Different Roles of Fathers and Mothers towards Early Childhood's Socioemotional Development

Question:

"Mothers socialize their daughters to be more obedient and responsible than their sons. They also place more restrictions on daughter's autonomy."

"Fathers show more attention to sons than daughters, engage in more activities with sons, and put forth more effort to promote son's intellectual development."

Do you agree with these statements? How have you seen this?


Answer:

Yes i agree with the statements. As it is universally acknowledged that man will lead the wife as they start a new family. Hence we can see that man seems to be more independent and will be the breadwinner. He is the one to go and earn money for the family. On the other hand, the wife (woman) is usually more passive and listens to the husband. She takes care of the household chores more than the husband does. Even the bible (for christians) state that "Man should love his wife...while woman should submit to the husband."

Hence, I see a correlation from the adulthood of Man/Woman with the upbringing of a son and daughter. Is it a tradition or gender stereotype? Fathers play soccer with sons whereas mothers sew with daughters. It may be something that harbor in my mind. Any idea?

Answer Two:
I must admit I was surprised by these quotes. I did wonder how much gender steroe-typing was still an issue for today, not just from the past, so your comments gave me insight. I do wonder if culture also plays a role in gender steroe-typing. I know in our household I am the one who encourages and plays sports with our children. (boy and girl)

Answer Three:
It is not uncommon to see gender-stereotyping in Chinese societies. However, I did see an interview with a transsexual. At his small age, he liked playing dolls and keeping his hair long. His inclination was not posed by his parents. He is a "woman" now.........

Undoubtedly, gender-stereotyping is a common phenomenon, whether it is in Chinese or non-Chinese culture. However, it varies on individual cases. What happens with family where there are only girls and no boys, or the other way round. This family structure is not uncommon too. My observation is that father tends to even play football with girls and mother will teach boys to do housekeeping chores. As the society evolves with increasing gender-equality, the social roles of males and females have changed too, which has also affect how parents socialize with their kids. I believe I observe more of a neutral tendency in this aspect. What do you think?

I believe the above statements are widely accepted; however, not absolute. There are cultures where the female is the leader, for example the Minangkabau tribe, see link: http://www.mentawaiparadise.com/matrilineal-unique-and-tolerant-culture/. Also, not all cultures are christian, some believe in egalitarian, even within westernized cultures. But yes, the majority are a patriarchal and christian cultures.

Further Thoughts:
What are your thoughts on matriarchal societies?

Answer Four:
On top of that, I think there are several leaders of countries in the world that are females too. Not counting monarchies where the leaders are not elected, such as Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Margethe II of Denmark and Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, there are many elected heads of state and heads of government that are women. And they seem to do a good job clearing up unemployment and money problems.

For instance:
Tarja Kaarina Halonen - President of Finland
Elected in 2000, Halonen has over 30 years of service to the Finns.
Finland, slightly smaller than the state of Montana, has a population
of a little over 5 million. A 9.4% unemployment rate is dropping
dramatically as Finland becomes more involved in the economic
cooperation of the European Union. With a GDP of $133 billion,
Finland also has similar per capita GDP as the UK, France and Germany.
Finland was the only Nordic state to embrace the Euro.
However, maybe a matriarchal regime is as patriarchal as how a patriarchal regime might be too...


Answer Five:
I think fear has a lot to do with gender stereotyping. Often parents fear that their child may "not turn out right." For example, moms and dads who don't want their son to play with dolls, for fear he won't like traditionally "boy" things. So they feed their children a stereotypic gender diet.