GENDER ETHNOGRAPHY
How gender plays out in parental guidance, roles and conduct
Gendered behavior is traced to culture. In a family, the mom, daughter, and grandmother are tasked to go out shopping for dinner while the brothers stay at home playing video games. This shows a gendered culture were some tasks such as buying food are left for females. While the females in the house cook, the males are in the sitting room watching television. Men stay out of the kitchen and sit expecting to be served.
After observing the conduct of parents looking at their children as well as the way they used to divide parental roles among themselves, their children’s upbringing, and general teaching, a result surfaced that showed the extent of how this vital act is gendered in most families. This ranges from providing for the family, taking care of general needs, and budgeting for the family’s wellbeing to child education for social living. The parents themselves had either customized some roles. A sharp observation shows the toxic level of chauvinism as work is divided among family members based on gender.
This paper explains why cooking and serving food has been left for females. It tends to explain why males are accorded a specialty on cooking in the kitchen. On page 144 of Chapter 7 in the textbook, the author states that parents and stepparents are the first influencers to gender identity. It makes them the first victims of gendered behavior and appropriations. Three sub-topics appeared dominant in most observations and which are strongly affirmed in the central theme of this article. They also show the level of gender selection parental guidance held as written in Chapter 7 of the textbook and include:
1. Household security, budgeting, and all other economic issues are considered manly.
2. Child education, babysitting on social, personal matters and behavioral teachings are left for women.
3. The notion of women to be housewives and taking care of the home.
According to Gender socialization, boys are always presumed to have rough and aggressive capabilities. On the other hand, girls are soft and calm. With the assumption that men are strong, they are often expected to protect their families. In parenthood, boys are expected to continue with their idol role. As fathers, they are still likely to be the center of the household. Girls are considered to be vulnerable than boys, and this is also seen in marriage. The wife is expected to submit and perform lesser roles with lesser control of the family’s issues. In some societies, a lot of men are the breadwinners as women are always not allowed to enter into the labor force. This makes the men responsible for all the economic and financial related issues.
Most women are brought up knowing that they have the responsibility of taking care of their children. In Chapter 7 of the textbook, the author poses the question of how different mothers and fathers interact with their children. The problem represented is a knowledge tester. A father is out there daily, working for the family. The mothers being housewives are expected to bring up the children with respect. They are also likely to teach them ways of social living. Men have almost no involvement in child upbringing, for domestic responsibilities are left for women. The latest study proves that the participation of fathers in the education of children has had a negative effect. In this sense, mothers are shown to be very important in the social life of a child. At the thinking level, women have the most duties when it comes to children. Moms spend double the time that fathers spend with their babies. It always believed that mothers are natural caregivers.
In western countries, the different ways in which girls and boys are treated has brought up the formation of stereotype activities. It includes the descriptive stereotypes from parents talk; boys love toys and girls like dolls.
Generally, parents have a significant influence on the lives of their children, which sometimes are overestimated. Gender is considered to be a social statistic. It affects everything in the presence of a child and also the socialization of the individual. To some point, parents tend to encourage their children to act in both feminine and masculine ways. Moreover, they also find a way to counter some of the activities their children work out.
Statistically, there is no biological reason as to why boys and girls should have different activities and the division between manly and womanly activities. These are deeds that are brought up by the culture. They are perceived and passed through apprenticeship and word of mouth.
These, however, are different when it comes to the notion of housework. There is no biological impact of determinant that states what duties a man or a woman should undertake. The housework gap can be traced from the childhood of an individual. It is because girls are often asked to take care of the chores and activities around the house. However, boys are sent to errands outside the homestead. It brings about the financial role of the man in a family.
The experiences that one undertakes while still growing are brought up to hen one is aging and even passed through their lineage. In the current world, with women being nagged to attend to all the household chores can bring about marital conflicts. However, it has not adjusted to a more significant deal. Despite the changes and transformations that have taken place, the gap in the roles is still very evident.
Gender Ethnography of Thanksgiving dinner
