truggling with their identities and they are frightened of not acting in the expected manner so they go to the extremes of the roles in fear of rejection. Paul Jose, , says, "Kids this age are the worst chauvinists, because they are trying to define the really rather fuzzy categories of male and female" (Seid, 114). The article also discusses the effects of the child observing the portrayal of the sex roles within his family. Examples of sex role "rules" are:-Boys dont play house.-Girls dont play with boys because theyre dirty.-Big boys dont cry.-Why dont you fight him back?-Thats too heavy, sweetheart, why dont you let your brother carry it upstairs for you. -Dont be upset sweetheart. Math can be pretty hard for girls. -Are you sure you want to play baseball with the boys? They can be pretty rough. (Seid, 115).Seid also states that children have clear ideas of how men and women behave, "Children of five and six see women as being emotional, nurturing and prone to crying while men are perceived as being strong, aggressive and dominant" (Seid, 115). Seid goes on to say that the gender differences will become defined regardless of the representation at home too. She attributes this to the media. According to Julie Dobrow, Ph.D., "Toys are consistently designated as boy toys or girl toys. Boy ads are accompanied by loud, rhythmic, rap-like music and colors that are either dark or bold. Girl ads have soft, melodious music, a slower pace, and lots of pastel shades. Kids pick up on these things" (Seid, 116).Another source of research dealt with gender- biased student /teacher interactions. The article cited example such as calling on boys more than girls, giving boys a longer period of time to respond and accepting boys called-out answers more frequently than girls (1). In terms of feedback and praise, girls are praised more for form than content and discipline boys more than girls (1). Noddings states, "The male experience i...
