An exploratory investigation of the perspectives of educated parents on the gender roles and stereotypes in child and adolescent sexuality

Abstract

The exploratory research presented in this article investigated the perspectives on the gender roles and stereotypes in the care of children and their sexual education of a small group of educated parents, using a patriarchal model. The sample consisted of 30 parents of which 20 participated in in-depth interviews, and 10 in two focus groups, 5 in each group. All 23 women and 7 men possessed a third-level degree, and some held a postgraduate diploma. It was found that even educated parents reproduce patterns they learned within the traditional family. A man decides and enjoys free and dominant sexuality, while a woman is required to have a beautiful body and be a wife who submits sexually to her husband. The study concludes that the caring role of women, the subalternity and maternalism-marianism of female identity, and the care of the body and the norms of beauty are the female characteristics that still dominate social thinking. However, due to the increasing participation of women in the labor market, women are becoming gradually more autonomous.