Sex stereotypes and the development of gender identity disorder in children
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By Dr Katie Alcock, Chartered Psychologist, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Lancaster University
Sex stereotypes and the impact on children
We know that boys and girls are treated differently from the moment the baby’s sex is confirmed – these days before birth. We have known for decades that behaviour towards an infant depends on whether an adult is told the infant is a boy or a girl but in recent years the possibility of finding out a baby’s sex before birth has extended the exposure of infants to stereotyped talk and behaviour to their time in the womb, even by women’s studies researchers – insidiously, this includes allocation of family resources in some societies.
And boys’ and girls’ worlds are very different, even in the first few years of life.
Children rapidly come to understand that there are two classes of humans – boys and girls. The stereotypes they absorb in relation to each sex are affected by family and society.
What do children understand about the existence of two...
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