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Plan International Australia, Oct 17

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"These Aussie Girls Want Non-Gendered Uniforms, Empowering Ads, And A Little Respect"

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"These Aussie Girls Want Non-Gendered Uniforms, Empowering Ads, And A Little Respect"

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Buzzfeed, 11/10/2017

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Australian girls believe they are: receiving unequal treatment to boys; being judged on their appearance; and exposed to sexist advertising, a report released today by child rights development agency Plan International Australia finds.

Almost all (98%) of the 2,000 girls aged 10-17 who participated in the Dream Gap Report, published on International Day of the Girl, said they received unequal treatment to boys.
BuzzFeed News spoke to four 17-year-old Australian women about the changes they want.
The report's first recommendation was for state and territory governments to remove gendered school uniforms and instead give girls and boys the opportunity to choose what uniform they wear.

"Gendered school uniforms, where girls have to wear skirts and pants aren't an option, makes kids think that girls should be sitting on the side and watching rather than participating in things," said Jacqueline Rousselot, 17.

Rousselot said she was "really active" at her primary school where she was allowed to wear shorts, but that changed at her all-girls high school where a dress is mandatory.

"You can't hang upside down on monkey bars, you can't run about and you can't play handball."

Only 8% of girls aged 15 to 17 believed that men and women were treated equally on TV and 7% in magazines.

An overwhelming 85% of girls in this age group felt it would be easier for girls to be leaders if more women were shown doing 'men's jobs' in the media and in advertisements.

"There is such a gap in the portrayal of men and women when there is so much photoshop and so many sexist advertisements," Rousselot said.

After general inequality, girls were most concerned with being scrutinised on the way they look rather than appreciated for their abilities and talents. Almost all (93%) of girls aged 15-17 said it would be easier to get ahead in life if they were not judged on their appearance, the report found.

Georgia Chapman, 17, can remember the time a male classmate made assumptions about her based on what she was wearing.

"I was 11 and a boy asked me if I was a prude," Chapman said. "I didn't know what that meant, so I asked him how he'd come to that conclusion and he told me 'you wear a long skirt and you don't wear make-up'."

Some of her male peers "make jokes about rape and sexual assault".

"When I become upset and try to explain why that is a problem, they laugh at me and call me a 'feminazi'," she said. "None of their friends ever step in and say, 'That's not cool'."

Most girls (91%) surveyed felt it would be easier to get ahead if they were treated the same way as boys.

Melbourne teenager Nawal Agan, 17, said she and her five sisters were treated differently to their five brothers.

"I was always taught to help around the house and cook and clean with my mum, and the boys will sit around and laze," Agan, who graduated high school last year, told BuzzFeed News.

"The boys were given powerful dress ups and told they could be strong and bossy and the girls were told to play with cooking sets and dolls."

But her home life also gave her role models for female empowerment.

"I grew up in a matriarchal household where my mum and my grandma were in charge so it showed me that women can be powerful," she said.

"I feel confident knowing how strong I am and the good education I've had."

As girls grew older, their confidence decreased - 56% of girls viewed themselves as confident at 10-years-old, but this had dropped to 44% by the time they reached 17, the report concluded.

Melbourne student Keira Wright, 17, said she felt confident when she felt "respected".

"Feeling like I'm being respected, not because of my appearance, not despite my appearance but just because people respect me as a whole," Wright said.

"I want to be valued for who I am not because of the way I might look or dress or how many 'likes' I get."

Wright said social media was negatively impacting the self-esteem of young Australian women.

"It really affects how other people see young women and how young women see themselves. If you're only exposed to really hyper-sexual images that depict women in a certain way, always looking good, then it subconsciously changes people's expectations of women and girls.

"I think that is supported by the fact that [the report] shows confidence decreases when girls hit puberty, which is the age they start using social media and are given their first phone."

Wright said she used to spend hours scrolling through "other girls'" social media profiles but she recently decided to deactivate her accounts.

"Being able to isolate myself from that world gave me a really clear insight into how it actually was affecting my wellbeing."

Plan International Australia has called for a country-wide ban on sexist advertising, industry regulations on photoshopped images, mandatory government-implemented non-gendered school uniform policies, and gender pay audits for corporations.

Gina Rushton is a breaking news reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Sydney.

Contact Gina Rushton at gina.rushton@buzzfeed.com.

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

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These Australian Girls Are Sick Of Skirts, Sexism And Superficiality

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Australian girls believe they are: receiving unequal treatment to boys; being judged on their appearance; and exposed to sexist advertising, a report released today by child rights development agency Plan International Australia finds. Almost all (98%) of the 2,000 girls aged 10-17 who participated in the Dream Gap Report, published on International Day of the Girl, said they received unequal treatment to boys.

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Education resources for schools teachers and students - ABC Education

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ABC Education has 4000+ educational games, videos and teaching resources for schools and students. Free Primary and Secondary resources covering history, science, English, maths and more

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"How A Job Acquires A Gender (and Less Authority if it's Female)"

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"How A Job Acquires A Gender (and Less Authority if it's Female)"

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The Conversation, 2017

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"I'm not bossy, I'm the boss."

So proclaims Beyoncé in a video in support of the #banbossy campaign. The campaign highlights how when little boys take charge, they're often praised for being a "leader." But when little girls do, they're more likely to be scolded for being too "bossy."

And it matters for grownups, too. Research and media stories abound with examples of how gender stereotypes disadvantage women leaders. A woman manager is less likely to be taken seriously by the people who work for her.

When men direct others, they're often assumed to be assertive and competent. But when women direct others, they're often disliked and labeled abrasive or bossy.

Our new study puts a twist on this narrative. Gender bias doesn't merely disadvantage women, it also can disadvantage men. The reason? We don't just stereotype men and women. We stereotype jobs.

Firefighters and nurses

Many jobs in the economy are gender-stereotyped. Firefighting is thought of as a man's job, whereas nursing is thought of as women's work.

Previous studies have shown that these stereotypes - which shape our expectations about whether a man or a woman is a better "fit" for a given job - are powerful because they can bias a whole host of employment outcomes. For instance, they influence the chances that a man or a woman will apply for the job, that he or she will be hired, the pay each would receive and even performance evaluations that determine promotions.

But how quickly do these gender stereotypes get attached to jobs in the first place? And, to what extent might such stereotypes affect the level of authority and respect that people are willing to give the man or woman who works in that job?

How a job gets stereotyped

To answer these questions, we studied a job that is ambiguously related to gender: a microfinance loan manager in Central America.

In this region, the microfinance loan manager job is new and gender-balanced in its composition. Unlike firefighters or nurses - jobs that are already strongly gender-stereotyped - loan managers at the microfinance bank we studied are about 50/50 men and women.

The nature of commercial microfinance makes managers' positions more gender-ambiguous. Microfinance is associated with the financial industry, which is traditionally masculine. But microfinance also has a legacy of social service and poverty alleviation, which are female-stereotyped activities.

