What parents can do:
All children need the opportunity to explore different gender roles and different styles of play. Parents can make sure their young child’s environment reflects diversity in gender roles and encourages opportunities for everyone. Some ideas would be to offer:
- Children’s books or puzzles showing men and women in non-stereotypical and diverse gender roles (stay-at-home dads, working moms, male nurses, and female police officers, for example).
- A wide range of toys for your child to choose from, including baby dolls, toy vehicles, action figures, blocks, etc.
- By age six, most children spend most of their playtime with members of their own sex and may gravitate towards sports and other activities that are associated with their gender. It is important to allow children to make choices regarding friend groups, sports, and other activities they get involved in. It is also a good idea to check in with your child to learn about their preferences and to make sure they feel included without teasing or bullying.
How do children typically express their gender identity?
In addition to their choices of toys, games, and sports, children typically express their gender identity in the following ways:
- Clothing or hairstyle
- Preferred name or nickname
- Social behavior that reflects varying degrees of aggression, dominance, dependency, and gentleness.
- Manner and style of behavior and physical gestures and other nonverbal actions identified as masculine or feminine.
- Social relationships, including the gender of friends, and the people he or she decides to imitate.
While a child’s gender-specific behavior (i.e. gender expression) at any time seems to be influenced by exposure to stereotypes and their identification with the people in their lives, the internal sense of being a girl, boy, in between or something else (i.e. gender identity) cannot be changed.
Last Updated 9/18/2018
Source American Academy of Pediatrics (Copyright © 2018)
The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.
