How Lesbian and Heterosexual Parents Convey Attitudes about Gender to their Children: The Role of Gendered Environments

Sutfin, Erin L.; Fulcher, Megan; Bowles, Ryan P.; Patterson, Charlotte J.

doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9368-0

Cited by 74 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Research has found that when parents have more traditional views regarding gender roles, their children also tend to think in more traditional terms (Epstein & Ward, 2011; Fulcher, 2010; Sutfin, Fulcher, Bowles, & Patterson, 2008); on the other hand, when parents hold more egalitarian values, their children tend to have less traditional gender-role attitudes (Sutfin et al, 2008). Fathers’ ideology has typically been overlooked in this literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parents’ Gender Ideology and Gendered Behavior as Predictors of Children’s Gender-Role Attitudes: A Longitudinal Exploration

2015

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The current study utilized longitudinal, self-report data from a sample of 109 dual-earner, working-class couples and their 6-year-old children living in the northeastern United States. Research questions addressed the roles of parents’ gender ideology and gendered behaviors in predicting children’s development of gender-role attitudes. It was hypothesized that parents' behavior would be more influential than their ideology in the development of their children's attitudes about gender roles. Parents responded to questionnaires assessing their global beliefs about women's and men's "rightful" roles in society, work preferences for mothers, division of household and childcare tasks, division of paid work hours, and job traditionality. These data were collected at multiple time points across the first year of parenthood, and during a 6-year follow-up. At the final time point, children completed the Sex Roles Learning Inventory (SERLI), an interactive measure that assesses gender-role attitudes. Overall, mothers’ and fathers’ behaviors were better predictors of children’s gender-role attitudes than parents’ ideology. In addition, mothers and fathers played unique roles in their sons’ and daughters’ acquisition of knowledge about gender stereotypes. Findings from the current study fill gaps in the literature on children’s gender development in the family context—particularly by examining the understudied role of fathers in children’s acquisition of knowledge regarding gender stereotypes and through its longitudinal exploration of the relationship between parents’ gender ideologies, parents’ gendered behaviors, and children’s gender-role attitudes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parents’ Gender Ideology and Gendered Behavior as Predictors of Children’s Gender-Role Attitudes: A Longitudinal Exploration

2015

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“…Most studies (the Hoeffer 375 and Kirkpatrick studies from 1981, 376 the Golombok study from 1983, 377 the Brewaeys study from 1997, 378 the MacCallum and Golombok study from 2004, 379 and the Farr study from 2010 380 ) found no significant differences in gender-related matters. 381 Another study (Suftin, 2008) 382 did find some differences in the gender attitudes of the children of lesbian mothers when compared to those of children of heterosexual parents, with the 370 Id. The difference was greater between the boys and girls of heterosexual parents and those of lesbian mothers than it was between the former and the boys and girls of gay fathers.…”

Section: B Assessing the Empirical Literature From The Rational Basimentioning

confidence: 98%

“…347 In another article published in 2008, Erin Suftin and her team of researchers studied gender-related issues by comparing twenty-nine families headed by lesbian couples with twenty-eight families headed by heterosexual ones. 348 The study included fifty-seven four-to-six-year-old children. 349 Relying on questionnaires, the researchers found that the lesbian mothers had "more liberal [gender] attitudes than did heterosexual parents."…”

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confidence: 99%

Social Science Studies and the Children of Lesbians and Gay Men: The Rational Basis Perspective

Ball

2012

SSRN Journal

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This Article seeks to determine whether the social science literature on the children of lesbians and gay men precludes the government from relying on child welfare considerations to justify same-sex marriage bans and parenting restrictions affecting lesbians and gay men under the highly deferential rational basis test. Under that test, courts must uphold laws and regulations that have any conceivable basis of fact which is rationally related to a legitimate state interest. After comprehensively reviewing the social science literature, the Article concludes that the empirical evidence showing the lack of an association between parental sexual orientation and the psychological and social functioning of children is so conclusive and uniform that there is no conceivable factual basis for suggesting otherwise. The Article, however, also concludes that there are sufficient indicia of possible differences-between the children of lesbian/gay parents and those of heterosexual parents-in matters related to gender attitudes/interests and sexual orientation to satisfy the easy-to-meet factual component of the rational basis test. But this indicia of possible difference does not justify the differential treatment of lesbians and gay men in matters related to marriage and parenting because the government does not have a legitimate interest in either promoting specific gender attitudes and interests or in discouraging same-sex sexual orientations and conduct. At the end of the day, therefore, child welfare considerations constitute impermissible bases for the government's differential treatment of lesbians and gay men in matters related to marriage and parenting, even under the highly deferential rational basis standard.

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“…As children interact with their environment they develop a sense of value for the tasks they perform (Bussey & Bandura, 1999), such as playing with gendered toys (Pomerleau et al, 1990) or decorating a bedroom with gender-specific artifacts Sutfin et al, 2008). Pomerleau et al (1990) and Rheingold and Cook (1975) investigated children"s bedrooms and found that boys" bedrooms contained more varieties of toys, more sports equipment and machines, and more animal décor items than girls" bedrooms, while girls" bedrooms contained more dolls and domestic toys.…”

Section: Symbolic Interactionism: Spaces Objects Gender Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender, Space, and Objects in Divorced Families

Janning¹

2011

Michigan Family Review

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Applying symbolic interactionism and a social constructionist perspective on gender roles, and referencing work by Belk (1988) and others on the significance of artifacts and spaces in the creation and revision of social roles during life transitions, we perform an investigation of 22 in-depth interviews with young adults whose parents divorced while they were children or adolescents. We attempt to find out how these young adults experience the presence or absence of traditional gender roles within the post-divorce family as manifest in the use and domestic space and objects. Patterns in the data reveal relatively traditional gender roles as manifest in the use of spaces and objects for mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons. Additionally, efficacy over space and objects is an important part of the post-divorce experience for children.

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How Lesbian and Heterosexual Parents Convey Attitudes about Gender to their Children: The Role of Gendered Environments

Cited by 74 publications

References 38 publications

Parents’ Gender Ideology and Gendered Behavior as Predictors of Children’s Gender-Role Attitudes: A Longitudinal Exploration

Parents’ Gender Ideology and Gendered Behavior as Predictors of Children’s Gender-Role Attitudes: A Longitudinal Exploration

Social Science Studies and the Children of Lesbians and Gay Men: The Rational Basis Perspective

Gender, Space, and Objects in Divorced Families

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