Additionally, in the context we studied, the loan manager job had been around for less than 10 years, making it even less likely that clients would have strong preconceptions about whether it was a "man's job" or a "woman's job."

Loan managers at the bank we focused on are frequently reshuffled from one borrower to another. This quasi-random reshuffling allowed us to observe how borrowers' repayment patterns differed when they were paired with male and female loan managers. For example, a borrower might be paired with a male manager initially and then transferred to a female manager. This switching process allowed us to examine how clients' repayment rates varied when the only thing that changed was their managers' gender.

Kittisak Jirasittichai/Shutterstock.com

We examined borrowers' missed payment rates as a measure of the authority they afford their managers. Making a payment on time signals that the borrower views the manager as someone whose authority is legitimate and whose directives should be followed. In contrast, missing a payment signals that the borrower feels he or she can approach his or her responsibilities to the manager more laxly. When borrowers miss payments, it suggests the manager lacks the ability to secure compliance and therefore lacks authority.

We found that it took only one interaction before clients assigned a gender to the job and began to treat anyone in that role (man or woman) based on that stereotype, which meant less authority if the loan manager position was seen as a "woman's job." So if a client's first manager was a woman, they would tend to miss more payments on their loan - even if later transferred to a male manager - compared with one who was initially paired with a man. These effects persisted even when we accounted for other factors that might affect repayment, like income and loan size.

Male managers whose clients perceived the job as a "woman's job" experienced an especially large disadvantage compared to male managers whose clients perceived the job as a "man's job."

When men stepped in to work with a client who had initially worked with another male loan manager, the client was highly compliant with his directives. But when men stepped in to work with a client who had initially worked with a female loan manager, the client afforded them much less authority. They were much less compliant than they would have been if they had initially worked with a male loan manager.

AP Photo/Eric Risberg

Gendered jobs harm us all

When gender stereotypes get attached to a job, it biases the authority that people attribute to the man or woman who happens to work in that position. In this way, men experience negative bias when working in positions that others associate with women.

Our findings show that, when men work in a managerial job that people associate with a man and male stereotypes, they are able to wield a substantial amount of authority over clients. But when the very same managerial job happens to be associated with a woman, men who work in that position are viewed as significantly less legitimate sources of authority.

In other words, our study suggests that stereotyping a job as "women's work" and societal biases that grant women less authority than men harm us all.

Ideally, we want to live in a world where we perform the work that is best suited to our abilities and where an individual in a position of authority receives the same respect, regardless of gender. If we all can support both men and women who work in gender-atypical roles, perhaps we can become less likely to devalue some workers on the basis of arbitrary and old-fashioned gender stereotypes.

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How a job acquires a gender (and less authority if it's female)

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"I'm not bossy, I'm the boss." So proclaims Beyoncé in a video in support of the #banbossy campaign. The campaign highlights how when little boys take charge, they're often praised for being a "leader." But when little girls do, they're more likely to be scolded for being too "bossy."

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"25 Films That Have Made a Difference to the LGBT Community"

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"25 Films That Have Made a Difference to the LGBT Community"

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Obviously, watch them before showing them!

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25 Films That Have Made A Difference To The LGBT Community

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While equal representation is still an issue, these films represent a positive step forward.

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Legendary African-American activist Angela Davis talks to Southbank Centre's Artistic Director Jude Kelly CBE about women, race and class in the post-Trump era.

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"Proper Men, Proper Women: Gender Roles in Contemporary UK Society" (2011)

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"Proper Men, Proper Women: Gender Roles in Contemporary UK Society" (2011)

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Open Learn/Open University

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Proper men, proper women: Gender roles in contemporary UK society

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Do women have a need for feminism in a Britain where they can enjoy porn while men help out with childcare? It might be too soon to assume the arguments have been settled, warns Stephanie Taylor.

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"The Negative Effects of Gender Roles" (The Odyssey, 2016)

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"The Negative Effects of Gender Roles" (The Odyssey, 2016)

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Innocent looking with Dangerous potential.

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"How Are Gender Roles Changing in the US" (The Spruce [blog], 2017)

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"How Are Gender Roles Changing in the US" (The Spruce [blog], 2017)

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Gender roles are changing at work and at home, according to the research done at the Families and Work Institute back in March 2009. Young men and women alike are challenging traditional gender roles and expecting to share in paid work as well as tending the household and children, according to the benchmark survey of 3,500 Americans.

Converging Gender Roles

For the first time in the survey's history it showed that women under 29 years of age are just as likely as men to want jobs with more responsibility.

In 1992, the survey found 80 percent of men under 29 years of age wanted jobs with more responsibility, versus 72 percent of young women. The desire for more responsibility decreased for both genders in the 1997 survey, (to 61 percent for men and 54 percent for women) and then went up in 2002 to 66 percent for men and 56 percent for women.

In 2008, the young women who didn't want more responsibility explained why:

31 percent cited increased job pressure.

19 percent already have a high-level job.

15 percent expressed concern about having enough flexibility to manage work and home.

Motherhood Doesn't Dim Ambition

The second trend the researchers highlighted was that in the 2008 survey, young mothers wanted more job responsibility than their peers who had no children.

Looking at women under 29 in 1992, 78 percent of childless women versus 60 percent of mothers wanted more responsibility. That flip-flopped in 2008, with only 66 percent of child-free woman and 69 percent of young mothers wanting higher-responsibility jobs.

"In comparing 1992 with 2008, two emerging trends are striking: among Millenials (under 29 years old), women are just as likely as men to want jobs with greater responsibility," the report said. "Today, there is no difference between young women with and without children in their desire to move to jobs with more responsibility."

"Taken together, these two trends suggest that Millenial women are on a similar footing with their male colleagues when it comes to career ambitions and expectation," the report said.

Men and Women Agree on Gender Roles

Also for the first time in the survey's history, in 2008 roughly the same percentage of men and women believed in traditional gender roles.

About 42 percent of men and 39 percent of women agreed with the statement that it's better for everyone "if the man earns the money and the woman takes care of the home and children." That's down from 74 percent of men and 52 percent of women who supported traditional gender roles in 1977.

You'll notice that more men than women have shifted their views on gender roles between 1977 and 2008. Men in dual-earning households changed their attitudes the most, with only 37 percent holding traditional views in 2008 versus 70 percent in 1977.

Older generations historically hold more traditional views on gender than young people. But the report found members of older generations being more open to non-traditional gender roles than in the past. For details, see page 11 of the report.

More Acceptance of Working Moms

In 2008, 73 percent of employees said working mothers can have as good of a relationship with their children as stay-at-home moms.

That's up from 58 percent in 1977.

Among men, the figure was 67 percent in 2008 and 49 percent in 1977. For women, 80 percent in 2008 believed working moms can have equally good child relationships, up from 71 percent in 1977.

People who grew up with a working mom were more likely to strongly agree that working mothers can have just as good relationships with children.

Who Does the Chores?

In 2008, 56 percent of men said they did at least half the cooking, up from 34 percent in 1992. Wives see it slightly differently though with only 25 percent saying men do at least half, up from 15 percent in 1992.

