Gender Equity in Early Childhood Education

Sociocultural Construction of Gender Identity

One developmental competency shaped by sociocultural constructs is gender identity.  Unger (1979) describes gender as “those characteristics and traits socioculturally considered appropriate to males and females” and one dimension of gender is gender identity, or thinking of oneself as male or female. By the age of two or three, children begin to develop their gender identity. While biological differences are the starting point for the dichotomy between genders, the construct of gender relies on a social and cultural construction. Blaise (2005), Millard (1997), and Francis (2000) have used a poststructuralist approach to gender to argue that boys and girls begin to construct their gendered identities from an early age based on the discourses that surround them. Lorber and Farrell (1991) add that “gendered interactions acquire additional layers of gendered sexuality, parenting and work behaviors in childhood, adolescence and adulthood” (p. 102). Simply through talking and interacting young children continuously construct and reinforce their notions of gender. Embedded in their experiences is a heterosexual discourse and hidden rules regarding the appropriate behavior for each gender.  Additionally, Bussey and Bandura (1999) presented a social-cognitive theory (SCT) of gender development and differentiation.

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