Assignment #4

1.) I beleive that cjildren do not "naturally" act like boys and girls, but something that is taught to them as they get older. A newborn doesn't know whether they are a boy or girl. Parents as well as society and education teach students what is right and wrong for their gender. Children do not know by instinct with what kind of toys they should be playing with or even what color they should like. For example, what kind of toys should children be playing with. Boys are taught that they should not be playing with dolls because that is for girls and get punished if they do. Girls are taught that they should not be playing with cars because young ladys are supposed to play with dolls and dressup and get punished if otherwise.
As mentioned before, it's not that children don't like playing with these kind of toys, they are taught that they have to play with those toys. I beleive we create gender roles where children are rewarded for gender appropriate behavior and are punished when they display inappropriate gender roles. Evevn though there are certain things children shouldn't do, some things are acceptable. For example, if a teacher sees that a boy wants to play dressup, automatically the teacher thinks that there is something wrong with the boy. But, if a girl acts aggessively, it is accepted by society because they believe that anyone can show or be aggressive. On another note, boys are taught, keyword here is taught, to like these colors because that's what is acceptable in society.