As for house cleaning, there's an even greater difference of perception about who does the work. 53 percent of men said they do at least half, up from 40 percent in 1992. But only 20 percent of women said their spouse does at least half, up from 18 percent in 1992, not a statistically significant difference.

"It has clearly become more socially acceptable for men to be and to say they are involved in child care, cooking and cleaning over the past three decades than it was in the past," the report said.

Growing Work-Life Conflict for Men

As fathers and husbands increase their responsibilities at home, they're also experiencing more difficulty balance work and family duties.

In 2008, 45 percent of men reported feeling work-life conflict, up from 34 percent in 1997. That compares with 39 percent of women feeling conflict in 2008, up from 34 percent in 1997.

Fathers were hit the hardest, with 59 percent of dads in dual-earner households reporting work-family conflict, versus 35 percent in 1977. In single-earner families, 50 percent of fathers felt conflict.

Looking at moms, 45 percent felt conflict in 2008, up from 41 percent in 1977.

It's great to see that gender roles continue to alter but there is still much work to be done to better our working mom culture.
Edited by Elizabeth McGrory

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How Are Gender Roles Changing in the U.S.

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Gender roles are changing at work and at home, according to the research done at the Families and Work Institute back in March 2009. Young men and women alike are challenging traditional gender roles and expecting to share in paid work as well as tending the household and children, according to the benchmark survey of 3,500 Americans.

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Gender Identity | Advice & Tips | ReachOut Australia

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Our cultural background, whom we're attracted to, how we see ourselves and what's important to us - these are the things that shape our identity.

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"Watch Out! Classic Movies with Old-Fashioned Gender Roles" (2016)

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"Watch Out! Classic Movies with Old-Fashioned Gender Roles" (2016)

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Common Sense Media (Blog)

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Watch Out! Classic Movies with Old-Fashioned Gender Roles

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Turn cringeworthy moments into a chance to talk about sexism. Advice from Common Sense Media editors.

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"Talking to Younger Kids about Gender Stereotypes" (The Line)

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"Talking to Younger Kids about Gender Stereotypes" (The Line)

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- A guiding document for parents on how children understand stereotypes, their impacts and ways to challenge and discuss these with 9-11 year olds.
Gender roles and impacts
Gender stereotypes are culturally ingrained ideas about appropriate behaviours for males and females. Common narrow gender stereotypes can include: that it is not ok for men to cry; that men are naturally aggressive; that females should be submissive and 'pick up the pieces'. Young people are largely aware of gender stereotypes by this age and will have begun to accept some of these as universal truths. Rigid gender stereotyping promotes inequity between the sexes and can set young people up to expect and accept power imbalances within relationships later in life.

This is an opportune time, before adolescence, to talk about the impact of gendered expectations on choices, existing friendships and future relationships. Accepting gender stereotypes and roles can have longer-term negative influences on children's beliefs attitudes and future behaviours. For example, surveys with 12-18 year olds have found that:

One in three think that exerting control over someone is not a form of violence.

One in four don't think that it is serious, if a man who is normally gentle with his partner, slapped her when drunk.

One in four think that street harassment is not serious.

One in six think that women should know their place.

One in six think that it is ok for a guy to pressure a girl into sex if they are both drunk.¹

The benefits of tackling gender stereotypes with this age group include supporting young people to:

Become aware of the messages that promote gender double standards and inequality in the media, online and within the broader community.

Know fact from fiction about sexuality.

Understand the effect gender stereotypes can have on their options and roles in sport, at school and within their families.

Develop realistic expectations about future relationships based on mutual respect and equity.

Where do children learn about gender?
Children may learn about acceptable gender roles and stereotypes from television, the internet or other media. For example:

Print media (magazines such as Dolly, Girlfriend or K-Zone), from books or magazines that their parents read² (e.g. Australian Women's Weekly).

Visual media (the Internet, including social media such as, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and video games, television and music videos).

Audio media (song lyrics that include narrow representations of men and women or language that is derogatory towards women).

But children also learn about gender roles from their parents from a young age. ³ For example:

How roles and tasks are shared both within and outside the home (i.e. cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, mowing the lawn, managing household finances, taking kids to the park and going to work).

Themes and colours of clothes, toys and presents given to children.

Interactions between family members, for example, how decisions are made within the home.

Expectations placed on different family members based on gender. For example, that it is the responsibility of women and girls to care for others such as remembering birthdays or that the male family members should take on the 'comedian' role.

Language used based on gender, such as commenting on the appearance of girls and commenting on the actions and abilities of boys.

How parents reward or discipline behaviour that adheres to accepted notions of gender. For example, through statements such as 'boys don't cry', or 'boys will be boys' to excuse inappropriate behaviour.

What do young people think about gender stereotypes and roles?
Research conducted around Australia with young people aged between 9 and 11 years, indicates that they have an understanding of culturally accepted gender roles and the power dynamics associated with these. However, it is evident that young people also buy into these stereotypes and are often not aware of when and how stereotypes are impacting on their behaviours and choices. Therefore, conversations around identifying gender stereotypes can work best when supported by an adult such as a parent who can assist young people to understand influences on identity, relationships and decision-making.

Below are comments from Australian young people (9-11 years) illustrating their existing understanding of gender stereotypes.

Some young people can see how early gender stereotyping begins:
"It's like when we go to buy something for a baby and everything for girls is pink and everything for boys is blue and there's no other colours" (11 year old girl).

That stereotypes can change over time:
"Pink used to be a boy's colour but it's now a girl's colour" (11 year old girl).
"This year my favourite colour is orange but last year it was blue" (11 year old boy).

Young people are aware of power dynamics
"Men are known to go out and get a job and get money while women have to stay at home and cook and clean," (11 year old girl).
"Men are paid more than women and more of them are CEOs and have the money," (11 year old girl).

Making a difference at home
Children model a lot of their behaviour and develop their understanding of acceptable masculine or feminine qualities from their parents. Parents can influence how their children view gender and how they decide what it means to be a girl, boy, woman or man. Children are influenced by their parents through the roles they take on inside and outside the home and through the language used with children themselves. Furthermore, how parents interact with other adults and family members can impact on children's expectations of personal relationships. ⁴

Tips for challenging gender stereotypes in the home:

Ensure that children receive equal praise for the same behaviour. For example, praising both boys and girls for being neat or being active in physical activities.

Encourage children to be friends across genders.

Use the anatomically correct terms when referring to body parts.

Point out, critique and discuss gendered representations in the media.

Avoid gender specific language and statements such as 'that's a man's job' and 'that's not lady-like'.

Encourage gender neutral toys and colours.

Discussing gender with 'tweens'
Many pre-teens are ready to actively engage in discussions about respectful relationships, gender roles and stereotypes. This is a key time prior to puberty, high school and before many young people start experiencing romantic relationships, as well as an age where gender stereotypes are becoming more cemented and begin to impact on future decisions such as subject and extra-curricular choices.

Age appropriate topics about gendered expectations can include:

Jobs and roles for women and men both inside and outside the home and how stereotypes can limit these options.

