Why Do Parents Identify Gender Identity?

Imagine a world where one is not labeled from birth. Parents are assigning gender identities to kids from the moment they know the baby’s sex. However, gender identity should not be mistaken with sex. Sex is a biological difference between females and males. On the other hand, gender identity is what an individual identifies as a boy or a girl. As a result, children who are trying to find their individuality may find it difficult because they have grown up only knowing one gender role. Therefore, parents assigning gender identities have a negative impact in the children’s life.

Parents assigning gender identities can lead children to getting bullied. Since the earliest acknowledgment to what it means to be a girl or a boy comes from the way

In Learning to Be Gendered, Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet state, “John and Sandra Condry (1976) found that adults watching a film of a crying infant were more likely to hear the cry as angry if they believed the infant was boy, and as plaintive or fearful if they believe the infant was a girl” (739). For that reason, boys are views as more aggressive and girls as sensitive. Therefore, male’s feel it is necessary to show their physical strength, so they are not considered weak. This teaches them that competition is crucial to the game, which can lead to violence. For instance, if a football team loses a game, they might become aggressive and start a fight with the winning team accusing them of cheating. Also, boys are encouraged to be more violent than girls. Girls are expected to be passive and avoid aggression. Due to this, boys are more likely to contribute in violent actions. Since males feel the need to be dominate which can result in boys expressing their dominance toward girls. For instance, a boy can show his dominance towards a girl by sexually harassing her at school in front of his male peer. Due to this, girls are forced to limited to the cloths they can wear at