Socialization Gender Roles

As soon as parents know the sex of their children, weather at birth or before, socialization begins. One of the earliest and most well known forms of socialization is the assignment of colors. Baby girls are assigned the color pink, while baby boys are assigned the color blue. From then on it only continues; girls are given toys like dolls to play with, while boys are given toys like trucks and footballs. This form of socialization and assignment of gender roles has huge impacts on children as it follows them into adulthood and beyond. Although sex and gender are closely related they are not the same, treating them as if they are can have catastrophic affects on individuals. Sex is “the biological characteristics that distinguish males and females” (Henslin, 2015). An individuals sex mainly has to do with their reproductive organs; most commonly whether a person has a penis or a vagina. Gender on the other hand “is a social, not a biological characteristic…[it] consists of whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females” (Henslin, 2015). In other words, sex is something you are born with, but gender is something that is taught. More often then not, whatever your sex is determines what gender roles you are taught; this is why many people think sex and gender are the same. Gender roles vary by culture, depending on what each society deems either …show more content…
If we treat them as such we will end up with some serious issues in our society. Also, gender roles can sometimes be impossible for people to fulfill and we should not expect them to fulfill these roles based solely on their sex. Sometimes an individuals behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs are in contrast with their gender roles which are assigned according to their sex. This is the fundamental reason why we should not impose gender roles because of a persons sex. Instead we should focus on an individuals mental behavior and