Cultural expectations about feminine or masculine activities, fashion and behaviour (e.g. who can have long hair? Who can wear trousers? Who has body hair?).

How gendered expectations have changed over-time (i.e. their generation compared with previous generations).

Exploring young people's current judgements on gender and how this impacts on their expectations of themselves and treatment of others.

Power imbalances in relationships (friendships as well as romantic relationships), for example, the expectations that are often placed on young people in terms of how they interact with the opposite sex, such as asking girls to 'keep the peace' and allowing boys to tease girls 'because they like them'. These statements can re-enforce negative stereotypes such as that males can't control their behaviour.

These minor changes can support an awareness of rigid gender stereotypes among children and assist them to create respectful relationships and identities both now and in the future.

Talking gender stereotypes with 9-11 year olds - a resource for parents

Download the resource 'Talking gender stereotypes' here.
This is a resource to assist parents to talk to children between 9-11 years of age about gender stereotypes and how they can both impact and limit choices and interactions with others. This resource will aid parents to assist children to understand:

What gender stereotypes are.

Where we learn about stereotypes.

The impacts of stereotypes on our identities and relationships.

The importance of challenging stereotypes.

The content of this resource is based on findings from a number of participatory workshops undertaken with 9-11 year olds to understand in their own words how gender stereotypes impact and influence their relationships, identities and future expectations.

Resources
Video
Are There Girls Toys and Boys Toys?
What messages do toys labelled "girls" vs those labelled "boys" send to children, what effect can it have on their career choices down the track, and what can adults do?

Male Gender Stereotypes
Children discuss what it means to "be a man" in the media and what boys do that are contrary to what media and society tells them about "being a man".

How Disney Stereotypes Hurt Men
A look at how Disney stereotypes men and the effect this has on children's understanding of masculinity.

Childhood Gender Roles in Adulthood
A humorous look at how limiting and tiring it would be for both women and men to live with childhood gender roles in adulthood.

Websites
Talk Soon. Talk Often. A Guide for Parents Talking to their Kids about Sex
A booklet prepared by the Western Australian Department of Health to help parents talk about sex and sexuality with children of all ages.

Letter to Lego
A young girl and the change she has on Lego after her strongly worded letter gets picked up by Lego Ideas, a program that allows people to write in their suggestions for what they'd like to see in the Lego range. Hint: she wanted girls to play with scientists and paleontologists.

Gender Identity in Children
A resource from the American Academy of Pediatrics that discusses how children develop their gender identities and how they learn about stereotypes from the adults (men and women) who play an important role in their lives.

Sharing the Pleasures and Pains of Family Life
A resource from the Australian Institute of Family Studies that discusses family wellbeing, shared responsibility between family members, and how equality can be achieved at home.

Kids Helpline
A helpline and resource for young people between 5 and 15 years of age, including telephone and online counselling and support services.

Parentline
The Kids Helpline equivalent for parents! This is a an online resource and confidential telephone counselling service for parents and those who care for children available all around Australia.
References 1. The Line campaign summary of research findings (download the Word doc). 2. Renold, E. (2005). Girls, Boys and Junior Sexualities: Exploring children's gender and sexual relations in the primary school. Abingdon: Routledge. 4. Ibid, and Parents' socialization of gender in children, Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development (2013), and Playing by the rules: Gender roles and young children, Sexuality and U, Sex Information and Education Council of Canada.

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Talking to young kids about gender stereotypes

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A guiding document for parents on how children understand stereotypes, their impacts and ways to challenge and discuss these with 9-11 year olds. Gender roles and impacts Gender stereotypes are culturally ingrained ideas about appropriate behaviours for males and females.

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Mayor, E. (2016). "Gender roles and traits in stress and health"

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Mayor, E. (2016). "Gender roles and traits in stress and health"

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Abstract

Women have a life-expectancy advantage over men, but a marked disadvantage with regards to morbidity. This is known as the female-male health-survival paradox in disciplines such as medicine, medical sociology, and epidemiology. Individual differences in physical and mental health are further notably explained by the degree of stress individuals endure, with women being more affected by stressors than men. Here, we briefly examine the literature on women's disadvantage in health and stress. Beyond biological considerations, we follow with socio-cognitive explanations of gender differences in health and stress. We show that gender roles and traits (masculinity in particular) explain part of the gender differences in stress, notably cognitive appraisal and coping. Stress in turn degrades health. Implications are discussed. In conclusion, traditional socialization is advantageous for men in terms of health.

Keywords: inequity in health, stress, cognitive appraisal, gender, masculinity, femininity

Introduction

Women endure higher rates of physical and mental diseases than men at all ages and in all regions of the world ( Macintyre et al., 1996; Austad, 2006; Seedat et al., 2009). They experience more days of health-related reduced activity and work cessation, higher rates of hospital stays, and have higher health care costs, even when excluding diseases of the reproductive system ( Wingard et al., 1989; Green and Pope, 1999; Case and Paxson, 2005). Women's higher healthcare use further reduces their economic resources ( Green and Pope, 1999; Bertakis et al., 2000; McIntyre et al., 2006). It is therefore essential to better understand gender differences in health.

Here we propose socio-cognitive explanations of gender differences in health. As stress impacts health considerably, we also focus on gender differences in stress and their explanations. We will show in particular that social roles and gender traits explain part of the observed gender differences in health and stress. Below, we start by examining the magnitude of gender differences in health.

Magnitude of Gender Differences in Health

Among the 30 most common diagnostic groups in primary care, 90% are more common in women than in men ( N = 2 mio, Stockholm; Wändell et al., 2013). The median of odds ratios (ORs) among the 30 groups of diagnoses is 1.43, i.e., the odds of a diagnostic group being applied to women are 143% that of men, or higher, for half of the 30 diagnostic groups. These 15 diagnostic groups represent 56% of individual diagnoses analyzed. Figure presents the ORs and percentage of women and men affected. Note these results are not based on self-reports, but official statistics.

Most primary care diagnostics are related to acute conditions. Similar relationships are observed in chronic conditions: The total number of chronic conditions reported by individuals is at least 40% higher for women than for men (Canadian National Health Survey; see Quesnel-Vallée et al., 2008). Further, such gender differences exist throughout adulthood (US National Health Interview Survey; Verbrugge, 1986). Overall, ORs (women:men) are 1.25 for longstanding illness, 1.17 for limiting longstanding illness, and 1.92 for somatic symptoms ( N = 17,300; controlling for age; Lahelma et al., 1999).

Potential Bias in Self-Report Data

Findings based on self-reports might be affected by the ability of individuals to report health information (e.g., over-reporting by women) and the impact of self-selection bias. Over-reporting is not empirically supported for the majority of diseases. Research shows that women and men are equally accurate at reporting health information, especially for chronic conditions (e.g., Cleary and Jette, 1984; Macintyre et al., 1999; Ritter et al., 2001). But a few diseases feature gender differences (in both directions) in the quality of reporting ( Oksuzyan et al., 2009). Participation rates are slightly higher among hospitalized women compared to those who are not, whereas hospitalized men do not differ ( N = 15,330; Oksuzyan et al., 2009). This excess in participation of sicker women could contribute marginally to gender differences. But in the elderly, participation rates are higher among men ( N = 1,045; Jacomb et al., 2002). As health declines with age, gender differences in health might therefore be higher than those reported in overall estimates.

