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Gender roles are the social and behavioral norms considered appropriate in social situations for people of different genders. An understanding of these roles is evident in children as young as age 4〔Gender Identity and Gender Confusion in Children. (11 May 2013). HealthyChildren.org. Retrieved 11 November 2013 from http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/pages/Gender-Identity-and-Gender-Confusion-In-Children.aspx〕 and are extremely important for their social development. Gender roles are influenced by the media, family, environment, and society. A child's understanding of gender roles impacts how they socialize with their peers and form relationships. Many young children have a firm sense of their gender identity, while some children can experience gender identity confusion. == Stereotypes in the media == Young children aged around four to five years old have been shown to possess very strong gender stereotypes.〔Banerjee, R. and Lintern, V. (2000), Boys will be Boys: The Effect of Social Evaluation Concerns on Gender-Typing. Social Development, 9: 397–408. doi: 10.1111/1467-9507.00133〕 In addition to parents’ and teachers’ intentional efforts to shape gender roles, children also learn through mass media (television, books, radio, magazines, and newspaper), to which children are exposed to everyday. For preschool-aged children an important source of such information is the picture books written specifically for their age group, and these are often read and reread to them in their impressionable years. In a study done by Oskamp, Kaufman, and Wolterbeek, it was found that in picture books for the preschool audience the male characters played the more active and explorative role and the female characters played the more passive and social role.〔Oskamp, S., Kaufman, K., & Wolterbeek, L. (1996). Gender Role Portrayals in Preschool Picture Books. Journal Of Social Behavior & Personality, 11(5), 27-39.〕 Of course, these studies completely neglect the profound effects of genetics on imposing gender-specific behavior.〔Reiner WG1, Gearhart JP, (2004) N Engl J Med.Jan 22;350(4):333-41. Discordant sexual identity in some genetic males with cloacal exstrophy assigned to female sex at birth.〕 From birth children are able to quickly learn that a great deal of their lives have to deal with masculinity and femininity.〔Powell, K. A., & Abels, L. (2002). Sex-role stereotypes in TV programs aimed at the preschool audience: An analysis of teletubbies and barney & friends. Women and Language, 25(1), 14. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198879860?accountid=11091〕 Even though many environmental factors influence construction of gender, nothing in biology labels behaviors as right or wrong, normal or abnormal. Though parents and teachers teach these lessons intentionally as well as unintentionally, young children also learn through television. As has been proven, a significant source of cultural gendered messages is television, perhaps most powerful for children who watch up to an average of four hours daily.〔Powell, K. A., & Abels, L. (2002). Sex-role stereotypes in TV programs aimed at the preschool audience: An analysis of teletubbies and barney & friends. Women and Language, 25(1), 14. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198879860?accountid=11091〕 With impressionable young minds, a wide variety of information can help shape these children’s views on male and female roles in society. A study done by Powel and Abel, analyzed how sex-role stereotypes in television programs such as Teletubbies and Barney are aimed at the preschool audience. In their analysis Powel and Abel found that gendered messages and behavior is present in preschool television programming and this was found through eight different themes and out of the eight themes five of them, leadership, appearance, gendered roles, occupations, and play roles, were significantly gendered.〔Powell, K. A., & Abels, L. (2002). Sex-role stereotypes in TV programs aimed at the preschool audience: An analysis of teletubbies and barney & friends. Women and Language, 25(1), 14. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198879860?accountid=11091〕 In both Barney and Teletubbies, males served as the leaders and the director of action. The three youngest Teletubbies without question robotically followed around the oldest who happens to be male like. The pattern being set is that males lead and females follow. On the other hand, Barney is also the male leader but he leads the children as a caring, social values, “feminized” male teacher. The reconfiguring of leadership as social and friendly leadership can be seen an alteration of a typical male teacher but the sex-stereotype of male being leaders is reinforced for the preschool aged children. Reconfiguring of the male characters was also prevalent for the four remaining themes that were gendered. The males in these shows were taller in stature, wore darker colored clothing but sometimes wore shorts and skirts. As for gendered roles the males were generally more active while the females were more social and passive. Neither program showed men and women in non-stereotypical occupational roles, indicating that at an early age children are exposed to gender -specific occupational expectations. In play roles when it was either time for story time or play time the females played the more passive roles such as setting up a picnic, while the males played the more active roles such as fox chasing. These findings help shed light on to the findings from a study carried out by Durkin and Nugent. Durkin and Nugent examined four- and five-year-old children’s predictions concerning the sex of the persons carrying out a variety of common activities and occupations on television. The children's responses revealed strong gender stereotyped expectations, and these were strongest in the case of masculine stereotyped activities.〔Durkin, K., & Nugent, B. (1998). Kindergarten children's gender-role expectations for television actors. Sex Roles, 38(5-6), 387-402.〕 Also, they found that children’s estimates of their own future competence also indicated stereotypical beliefs, with the females more likely to reject masculine activities. Young children will indeed see stereotypical sex-role models of the feminine and masculine in the media that is geared towards them, but they will also see social skills being affirmed for both sexes. We can conclude that mass media have the power to confirm both stereotypes and non-traditional gendered behavior-though more for boys than girls. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gender roles in young children」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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