Gender Schema Theory Paper

Years ago, gender performances were very traditional where you had the female who did most of the house work while the males did more outside work. Females were the ones to always cook the meals, wash the clothes, and clean the house. Males were the ones to cut down the wood to make a fire, repair things around the house, and they were also responsible for bringing the income into the house. Those traditional ways were looked at as normal to everyone. If at those times the roles were to be reversed, it definitely would have been looked down upon. My upbringing was similar to those who grew up back in the days, however, it was not as traditional. In my household there was my mother, father, and brother. My father ran his business outside of

The gender schema theory states that by the age of two, children use different organizational strategies to distinguish the differences between male and female (Wood, 2015). Being that I watched my mother and father on a daily, I learned to distinguish male and female items. When I was younger, I would play in my mother’s heels and jewelry. I chose to do that because I saw her in them and I knew they were for girls. I would never even think twice about dressing up in my dad’s clothes or shoes just because he was a male and I was a female. When I would go into the stores, as far as toys, I would always go to the aisles where there were doll babies instead of action figures. Even when I began to get older and was able to make small decisions on my own, I still chose things that related to females. When I first got my nails painted at a nail shop, I chose the color pink automatically. There were a variety of colors like blues, blacks, and greens. I chose pink because I just thought it was more feminine and would be prettier than a blue or

They basically go hand in hand. The psychodynamic theory is all about the primary caregiver’s relationship being an influence that shapes our reactions. The social learning theory is about imitating. Being that my mother was my primary caregiver and I was always around her, I definitely began to imitate the things that I saw her do. The gender schema theory is relevant, but I just feel it does not have a direct and strong effect on a child. When I was younger, I used to categorize cheerleading only for girls and basketball only for boys. It did not have an effect on me to the point where I never attempted to play though. I understood that I would not be looked at as abnormal if I was to play it and also when I did play it, I was not punished or anything by my parents. I think as children grow up, explore more in the world, and meet new people, the categories about what a girl should have and what a boy should have will always change. As far as the psychodynamic and social learning theory, a child will always remember what its’ primary caregiver teaches them. However, their outlook can change as they get older also, but not as much as it would with the gender schema