The Impact of the Environment

Individuals' behavior, their social environment, and genetic factors can cause women's health disadvantage ( Oksuzyan et al., 2010). Yet, the genetic code interacts with the environment to produce changes between and within individuals that are relevant for health (e.g., Feinberg, 2007): the environment as well as environmental variations are known to affect respectively phenotypes (individual's physical stable characteristics) and gene expression-the moment-by-moment translation of genes into RNA, proteins and hormones, allowing rapid adaptation to changing conditions ( Dunn and Plomin, 1990; Jaenisch and Bird, 2003; DeWitt and Scheiner, 2004).

In the social sciences, research on intersectionality and health further discusses the caveats of focusing solely on sex when discussing health differences between women and men (see Hankivsky, 2012): sociodemographic factors also have to be considered. Gender differences in a number of physical and mental diseases, and functional health, disappear when controlling for socio-demographic and contextual factors ( N = 1,641; Emslie et al., 1999; N = 3,522; Quesnel-Vallée et al., 2008), but not differences in the number of chronic conditions ( Quesnel-Vallée et al., 2008).

Gender, Stress, and Health

Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axis, leading to the release of stress hormones (e.g., cortisol and catecholamines) that trigger dysfunctions of the immune system related to various diseases ( Frankenhaeuser, 1986; Ader and Cohen, 1993; Segerstrom and Miller, 2004; Glaser and Kiecolt-Glaser, 2005; Lundberg, 2005; Cohen et al., 2007). Here we describe part of this process in a nutshell. On the one hand, cortisol secretion decreases lymphocytes counts (notably natural killer cells), which results in increased vulnerability to diseases and infections ( Gatti et al., 1987; Padgett and Glaser, 2003). On the other hand, catecholamines induce an elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines ( Johnson et al., 2005). Abnormally high concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines are related to several conditions and risks including cardiovascular risk factors and coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, depression and schizophrenia ( Lucey et al., 1996; Rabinovitch and Suarez-Pinzon, 1998; Blanco et al., 2008; Miller et al., 2009; Watanabe et al., 2010).

Indeed, psychological stress predicts a variety of somatic diseases and mental illnesses ( Steptoe, 1991; Cohen et al., 2007). Stressed individuals are more at risk of developing depression and psychosis ( Cohen et al., 2007; Stroud et al., 2008; van Winkel et al., 2008). Somatic complaints related to stress can range from minor or mild symptoms and diseases such as sore throat, headaches and influenza, to life threatening conditions such as heart attacks, cancer, and organ failure ( Selye, 1976; DeLongis et al., 1988; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 1992; Reiche et al., 2004; Cohen et al., 2007). Further, chronic diseases can be triggered by high levels of stress ( Kendall-Tackett, 2010). In particular, the onset of autoimmune diseases is preceded by important stress episodes in 80% of cases ( Herrmann et al., 2000; Stojanovich and Marisavljevich, 2008). Differentiated exposure to stressors explains part of the gender differences in health ( McDonough and Walters, 2001).

Gender Roles, Illness, and Stress

Women who work, compared to those who do not, face less physical and mental health problems ( Natalson, 1980; Rosenfield, 1980; Kessler and McRae, 1982; Repetti et al., 1989): providing care, particularly to family members (the "caregiver health effect"; Schulz and Beach, 1999) negatively impact both physical and mental health (e.g., Kessler et al., 1985; Schulz et al., 1989). This is related to the higher number of stressors affecting caregivers, compared to non-caregivers ( Son et al., 2007). Because women are more often caregivers than men, their risk of exposure to such strain is higher, and this impacts their health ( Repetti et al., 1989; Eagly et al., 2000; Son et al., 2007).

As the participation of women in the workforce has increased, stress differences between women and men have decreased ( Jick and Mitz, 1985). Women often also occupy clerical positions, whereas men occupy leadership positions more often than women ( Eagly et al., 2000). High-status individuals have more control, which leads to less experienced stress, whereas lower-status individuals experience more stress and use less efficient coping strategies ( Thoits, 1991; Bakker and Demerouti, 2007).

When working under similar conditions, women and men do not differ in their release of stress hormones, heart rate and experience of stress, whereas they do otherwise ( Persson et al., 2009). Further, the excess of occupational stress of women compared to men disappears when age, education, and marital status are accounted for ( N = 2,775; Galanakis et al., 2009). With the increased similarity in the gender roles over the years, women's physiological responses become more similar to those of men ( Frankenhaeuser, 1991).

Gender Traits (Masculinity/Femininity), Illness, and Stress

Throughout life, people are taught (explicitly, implicitly, and vicariously) which behaviors are desirable for men or women in society ( Bem, 1981). Examples include experiencing that women usually take care of children while men work, the encouragement to participate in gender typical activities, or injunctions (for children: "boys don't cry," "girls don't swear"). At a later age, such expectations often translate in the approval and disapproval of conduct (see Bussey and Bandura, 1999; Martin et al., 2002).

Research on the relationship between gender traits and health has shown that masculinity in particular is related to better physical and mental health (controlling for gender). Masculine individuals have better self-assessed general health, less physical symptoms and better mental health, and consult general practitioners less often ( N = 886; Annandale and Hunt, 1990). Masculinity is positively related to physical health and health behaviors ( N = 336; Shifren and Bauserman, 1996). Overall, the effect of masculinity on physical health is positive, except for coronary heart disease (explaining in part the higher mortality of men; Helgeson, 1994; Barrett-Connor, 1997). With regard to mental health, masculinity is negatively related to anxiety, tiredness, and depression, but to higher antisocial behavior and substance abuse ( Emslie et al., 1999; Lengua and Stormshak, 2000). A meta-analysis of 26 studies ( Bassoff and Glass, 1982) shows that masculinity is robustly associated with better mental health. Femininity is also positively related to health promoting behaviors ( Shifren and Bauserman, 1996). But the research shows conflicting findings in the relationship between femininity and health. Femininity is related to higher risks of depression in women ( Tinsley et al., 1984; Bromberger and Matthews, 1996), and to better and worse physical health outcomes depending on the studies ( Shifren and Bauserman, 1996; Hunt et al., 2007).

Cognitive Appraisal

Stressors can be appraised as a threats or challenges (cognitive appraisal). Threat appraisals occur when resources (e.g., knowledge, skills, money) are considered insufficient to face a stressor. Challenge appraisals occur when individuals perceive they might benefit from the encounter with the stressor and consider their resources sufficient. Cognitive appraisals mediate the relationship between stressors and outcomes such as wellbeing and health ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1987). In particular, threat appraisals are negatively related to physical health and positively to psychological symptoms ( Folkman et al., 1986b). Threat appraisals are related to physiological responses that promote exhaustion and disease, such as an excess in the liberation of catecholamines and cortisol, whereas challenge appraisals have less damaging outcomes and promote productivity and focus ( Frankenhaeuser, 1986; Benschop et al., 1996).

