Brianne Wagner
Sociology 131
m/w 5:30
As I was growing up, much of my socialization was shaped by the gender roles that were unintentionally played out by my parents. Although I believe they did not realize they were following the typical ways of societies expectations, they did in fact shape both my brothers' and my socialization. As far back as I can remember, my father has been in the construction and contracting business while my mother has shuffled back and forth between being a stay at home mom or working jobs that involve cleaning houses or cooking for schools. Both my my parents fell into jobs that placed them under societies gender roles.
Having two older brothers and being the baby of the family, I believe gender roles played an important role in the way my family was socialized. Because my father worked the rough-neck life for so long, he imagined the same life for his two sons and for some reason imagined his daughter earning an education and moving on to some type of career. I believe this had a lot to do with the fact that I was the youngest as well as a female. Unfortunately, my father never expected too much from my brothers and although he did not want them in trouble, he only wished for them to work along side him, or on some other labor- type job of their own. Education and career paths were never expectations for my brothers as they were for me.
In addition to my fathers underlying gender bias, my grandfather also had gender roles laid out for me but his were not so underlying. Because my grandfather is very "old-school" and set in his ways, he believes women should stick to women things and let the men take care of the hard work. For example, when he would go hunting every dove season, he would always invite my brothers and even though I would beg to go, he would tell me that I should stay with my Nana and help her make dinner for that night. My grandpa would also criticize my dad for taking me fishing, or letting me skateboard or do any other activity that was meant for boys. It was these types of beliefs that might have lead me to the position I am in now.
Today, I am a senior in college and on my way to becoming an English teacher. Coincidence? Probably not so much. They way that my parents viewed the raising of their children as well as the outside influence from extended family most likely had much to do with the places that my brothers and I ended up in. While I spend my days working full time at a minimum wage job and reading my way through college, my brothers find work anywhere they can with a hammer on their hip and the sun on their shoulders just like my dad and grandfather.
If I had been born a boy just like Robert and Kenny, I am sure that I would be working right along side them with my father. My father would have had a completely different set of expectations for me and I might not like where I ended up.
In my interview asking this same question, the respondent discussed how her childhood socialization did not involve any gender specification. She was not expected to choose girl toys or act like a girl but she feels that if she had been a young boy wanting to act the same way and play with girl toys, there would have been more of a stigma against her. Her parents would not have cared but friends and outsiders would have assumed a young boy playing with girl toys would turn out gay. She did not begin experiencing negative comments and attitudes until she was in high school because of her tom-boy characteristics. If she were male, it probably would have happened a lot sooner and would have been a lot more aggressive. She felt grateful that she had no expectations as a child and that lead to her being able to brush off the bullying when she was older.
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