Environmental Influence On Gender Roles

For hundreds years society has been sorting the human species into nice neat boxes. Boys are expected to be emotionally unavailable, play with monster trucks, and exude masculinity. Girls are expected to be hypersensitive, play with dolls, and embody femininity. These expectations associated with ones gender are referred to as gender roles. Gender roles are what leads to stereotyping the nurse as female and the surgeon as male. Gender roles are what formed the sexist perspective that women belong in the kitchen and men belong in the workplace. Gender roles are what discourage women from pursuing careers in engineering and discourage men from pursuing careers in the fashion industry. However, not everyone fits neatly into these binary “in a …show more content…
Meaning that, a portion of a child’s gender identity and sexuality determined before they leave their mother’s womb. Therefore, gender identity and sexuality are in no way a choice. The environmental influence’s role in sexual and gender identity is to form how the child decides to express their identity. If a child is raised in a homophobic area, in order to protect themselves and fit in with their peers, they may choose to keep their identity hidden; choosing to live a heterosexual lifestyle or continue to identify as the gender they were assigned at birth. Although this method may prevent physical harm, repressing one’s identity can have negative effects on mental health. Mental health issues that can form include but are not limited to depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies. Explaining why the suicide rate in LGBT youth are among some of the highest …show more content…
If the parent does not accept their child for who they are, repression of their identity can occur, causing the adverse mental health issues previously described. Alternatively, the child can decide that the way they are feeling is legitimate, and they do not need their parent’s approval to live their life authentically. This has damaging effects on the parent-child relationship. Leading the child to potentially runaway, or cease all communication up until adulthood, or even for the entirety of their life. Meaning that you as a parent will miss out on potentially the rest of your child’s life. However, if the parent decides to support their child’s identity the opposite results are seen. Often when children have positive coming out experiences with their parents, their mental health improves for the better. This being due to the release of the stress and anxiety that come with being closeted. Also, the parent-child relationship is improved. Knowing that one’s parents love them unconditionally strengthens the relationship. Sharing such a personal aspect of one’s life with their parent, improves communication between both parties. A parent’s acceptance of their child’s identity creates a safe and positive environment at home in which they can feel comfortable to be authentically