An emerging body of research focuses on the relationships between gender traits and cognitive appraisals (e.g., Sarrasin et al., 2014). Highly assertive women exhibit the physiological responses of a challenge appraisal and perform better than less assertive women, who have patterns of physiological measures consistent with threat appraisal ( Tomaka et al., 1999). Surveys feature similar results ( Long et al., 1992; Sarrasin et al., 2014). A study with two different samples (for replication purposes; N1 = 322, N2 = 525; Sarrasin et al., 2014) shows that masculinity is robustly and positively related to challenge appraisal in both women and men. Masculinity is also negatively related to threat appraisal in men in both samples, and women in the second sample.

The relationship between femininity and cognitive appraisal is not so robust, in line with its impact on health outcomes. Gender might moderate the impact of femininity on cognitive appraisal. Femininity increases the threat appraisal of several health risks in men, but decreases threat appraisal in women ( Kaplan and Marks, 1995). Sarrasin et al. (2014) report that femininity is positively related to challenge appraisal only in women of the second sample.

Coping

Gender traits also predict coping mechanisms. There are two families of ways of coping: problem-focused (such as active coping, planful problem-solving) and emotion-focused (e.g., avoidance, disengagement; Folkman et al., 1986a). Problem-focused coping is related to better health outcomes ( Folkman et al., 1986b). Masculine traits are positively related to active coping, and negatively to avoidance coping ( Lengua and Stormshak, 2000). The role of femininity is less clear as it has been found to be positively and negatively related to active coping ( Lengua and Stormshak, 2000; Gianakos, 2002). Masculinity and femininity are related to seeking social support and positive thinking ( Gianakos, 2000, 2002). Masculinity is indirectly linked to distress in the face of stressors (negatively) through challenge appraisal and disengagement coping ( Long et al., 1992).

Discussion and Conclusion

Even though men perform less health-related behaviors than women ( Deeks et al., 2009), they are less at risk to contract a large majority of health conditions. Our socio-cognitive perspective on gender inequity in health contributes to the current debate (see Doyal, 2000). Gender differences in health and stress have been described. Socialization, particularly through gender roles and gender traits, has been related to the stress process, the experience of stress, and to the health of individuals. We have shown that gender traits have implications with regards to the way stressors are dealt with, and ultimately morbidity. In particular, we have shown that gender traits are related to the appraisals of stressors (as threats or challenges), which play an important role in health.

The literature reviewed here shows that masculinity is beneficial for health. Nevertheless, untempered masculinity comes with its own risks with regards to health and mortality ( Helgeson, 1994; Barrett-Connor, 1997; Lozano et al., 2012). Masculinity encourages aggressive conduct and the misperception of its consequences ( Eagly and Steffen, 1986). Around the world, 62% of the individuals who died in 2010 at ages 15-49 were men (Global Burden of Disease study; Lozano et al., 2012). Causes of death related to the behavior of self and others (mostly violence from others or from self) represent 38.3% of the deaths in men in this age range, against 23.5% of the deaths in women. Causes of death that involve physical diseases account for 76.6% of women's deaths, against 61.6% of men's deaths. Higher rates of behavior- and aggression-related causes of death in men are part of the explanation for the difference in mortality between women and men.

Taken together, the literature reviewed here supports the proposition that traditional socialization is advantageous for men not only in terms of power, including economic resources (see Eagly et al., 2000), but also in terms of health, including exposure and reactions to stressors ( Emslie et al., 1999; Matud, 2004; Sarrasin et al., 2014). The reasons for the maintenance of gender-based status asymmetries and their consequences are discussed in the edited volume "Gender and social hierarchies" ( Faniko et al., in press), among other sources.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Footnotes

¹Differences between the two samples exemplify the need for replication studies and meta-analyses (see Cumming, 2008). In the social sciences, and psychology in particular, the rate of results reproducibility might be 50%, whereas some fields of the medical sciences feature reproducibility rates between 11 and 25% (see Open Science Collaboration, 2012).

References

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Dunn J., Plomin R. (1990). Separate Lives: Why Siblings Are So Different. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Eagly A. H., Wood W., Diekman A. B. (2000). "Social role theory of sex differences and similarities: a current appraisal," in The Developmental Social Psychology of Gender, eds Eckes T., Trautner H. M., editors. (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers; ), 123-174.

Faniko K., Lorenzi-Cioldi F., Sarrasin O., Mayor E. (in press). Gender and Social Fierarchies: Perspectives from Social Psychology. London: Routledge.

Frankenhaeuser M. (1986). "A psychobiological framework for research on human stress and coping," in Dynamics of Stress, eds Appley M. H., Trumbull R., editors. (New York, NY: Plenum; ), 101-106. 10.1007/978-1-4684-5122-1_6

Frankenhaeuser M. (1991). The psychophysiology of workload, stress, and health: comparison between the sexes. Ann. Behav. Med. 13, 197-204.

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Kendall-Tackett K. A. (2010). The Psychoneuroimmunology of Chronic Disease: Exploring the Links Between Inflammation, Stress, and Illness. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 10.1037/12065-000

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Gender roles and traits in stress and health

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Women have a life-expectancy advantage over men, but a marked disadvantage with regards to morbidity. This is known as the female-male health-survival paradox in disciplines such as medicine, medical sociology, and epidemiology. Individual differences in physical and mental health are further notably explained by the degree of stress individuals endure, with women being more affected by stressors than men.

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"Gender Roles in Media" (Huffpost, 2014) 

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"Gender Roles in Media" (Huffpost, 2014) 

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Media plays a large role in creating social norms, because various forms of media, including advertisements, television, and film, are present almost everywhere in current culture. Gender roles, as an example, exist solely because society as a whole chooses to accept them, but they are perpetuated by the media. Conspicuous viewers must be aware of what the media is presenting to them, and make sure they're not actively participating in a culture of oppression.

Even on young children, gender roles are being pushed through advertisements. My search for American advertisements with girls playing with action figures and boys using easy-bake ovens was fruitless, and even when I moved to a gender neutral product, sidewalk chalk, the advertisement was sending different messages towards boys versus girls. The girls were all coloring on the sidewalk, as the one young boy rapped, ending in a short dance routine where it was clear that the only male in the advertisement was the main character. Are consumers of sidewalk chalk actively trying to send this message of submission to their 9-year-old girls? Likely not, but the media is sending them the message without being stopped. However, Tide, a Proctor and Gamble laundry detergent, has taken its advertisement in a better direction, recently showing a clip where the leading male actor proudly proclaims "I'm a stay-at-home dad," and later goes on to braid his daughter's hair. By showing a man playing out typically "feminine" behaviors, Tide is promoting a more equal society.

