homosexual. When parents or society forces a child to play …show more content…
A psychologist will describe the issue starting at a young age. For example in Freeman 2007 study is states that young children construct understandings of gender during the preschool years (Freeman, 2007). Meaning that they learn at a very young age what it means to be a “boy” or “girl.” A sociologist will describe the issue starting with the people around them, their adult influences and such. For example, in Wood, et al 2002 study it states that research on toy interactions suggests that fathers tend to be less flexible and more gender-stereotypic than mothers. This means that the influences of what toys boys and girls can play with rely heavily on what the fathers have to say about it. An anthropologist might describe the issue as having to do with specific generations. In Freeman 2007 it states that gender stereotypes persist more than a generation after the 1972 passage of the Title IX of the Education Amendments designed to eliminate sex discrimination in programs serving girls and boys. This means that gender stereotypes have come a long way and are slowly being diminished. This issue is significant because its good to notice that gender-specific toys are not being pushed on children as much as they used