How Family and Media Shape Gender Identity

Abstract

Instructor’s Name Introduction Gender socialization is how an individual's behavior is molded following the socially assigned gender. There are four socialization agents: family, school, mass media, and peers. Through the different agents of socialization, children develop their own beliefs, preference of activities, and attitudes which purportedly shapes their gender identity. Gender socialization begins at birth and heightens during adolescence, contributing to inequality in employment, empowerment, and education. Gender stereotypes attribute to gender socialization, and children grow in alignment with the assigned gender. One of the most common stereotypes of gender is that girls are passive while boys are aggressive (Speckhard 2021). Division of labor between the male and female contributes to creating gender roles, and ultimately gender-specific roles are enacted. This discussion will focus mainly on two agents of socialization, mass media and family, and how they influence gender identity. Family Family is the initial agent of socialization. It forms the basis of a child's social circle hence the most crucial and critical agent of socialization in a child's life. The family has different types of parenting and significantly influences gender identity. Parents are models of their children, and they shape children on certain behaviors, punish their children, and choose the environments for their livelihoods. Girls are molded to nurturing, caring, and the kitchen while boys take on challenging tasks like washing the car, weeding and trimming flowers in a compound, and doing yard work. Family determines what attitudes and values the child will have. Parents may not know what they disseminate to their children, but it significantly impacts their future socialization. Children who grow up with two parents and the mother as the housemaker and the father as the breadwinner will most likely follow the...