Television is the most pervasive form of media, with 96.7 percent of American families owning a TV, according to The Nielsen Company, which takes TV set ownership into account when it produces ratings. This, of course, means that viewers must carefully examine the content of the programs they choose to watch, and decide if they can ethically support and promote said content.

For example, The Big Bang Theory, in its earlier seasons, had only one consistently present female lead -- Penny, played by the lovely Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting. Penny's character was that of the stereotypical female: the ditzy, attractive neighbor, who existed solely to create sexual tension between herself and one of the show's leading men, Leonard Hofstadter. As the show progressed, the characters developed and more females were introduced, but Sweeting's character still exists primarily to create romantic tension.

A better example of female representation in television can be found in the American version of the TV show The Office, which had five consistent female leads -- Pam Beesly-Halpert, Angela Martin, Phyllis Lapin-Vance, Meredith Palmer and Kelly Kapoor. There is a strong, working-class female represented in each department of the fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin, and all of these female characters are dynamic. Even though some of them did portray female gender roles, such as the character of Kelly being emotional, the characters were given enough development and background to be more than just stereotypes. The Office worked against the unfortunate statistic that men outnumber women in television two to one, and gave viewers a plethora of strong females in the workplace, helping to move the media to more accurately represent the real world, where women are 51 percent.

Film is less pervasive than television, which means consumers must be even more particular when choosing movies to support. Every $8 movie ticket tells the film industry to produce more movies like the ones viewers have paid to see, which is why it is disappointing that Grown Ups 2, directed by Dennis Dugan, grossed about $200,000,000 more than The Call, directed by Brad Anderson. Only about a quarter of the cast of Grown Ups 2 is female, and the movie doesn't pass the Bechdel test, a test created by Alison Bechdel, which asks only three questions: Does the piece have two or more female characters? Do they speak to each other? Do they speak of topics other than men? Although the movie has stars such as Maya Rudolph and Salma Hayek, the female characters don't have a conversation about anything other than men. The Call, starring Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin, features a strong female lead (Halle Berry) who saves a young girl (Abigail Breslin) after being kidnapped by a character played by Michael Eklund, but grossed significantly less. The message consumers are sending to filmmakers is that they should produce more films with women falling into the resigned, quiet, gender role, as opposed to films that break away from these molds.

There's nothing wrong with accepting gender roles. For example, I want to be a stay-at-home mom, but this is a personal choice, not something that I feel society or tradition is forcing me to do. The problem with gender roles is that they can cross a line and become oppressive. If a young woman wants to become a doctor, and a young man a teacher, it is the rest of the world's responsibility not to bat an eye. If a doctor can cure the sick, what does gender matter? If a teacher can educate a student, who are we to deny the pupil the right to learn, solely on the grounds of the sex of his or her teacher? If a man wants to cry, let him cry. Men feel just as women do.

Although the media isn't yet representing either gender void of stereotypes, a societal change will bring about a change in the media. Regardless of this, gender roles are just that, roles. It is up to the individual to decide whether or not they are going to fill them. The best advice that can be given is to make sure, above all else, that you are fulfilling a role you want to be fulfilling, regardless of where it fits in society's set of theoretical constructs.

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Media plays a large role in creating social norms, because various forms of media, including advertisements, television, and film, are present almost everywhere in current culture. Gender roles, as an example, exist solely because society as a whole chooses to accept them, but they are perpetuated by the media.

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"How to Shake Up Gender Norms" (Time, 2015)

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"How to Shake Up Gender Norms" (Time, 2015)

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The Past, Present and Future of Gender Norms

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Will continuing to challenge gender norms and document their harmful impacts lead to their extinction - or evolution?

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"Boys Will Be Boys? Not In These Families" (NYT, 2011)

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"Boys Will Be Boys? Not In These Families" (NYT, 2011)

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"Is my 4-year-old gay?" read postings on parenting Web sites that offer strings of advice that can, by turns, be acidly dismissive or thoughtfully engaging.

The dialogue represents a new direction. "Ten years ago, the gender and sexual meaning of young children's behavior was only discussed by a small handful of developmental psychologists," said Arlene Istar Lev, a family therapist in Albany. "Children who expressed that were silenced and their parents were ashamed of them: 'You will not walk out of the house that way.' "

Now, Ms. Lev said, "parents want to be supportive and that's what is new. A generation of parents is developing a philosophy of encouraging their children: 'Sweetie, let's talk about this.' "

Such support goes beyond embracing preschool fantasy dress-up. Some parents permit sons to wear skirts and daughters to wear camouflage pants, ties and fedoras, much like the oft-photographed Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, 5.

As these children enter elementary school, parents negotiate with administrators about clothing. Janet Ciarrocca, principal of the Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City, whose teachers receive training to support children with gender nonconforming behavior, encourages the individuality of each child. But there are rules. "They all have to wear sneakers to school and participate in gym," she said. "Little girls can't wear ballet flats, either. Too slippery."

Parents may seek like-minded play groups, and even move to communities where they believe their children will be more accepted. Others turn to couples' counseling, family therapy and parent groups.

It's impossible to quantify how many families make such choices. But therapists, clinics and organizations such as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays ( pflag.org) report that more parents have been asking about the gender behavior and sexuality of their 4-year-olds.

Their views are seeping into the culture. There are children's picture books like " My Princess Boy" and " 10,000 Dresses," and books for parents like " Gender Born, Gender Made: Raising Healthy Gender-Nonconforming Children." A growing blog roll includes sites like " Accepting Dad" and " Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Slightly Effeminate, Possibly Gay, Totally Fabulous Son."

The author of the latter, the wife of a police officer in Orange County, Calif., started the blog after her son, CJ, now 4, wanted to be Snow White for Halloween. Writing as "CJ's Mom," her posts celebrate her diva preschooler, whose recent anticipation of a ride on a tramway crumbled when he realized that "aerial" did not refer to Disney's Little Mermaid.

"I'm getting amazing responses," CJ's Mom said. "From families a lot like ours, who we can share experiences with. From gay men who wish an adult had done for them what I'm doing for CJ. I needed to take steps to change his world to try to protect him, without denying him who he was created to be."

No one has provoked a national conversation about children and gender norms like the retailer J. Crew. In its April catalog, the "Jenna's Picks" page showed Jenna Lyons, the company's creative director, playing with her barefoot son, Beckett, 4 ½. The copy read: "Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon."

The blowback on talk shows, which Jon Stewart called " Toemageddon 2011," was to be expected. The applause, however, signaled a game changer. A Facebook group even announced, in solidarity, "Pink Toenail Polish Day."

Still, parents with children at the epicenter of these conversations say they make wrenching daily decisions, always calculating how to show unconditional love for their children, while being realistic about protecting them.

Little girls can experiment further along the gender spectrum than boys, but they, too, have socially cordoned boundaries. Elle, a Las Vegas mother, has a 4-year-old daughter who likes to be called "Handsome Prince." When the girl, who has long blond hair, begged for a Mohawk, Elle quavered.

To pass social muster, Elle presented the haircut as a gesture for charity: to raise money for a children's hospital, her daughter offered to get a Mohawk. She quickly surpassed her $200 goal.

When the child climbed into the salon chair, she met the hairstylist's astonished face with an enormous smile. "She couldn't get him to cut her hair off fast enough," Elle said.

But when her daughter showed up at preschool with the new 'do, running to the boys to play basketball, the boys shrank from her. When she tried to play "Unicorns and Bunnies" with the girls, they shunned her, too.

Elle hopes the Mohawk will grow out into a pixie cut before kindergarten starts. But if her daughter continues to be rejected, Elle will switch schools.

"I don't want my child to wait till she's 43 to say, 'Hi, here is who I really am,' " Elle said. That was the age when Elle's own father came out of the closet. "I don't want her to hide her true self from Daddy and me."

But what true self are these very young children expressing? A handful of studies have looked mostly at boys who did not conform to gender conventions. The studies' methodologies and results differ, but there is some indication that, in adulthood, many of those boys describe themselves as gay (rarely transgender). Yet, as one researcher noted, most of the studies' subjects were children whose parents brought them to clinics for evaluation, making them a self-selecting group.

In general, researchers say, the behavior of very young children may not be a strong predictor of their adult sexual orientation. "Even when the child has extremely gender variant behavior at 4, it doesn't necessarily mean the child will be gender variant at 10 or 15," said Dr. Edgardo J. Menvielle, who directs the Gender and Sexuality Psychosocial Programs at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "It's possible they will remain who they are and they may also change in a variety of ways."

In other words, parents have to wait, a limbo that many find unbearable. Some rush to aggressive advocacy. Diane Ehrensaft, a therapist in Oakland, Calif., said that a parent might say to her, " 'I know my child is transgender and I'm ready to go with hormone blockers.' "

Her response? "Whoa, not so fast."

Challenges for parents increase as children enter elementary school. Tim, an Internet technology manager, allowed his young son, P. J., to grow his hair long and occasionally wear skirts to preschool. When P. J. was ready for first grade, the family decided to move from the Midwest to Jersey City, in part because of its vibrant gay community.

So far, mixed results. P. J.'s hair is still long. He wears pink and purple shirts now, not dresses. When he was 6, he asked: "If Jersey City is so diverse and so understanding, then why does everyone keep calling me a girl?"

By supporting their children's wish to dress as gender-benders, parents may inadvertently put them at greater risk for taunting. When Harry, the Los Angeles boy whose father gave him a Barbie, was 2, he attended a dress-up birthday party for his sisters' friend, in costume. One father called him "Little Liberace;" another compared him to an L.A. drag queen. The second-grade brother of CJ, star of the Raising My Rainbow blog, is teased. "The boys say, 'Why does your brother like girls' toys, that's so gay,' and run from him," his mother said.

Parents say their job is not to change their children, but to help them withstand cruel comments. A 2010 study by the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University that focused mainly on adolescents found strong correlations between positive family attitudes toward their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children and decreased risks of depression, substance abuse and suicide.

As children grow older, many parents define behavior that is fine in private but not in public, to protect them from bullying. Ellen, of Bergen County, N.J., has a 9-year-old son who craves high heels. She told him they are not school shoes, and too expensive to buy to wear around the house. Her compromise: At Payless, with its buy-one-get-a-second-pair-half-price offer, she bought him shoes for school (sneakers) and home (gold-sparkled ballet flats).

While few couples would describe their child-rearing philosophy as consistently unified, raising a child who plays outside the conventional gender box can strain a relationship.

Ed, a natural resource manager in the Southwest, and his wife disagree about their son, 7, who usually plays with girls. To his wife, this is a phase.

"He has said, 'Mommy doesn't like me to play with girl things,' " Ed said. "But if he wants and deserves something, I don't want to deny him on the basis of it being gender-inappropriate."

Like nail polish. The mother does not want the boy to have it. So Ed made an agonized decision. His wife has to go out of town for work soon. When she does, Ed will buy fake nail polish.

Then, he told his son, "We'll paint your nails and wash them off before you go to school the next day."

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New Challenge for Parents: Children's Gender Roles

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"Is my 4-year-old gay?" read postings on parenting Web sites that offer strings of advice that can, by turns, be acidly dismissive or thoughtfully engaging. The dialogue represents a new direction. "Ten years ago, the gender and sexual meaning of young children's behavior was only discussed by a small handful of developmental psychologists," said Arlene Istar Lev, a family therapist in Albany.

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Toys Are More Divided by Gender Now Than They Were 50 Years Ago

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Toys Are More Divided by Gender Now Than They Were 50 Years Ago

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The Atlantic, 2014

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Even at times when discrimination was much more common, catalogs contained more neutral appeals than advertisements today.

Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

That is not to say that toys of the past weren't deeply infused with gender stereotypes. Toys for girls from the 1920s to the 1960s focused heavily on domesticity and nurturing. For example, a 1925 Sears ad for a toy broom-and-mop set proclaimed: "Mothers! Here is a real practical toy for little girls. Every little girl likes to play house, to sweep, and to do mother's work for her":

Such toys were clearly designed to prepare young girls to a life of homemaking, and domestic tasks were portrayed as innately enjoyable for women. Ads like this were still common, though less prevalent, into the 1960s-a budding housewife would have felt right at home with the toys to "delight the little homemaker" in the 1965 Sears Wishbook:

While girls' toys focused on domesticity, toys for boys from the '20s through the '60s emphasized preparation for working in the industrial economy. For example, a 1925 Sears ad for an Erector Set stated, "Every boy likes to tinker around and try to build things. With an Erector Set he can satisfy this inclination and gain mental development without apparent effort. ... He will learn the fundamentals of engineering":

However, gender-coded toy advertisements like these declined markedly in the early 1970s. By then, there were many more women in the labor force and, after the Baby Boom, marriage and fertility rates had dropped. In the wake of those demographic shifts and at the height of feminism's second-wave, playing upon gender stereotypes to sell toys had become a risky strategy. In the Sears catalog ads from 1975, less than 2 percent of toys were explicitly marketed to either boys or girls. More importantly, there were many ads in the '70s that actively challenged gender stereotypes-boys were shown playing with domestic toys and girls were shown building and enacting stereotypically masculine roles such as doctor, carpenter, and scientist:

Although gender inequality in the adult world continued to diminish between the 1970s and 1990s, the de-gendering trend in toys was short-lived. In 1984, the deregulation of children's television programming suddenly freed toy companies to create program-length advertisements for their products, and gender became an increasingly important differentiator of these shows and the toys advertised alongside them. During the 1980s, gender-neutral advertising receded, and by 1995, gendered toys made up roughly half of the Sears catalog's offerings-the same proportion as during the interwar years.

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Toys Are More Divided by Gender Now Than They Were 50 Years Ago

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Even at times when discrimination was much more common, catalogs contained more neutral appeals than advertisements today. That is not to say that toys of the past weren't deeply infused with gender stereotypes. Toys for girls from the 1920s to the 1960s focused heavily on domesticity and nurturing.

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